The Appointment with God

Arthur's face showed his tension as he stared at the computer screen. It was 1:59 PM. He was frantically adjusting a presentation for the board meeting.

The intercom on his desk chimed. "Arthur? Your 2:00 appointment is here," Sarah said.

"I need ten more minutes, Sarah," Arthur replied, his eyes scanning rows of data. "Tell Him I'm finishing the presentation. Offer Him a sparkling water or something."

"Sir... it's God," she reminded him quietly.

"I know," Arthur snapped, though not unkindly. "Just ten minutes. I'm almost there."

At exactly 2:10 PM, the door clicked shut. God was standing there, looking at a potted plant in the corner that was leaning toward the light.

"Please have a seat," Arthur said, finally pushing his keyboard away. He picked up his smartphone and tapped an icon to load his daily devotion. "I'm glad we're doing this. Look at this—I'm on a 144-day streak."

God looked at the glowing screen, then toward the large office window. "It's a spectacular day outside, Arthur. The air is cool and the park is full of life. Why don't we go for a walk? I would love to talk with you."

Arthur winced, his thumb hovering over the 'Start' button on the app. "I'd love to, really. But I made a New Year's resolution to give You more time, and I haven't missed a day yet. I've got to stay on track." He tapped the screen and a progress bar appeared. "Can we chat on Sunday?"

"On Sunday," God said gently, "you spend the morning in the production booth with your headset on. Then, you spend an hour talking with your friends in the lobby. When you get home, you're in your recliner streaming videos until you fall asleep."

"I am so glad I rarely work on Sundays; I really need that time to recharge," Arthur said. "Maybe I can show up to church 15 minutes early this week and we can talk about whatever You want."

Arthur looked back down at his phone, his thumb scrolling through the digital text. He was focused on the words so he could share some thoughts with other people doing the same devotion.

He didn't hear the still, small voice that followed. "You are missing a beautiful day and a chance to rejoice and be glad in it," God said softly. "Please put your phone away and let's take a walk."

Arthur didn't look up. Right in the middle of his devotion, a text from his boss popped up at the top of his screen. They needed an urgent change to one of the slides.

"I guess I will need to skim the rest of this devotion today," Arthur said, already thinking about the slide. "Maybe I can do better tomorrow. You understand, right?"

As he goes to put his phone down and he sees a big badge twirling and glistening on his phone. "Look at this. I just got the 'Deep Devotion' achievement." He said, looking up to see God fading from the office with tears on His face.