I guess, we all are used to having (smart) phones that allow us to receive phone calls and text messages everywhere we go and anytime of the day. It’s great o keep in touch with family and friends and to be “up to date”.

However, there are some places and occasions where we don’t want to be disturbed or called. For me one of these places is Sunday morning in church. So, usually I switch my cell phone off and put it back into my handbag. Usually ….

I remember a Sunday morning in early summer, church had already started, the sunlight reflected in the beautiful stained class windows of the sanctuary and everybody was listening to the sermon. It was such a peaceful and quiet atmosphere and I wished I could stop time – just for a tiny little moment.

And there – all of a sudden – into the silence of it all broke that shrill and loud sound of a whistle blowing-train! Since our church is far away from any railroad tracks it was kind of an unexpected noise. The next thing I noticed was the proximity of the whistle and then it suddenly dawned on me that the “train” was running in my handbag and that it was my text messaging system informing me that someone was trying to get in touch with me.

In a state of panic, I tried to reach for the phone but couldn’t grab it fast enough to avoid another loud and intriguing whistle. For a moment I wished I was invisible. Luckily, our church members are very understanding and extremely friendly people. Some of them turned around so see where the sound came from, started smiling and gave me the look  of “been there, done that”. No need to mention that I felt embarrassed anyway and switched off my phone as fast as I could. Since our pastor has a good sense of humor he pretended it never happened and I’m thankful for that to this day!

Just to make me feel better, let me mention that two weeks ago another whistle blew through the Sunday service. No, it wasn’t me! I changed the sound of my text messaging system long time ago …. to a typewriter ..