Availability

Last week I did a procedure in the lab that involved using sound waves to tear apart cells and release the proteins inside of them. The equipment used to do this is called a sonicator. You may not realize it, but you’ve probably seen one – it’s the same kind of equipment that is used in a jewelry store to clean jewelry – sound vibrates the dirt away.

I wonder if that is comparable to parents trying to “shout” out stains. Probably not.

Anyway, the sonicator we have at work concentrates its sound waves through a probe which is inserted into the tube of cells in solution. The problem is that the sound is intense – high pitched – and can cause damage to the operator’s hearing if used often enough. To prevent that, I wear ear protection which kind of looks like big ear muffs. No, I’m not posting a picture.

Wearing that PPE (personal protective equipment), I am temporarily deaf – to prevent permanent deafness, I suppose it’s a fair exchange. I can hear myself breathing, my feet hitting the ground, but only very loud sounds from outside myself. Isolation. (Actually, I slip very small earphones under the muffs and listen to music while I sonicate – better than hearing myself breathe.)

I’m still reading Ortberg’s The Life You’ve Always Wanted. The chapter I finished today was about the practice of Servanthood or “appropriate smallness.” One of the ways that Ortberg says that the discipline of servanthood is practiced is through a ministry of being interrupted – a ministry of availability.

The chapter brought to mind for me my children. Do I practice a “ministry of availability” for them? How many times do I tell them “Not now.” Or “let’s talk about that later.”? Can I tell you how impatient I get with our younger son and his homework? Believe me, I don’t do homework well when I’m tired – and neither does he. I would much rather Not Be Available.

The Ministry of Availability requires us to set aside our own agenda and to be interruptible – to prioritize someone else’s needs above our own. It might mean listening to a child practice a solo for a school play when you would rather be getting the dishes washed and put away. It might mean listening to a discussion about the newest movie preview that the oldest son has seen rather than talking about what happened at work that day. It could mean trying to explain long division to a very tired and grumpy 10 year old. I give you these examples because these are all ways I have failed to be available in the past week.

I think I may need to begin some practice in this discipline.

I think I may need to come out of my isolation.

I think I may need to listen to more than myself breathing.

I think I may need to be more interruptible and more available.

Images: Both of these are of the most western point in Europe -- Cabo da Roca. Doesn't the Atlantic Ocean look different than how we think of it? It is all a matter of viewpoint.