On Saturday, February 24, 2024, 19 year old Trent Degulis, who calls himself a social media influencer, climbed a 1600 foot cell tower in Riverview, Florida, south of Tampa. He said he "wanted to see the sunset." Claiming it was the first time he had done it, when he reached the bottom he was arrested for misdemeanor trespassing. He told police officers that yes, he did indeed reach the "top-top" of the tower, and then live-streamed to social media from that spot.
The first commercial cell tower was built in 1983, and was analog, what we would call a "1G," or first generation. When my probation officer husband had to check out and use a department cell phone while making his rounds as a house arrest officer in the mid-90s, it looked like a brick and weighed two and a half pounds. And those first cell phones cost right at $4,000.00! My, my, have times changed.
We went a long time before we finally gave in and bought a cell phone. It was an expense we did not need, and an aggravation we did not want. I am not the servant of my phone and will not allow it to have me running at its beck and call! But finally the phone companies took down most of the phone booths I had used when there was an emergency or I just needed to make some unexpected last minute arrangements. I had to have a phone for those things.
It still isn’t the cure for everything, especially where I lived then. While I may be one of the only people in the state of Florida to actually use her cell phone for emergencies only, when I need to use it, I really need to use it. Then it becomes more than a little aggravating to get only one or two bars or worse, the big red X—no service. Wherever that tower was, it was to the southwest of us, and I have spent a lot of time wandering around in my southern field trying to turn that red X into at least three bars so I will hear more than static and be less likely dropped.
Once I was meandering with such rapt attention on that tiny little screen that when I finally got my three bars and stood stock still so I wouldn’t lose them, I found myself jumping around a moment later, covered in fire ants. The only place I could get reception was in an ant bed!
But cell towers do not matter when you need the Lord. Whenever His children need Him, he is just a word or a thought away. You don’t even have to dial, and you certainly don’t have to wander around outside in the heat or cold or rain trying to get a signal. “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you,” James tells us (4:8). Indeed when I looked up the word in a concordance, I discovered that the only reason God is ever “far” from us is because we have gone far from Him (Isa 29:13; 33:13; 46:12; etc.).
The next time you pull out that little monstrosity, remind yourself how blessed you really are. You have a Father in Heaven who will answer your call no matter how many bars your spirit has left within you. He will hear you, even if you only have strength left to whisper.
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need, Heb 4:16.
Dene Ward
The first commercial cell tower was built in 1983, and was analog, what we would call a "1G," or first generation. When my probation officer husband had to check out and use a department cell phone while making his rounds as a house arrest officer in the mid-90s, it looked like a brick and weighed two and a half pounds. And those first cell phones cost right at $4,000.00! My, my, have times changed.
We went a long time before we finally gave in and bought a cell phone. It was an expense we did not need, and an aggravation we did not want. I am not the servant of my phone and will not allow it to have me running at its beck and call! But finally the phone companies took down most of the phone booths I had used when there was an emergency or I just needed to make some unexpected last minute arrangements. I had to have a phone for those things.
It still isn’t the cure for everything, especially where I lived then. While I may be one of the only people in the state of Florida to actually use her cell phone for emergencies only, when I need to use it, I really need to use it. Then it becomes more than a little aggravating to get only one or two bars or worse, the big red X—no service. Wherever that tower was, it was to the southwest of us, and I have spent a lot of time wandering around in my southern field trying to turn that red X into at least three bars so I will hear more than static and be less likely dropped.
Once I was meandering with such rapt attention on that tiny little screen that when I finally got my three bars and stood stock still so I wouldn’t lose them, I found myself jumping around a moment later, covered in fire ants. The only place I could get reception was in an ant bed!
But cell towers do not matter when you need the Lord. Whenever His children need Him, he is just a word or a thought away. You don’t even have to dial, and you certainly don’t have to wander around outside in the heat or cold or rain trying to get a signal. “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you,” James tells us (4:8). Indeed when I looked up the word in a concordance, I discovered that the only reason God is ever “far” from us is because we have gone far from Him (Isa 29:13; 33:13; 46:12; etc.).
The next time you pull out that little monstrosity, remind yourself how blessed you really are. You have a Father in Heaven who will answer your call no matter how many bars your spirit has left within you. He will hear you, even if you only have strength left to whisper.
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need, Heb 4:16.
Dene Ward
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