My nephew came over the other evening with his family. The youngest was interested in only one thing, the chocolate cake. Want a recipe for chocolate cake? There’s an app for that. The older child wanted to play a game on my phone. There’s an app for that. While cooking dinner for all of them, I danced to classical rock. Thankfully, there’s an app for that. We are trying to get our budget in shape after months of transition. My nephew showed me…there’s an app for that. He has a new job where he needs to keep notes for social media updates. There’s an app for that. He also needs to figure out how to sync facebook, twitter, etc. Indeed, there’s an app for that. My high school (the same one my nephew graduated from!)  reunion is in a few months and I want to lose 20 pounds. Not that it has worked, but there’s an app for that. I can’t get done all in my ‘to do’ list without being organized. There’s an app for that. We travel a lot and I can easily get bored. So I read. Now there’s an app for that. And I can even watch TV and movies! Whoohoo! There’s an app for that. Lest you think my thoughts go only so deep, I do spend time in God’s word. Well, let me just say I have multiple versions of the Bible apps, a French Bible app, a listen to the Bible to app, a Bible study app, a Bible commentary app, etc.  I am involved in multiple prayer initiatives. There are apps for that…for multiple faiths, even. I try and keep up with global poverty and justice issues. Yep, there are apps for that.

Is there anything that there is not an app for? There is no app for engagement. There is no app for commitment. There is no app for loving your neighbor. There is no app for walking out your front door and asking that person from another country what their name is. The month of Ramadan is upon us. Muslims around the world will be praying for God to meet them, to bless them, to help them. And yes, there are apps to help them in this prayer endeavor. But I wonder if the best app wouldn’t be for God’s people to put down their devices with their apps, walk out our front doors and tell our Muslim neighbors hello. Tell them we are praying alongside them during this special time of emphasis.  I will be going to a local mosque once a week to visit with some of the women there. They have opened the invitation to any woman desiring to have some tea and conversation with them.  I have invited others to go with me. I’m not sure many (if any) will take me up on it. A twitter friend tweeted this week, “Unplugging is the new fasting.” Thanks @jeffvcook! Many of us though not Muslim, have some fasting to do this month as well if we are to engage with our Muslim neighbor and be instruments of God’s love.

I wonder if we need an app to help garner the courage to go outside of our comfort zone. Oh wait! There is an app for that! His name is Holy Spirit.