Like it or not, we are still stuck on Zoom for some meetings and interactions, making us all live in 2-D.  We’ve been doing this a lot for the last three years and while I am really glad we had it during those pandemic days today I begin to dread being on a Zoom.  (Yes, I have Zoom fatigue. Do you?) Yesterday, I was on a Zoom with a Head of HR who was taking me through a recent set of layoff that they had to do and she was discussing how hard it was to be compassionate and attuned to the emotions and needs of their employees over Zoom.  It reminded me of one of the things I really dislike about Zoom (or any video teleconference) which is that moment of “goodbye”.  When we hit that “Leave” or “End Meeting for All” button it feels like we are hanging up on someone too abruptly.  By now, Zoom could have softened the message and given us options on what we want our invitees to see as we hang up.  Maybe the button should be, “Goodbye for Now”, or “Bye and Have a Great Day”, or just “Goodbye” instead of “Leave”.  No one wants to just leave someone hanging and in 2-D it even feel worse.  It’s a good thing for us to think about that when we sign-off from any conversation, in any medium, we want to be sure that have given ample space and time to say an authentic goodbye.

Jesus left His Disciples and followers but as He did he assured them that He would not leave them, or us alone.  It isn’t God’s way to just leave us.  What He did instead, he left us with another dimension to our faith, the Holy Spirit to be with us at all times.  I am also always amazed at how God’s Word can come alive for us when we dig in.  He doesn’t leave us and He certainly is far more than the dimensions that we can understand.

Reference: John 14:6 (New Living Translation)