Tools by Susan L.

  I'm heading away for a weekend visit with my son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren. It's been too long. My laptop is coming with me because they are going to set me up with Skype. This will mean more face time with the kids, older and younger. My solid, utilitarian machine doesn't have the bells and whistles of a higher end model. Thankfully, they have an old web cam that will work just as well as a built in camera. Or so they say. Not that I doubt them, it's technology I am wary of.
  I'm slowly being dragged into the twenty-first century whether I like it or not. Technology isn't something I think about even though it is so interwoven into my daily life. What once was startling and new and amazing becomes as routine as using a spoon to slurp some soup.
  It's all about tools and using them according to their design.
  I also have an arsenal of imaginary spiritual tools that I carry with me in an invisible utility belt. It looks like the one the old Batman used to wear that held bat rope, bat scissors...corny as anything but nevertheless serves as a good jumping off point for a bit of very serious whimsy.
  Let's see, what have I got? The belt itself is made of colourful, densely woven threads of gratitude. Prayer is in the biggest pouch front and centre. The Sword of the Holy Spirit hangs from a loop. God's Word sits in an open pouch and is ready to be used. The scriptures are remembered when they are needed although the chapter and verse reference often eludes me. Creativity and imagination are in two different pockets at the back. There's a little pocket overflowing with wellness tools like remembering to run my hands under warm water to ease a panic attack. There's a small bag clipped onto a metal hoop. It holds experience.
  I could go on but anything I ever want or will ever need is at hand. It holds a whole lot more than its small size would imply. This is God technology. Nothing beats it.
  "Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace." Eph 6:14-15