Ping!

Upon occasion, I have had problems with my computer and/or Internet connection. Because my computer network savvy is very limited, I have spent many hours on phone calls with my ISP or software providers, learning ways to resolve my computer issues. One of the first things the Help Desk folks try to establish is that I'm actually connected to my server. To do this, they 'Ping' our DSL modem. Ping works by sending “echo request” packets to the target host and listening for “echo response” replies. Thus the technician can determine that all the appropriate signals and stuff are getting through, and that the connection is working well.

I was thinking about this recently as I read a new book by Margaret Feinberg. She has become an author whose works resound in my soul. The book is The Sacred Echo. It's is about prayer, but it's also about hearing God answer you back. Kind of like a Holy Ping.

I don't say that lightly, because so much of what Feinberg describes as sacred echos in her life and her prayer journey causes me to remember and deeply reflect on my own. She tells of how God has often used repetitive events and themes in her daily life, like an echo, to get her attention and draw her to Him. She shares real life events and thoughts that challenge me to revisit some areas I've set aside.

Reading this book caused me to check my 'connection' to my Source. While I often send out those "echo request" packets, I need to listen for and to identify the "echo response" replies. Feinberg shares how the repetitive nature of a sacred echo hints that something important may be going on, prodding her to consider, and investigate, how God is at work in her life.

I just finished the book, but I'll be reading it again. And probably again after that. Mostly because of what her expressed thoughts generate in mine. It's not just for women, either. Eleven of the fourteen book jacket promotion commentaries were written by men.