A few weeks ago, I started getting a strange call on my cell phone from an “877” area-code. When my phone rang, I was in the middle of something important and since I didn’t recognize the number I simply let it go to voicemail. Later, I called my voicemail and listened to the messages. There it was; a short message from this unfamiliar number. In a pleasant male voice, the caller said, “Thank you, and have a nice day.” It was a benign interference. I deleted the message and moved on. Then, a few days later it happened again. The phone rang, I checked the number and when I saw the “877” area-code I let it go to voicemail. Later, I listened to the message and again I heard, “Thank you, and have a nice day.”
On Shabbat morning during Torah study my cell-phone rang. I thought it might be an urgent call, so I stopped the class and checked the number. There it was, “877”. I smiled and put my phone away. Later, just as I had come to expect, the caller said, “Thank you, and have a nice day.” A part of me wanted to block the number so I wouldn’t be disturbed by it again. But, another part of me smiled and laughed when I thought about this benign interference. Who else calls me nearly twice a week simply to say, “Thank you, and have a nice day”?
Now, I didn’t call the number back and Elijah certainly has better things to do, but I also couldn’t find any reason to be annoyed. What other unsolicited call could be any kinder or more spontaneous? How did the caller know that just at that moment I needed a little encouragement? “Thank you” is so welcome after a long phone call with a person who is grieving; or, in the middle of a long day of writing and preparation; or, on Shabbat when thanks are always due. And, “Have a nice day” sounds simple but it means everything when it’s raining out, or the day is complicated, or you have more than you can do in a single day. So, now I anticipate the call. When it comes I smile quietly and know that my voice-recorded friend has left me a thoughtful message.
I don’t believe in random acts of kindness. I believe in mitzvah. No one should stumble into a good deed that benefits another person. It’s best to be deliberate about a mitzvah by putting heart and soul into it; but, in the case of a voice-recorded message like the one I received, maybe it’s the sign of the times. Maybe our hard-wired (and wireless) world of technology has softened to include sounds, even if they’re artificial, which remind us that behind every chip and every circuit is still a human hand, a creative mind, and a living soul; and behind each of those is a living God, the Source of them all. I’m not suggesting that God called me on my cell phone (God could if God wanted to), but, let’s be clear: the world always contained the technology we enjoy, today. The raw materials were always here. Now, in our time and place the wheels of invention and human discovery have revealed to us what we can know. Like reaching into the ether with skilled hands we are drawing out astonishing pieces of new tools and understanding.
Years ago, we feared that computers would relegate names to numbers and we would become nothing more than ID’s ready for scanning. It hasn’t happened the way we thought it would, and technology has transformed almost every part of our life for the better. And, if for any reason we should fear technology or the extent of our new understanding, then we should look at the history of the human endeavor to harness new discoveries and see that, with the exception of some evil minds, the world is a better place to live, today.
How far have we really come? Sometimes we lose our way as devices ring and buzz all around us. And, then, from somewhere in a land of “877” calls, one hears, “Thank you, and have a nice day.” It’s better than the alternative.
From my desk to yours, Shabbat Shalom.
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