Can You Hear Me Now? By Rev. Susan Overland

I’ve always gotten a chuckle over the cellular service commercial where we find the salesman going from point to point asking, “Can you hear me now?” or, “How about now?” We see him coming out of a manhole on a busy city street, in a swamp, a bustling office, and even what looks like the frozen tundra. Every time he asks, “Can you hear me now?” he smiles and says, “Good“ when he receives the inevitable “yes”, meaning his cell service has passed the good reception test.

I’ve experienced those calls when suddenly I can’t hear the caller, or they can’t hear me and, sure enough, one of us ends up asking, “Can you hear me now?” I may have to walk outside or change rooms, or turn myself to face a different direction, trying to get better reception, each time asking again, “Can you hear me now?” Ultimately, I either resume my call, or the call is dropped – either one of the two leaving me to roll my eyes in mild annoyance.

Deeper Musings

Funny, this clever commercial with a catchy phrase that many of us repeated as a joke, has actually turned into deeper musings on my relationship with God, especially my prayer practice. I typically end my Spiritual Mind Treatments by saying, “And so it is,” the declarative statement that means I have released my Word to the Law; it is done. Or is it?

How many times have the really difficult challenges of 2020 left me wondering, “Can you hear me now?” I may not be climbing out of a literal manhole in the middle of a busy street, but maybe I’m climbing out of bed on day #255 of the COVID-19 quarantine and the cacophony in my head is just as loud as that busy street. I may not be in the middle of a swamp, but the quagmire that is our current political atmosphere has been just as murky at times.

In the stillness and the quiet

There are days when my prayer and the prayers of the world may leave me asking, “Can you hear me now? I mean, really, can you?” Those occasional (thankfully far and few between) days when I need that extra boost for my prayer signal! Days when I need to change rooms, face a different window, go outside, or phone a prayer partner. And I always find that if I just wait a little bit, in the stillness and the quiet, I realize that what I’m really hearing is the Thing Itself asking me the same question, “Can you hear me now?” And I just smile and hear, “Good.”

Rev. Susan Overland is the Associate Minister at Center for Spiritual Living San José. Prior to ministry, she had a successful career at Hewlett-Packard; she has received accolades and awards for her theater work on various stages from New York to California. During her almost 20 years at CSLSJ, she’s worn every hat from Board Secretary to Board President, Business/Operations Administrator to Programs Core Coordinator, Founder of Center Stage Productions, and let’s not forget Minister of silly voices, prayer warrior, and too many others to list.

Rev. Susan’s passion is teaching – either certificated classes or her Beginning Acting or Improv classes. When not teaching, you will find her directing theater, or co-authoring one of the many plays or musicals she’s created for the Center. Rev. Susan is a contributing author to the book, All is Well: 29 Stories of Guts & Grace, Courage & Compassion, and she recently finished writing a children’s book entitled Why Is There a Meatball On the Ceiling!?

Rev. Susan lives in the Rose Garden area of San José with her husband (and licensed Practitioner), Max Overland, and their dog, Moody! She spends as much time as she can with her 4 grandchildren.