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We had the internet hardware in the Parish Hall upgraded this week. Staff and volunteers have increasingly had problems with the internet, despite our service upgrade to fiber last fall. That could only mean we had hardware issues. And boy, did we. We knew we had some bad access points in the back of the hall, so that the far-flung parts of the building, like the area near the choir room and the nursery, were Wi-Fi dead zones. We called our tech support folks to help us figure out a solution, and they quickly ascertained two problems.
Our access points, the physical devices that put out the Wi-Fi signal, were nine years old. Worse than that, some of them were fed by Ethernet cables that were even older and simply couldn’t transmit the internet speeds we need for things like Zoom meetings (who knew what that was nine years ago?!?!). In technical terms, that means our internal hardware was almost stone-age. It’s like trying to use shadow puppets from a fire in a cave instead of a high-definition TV to tell stories. Ok, so I exaggerate a little. But remember that nine years ago, the best phone on the market was an iPhone 7. If you had one of those, you know how far we’ve come in a decade!
The great news is that with a few new cables and access points, we now have blazing-fast, stable internet throughout the Parish Hall. It’s a minor thing in one sense, but it’s also the lifeblood of so much of what we do these days. Most software is based on internet speed and equipment, as are our phones. It would be impossible for us to even get you this Rambling without the internet at several stages in the process. After walking around the building today, testing speeds, these upgrades will certainly take care of a few headaches as we engage in ministry within these walls.
Sometimes we just need upgrades. We need new ways to do things, or new avenues through which to do what we’ve always done. Not always, but sometimes. For example, we may have a season when we aren’t connecting to God the way we used to. In those moments, we may need to shake things up with a new spiritual practice, a new devotional, or a form of prayer that helps us connect more deeply with God. As I think about our Summer Chapel plans for this summer – the plan to offer a casual communion service at St. Ignatius at 9:15 am June through August – I realize it’s part of the same process. I think many of us will find that change of venue and style refreshing. The liturgy won’t be completely different, but the newness of the vibe, the music, and some elements of the worship just might help us connect in a much-needed new way to our traditions and to God.
I can’t guarantee that connection speeds will change when we try a new form of prayer, pray at a different time, or pray in a different location, but I do think the connection itself can and does often deepen and strengthen with some variation. Some of us don’t need those changes, and that’s fine too; stability in that connection to God is a blessing that doesn’t need to be tampered with! (Hence the reason that 75% of our summer schedule isn’t changing!) With hardware, software, or whatever we look at, the goal is the connection after all. If you find yourself with some connection issues, look around to see what you might swap out, upgrade, or do differently. If you need “tech-support,” try reaching out to some of your parish friends or your clergy for some ideas – we probably have a few. You might find it’s just what you needed.
