As it happens our son orchestrated a Christmas card photo that predates zoom. He took the pictures and combined them into the familiar boxes, with us pretending to look at each other. It was very clever. 

 

Those of us who have become accustomed to zoom meetings are familiar with the routine. Find the link, sometimes enter the password or wait to be invited in, mute until your turn. The system supports good conversation, at least until the internet becomes unstable. 

 

We have a group that has been meeting for thirty months, and the ability to get together despite enormous distances and divergent time zones is remarkable. People join from home, airports, trains, cars, other people's homes, and out in the great outdoors. Their determination to navigate the obstacles inherent to virtual gatherings is admirable. 

 

It is all a sweet invitation to expand our ability to listen. When someone forgets to unmute, we politely inform them, because we want to hear what they have to say. If someone freezes, we exercise patience while the invisible forces flying through space calm down. Zooms enforce the policy that one person speaks at a time, which we all can get sloppy about in person. Everything slows down a notch, which is ironic considering the speed with which sound travels. But I personally am grateful for the deceleration in a world that has been ramping up to a frenetic pace recently. Hearing well takes all my attention. 

 

I have a feeling that good habits are leaking into my in person conversations as well. Wait to be invited in to someone's heart, be patient as they gather their thoughts. Be flexible about joining them from whatever head space I might be in at the time. Don't interrupt. Slow down. 

 

Blessings come in all kinds of packages.