Those we admire for spiritual teaching weren’t always instantly available. In the Christian scriptures, for example, Jesus often went off by himself to pray.

On at least one occasion, his disciples had a hard time finding him. At other times, Jesus sent the disciples away so he could be alone.

Contrast these examples with our own practice of being instantly available.

Perhaps it began with the telegraph, sending news or requests for action over wires. Overnight, the recently established Pony Express disappeared, obsolete in the face of this new communication network.

We graduated to the telephone, perhaps at first found only in the nearest general store. Then we decided each office and home needed one.

A few years ago, we discovered electronic mail, leading to the ubiquitous email. Finally, at this writing, we have graduated to portable availability with our smart phones.

We are available for personal messages but also for our boss when we are on vacation. And even perfect strangers assault our privacy with robocalls and spam.

Perhaps I run the risk of missing something important by never looking at email or messages until the middle of the day. Obviously, if I’m awaiting certain messages, perhaps from family, I make exceptions and am grateful for the devices that allow this. And, of course, some people’s work does require them to be instantly available, at least for certain periods.

Most days, however, I figure if even Jesus needed to limit his availability, how much more do I.

If Jesus had owned a smart phone, I bet he would have turned it off a lot. I can’t picture him interrupting the Sermon on the Mount or his acts of compassion to the sick and dying to answer the phone.