Nomophobia

I'd never heard this word before. On the radio the other morning, they commented on this. My first guess was 'fear of the law.' And that would make sense in that I often take my foot off the accelerator when I see a policeman. But that's not what they meant.

They described this new phobia as "Fear of Being Out of Range on your cell (Mobile) phone." (No Mobile Phobia) No doubt this word is not American as US people title their mobile phones, "cell phones." Maybe it's an Aussie word. We'll see.

And I've certainly experienced this phenomenon. What if, when I'm driving here in the US, or between Tamworth and Armidale, someone tries to ring me and they get a 'out of range' commentary from the telecom provider. Oy! Oy vey! This would be so bad, as I spend a lot of time in my car or in the train or ... such.

So I immediately understood their 'new' word of the day. Nomophobia. May it not happen to you.

But what may be more significant, and more of a worry, is NoGophobia. That is the fear of not being able to hear from God. (French: you may need to call it NoDophobia, obviously) After all, when we cannot get a signal to Telstra or AT & T, no worries, God can always get through. I'm sure Billy Ray Cyrus has written something about that. But what if He couldn't? What if we had done something to prevent His communication with us?

Ouch, that wouldn't be good, at all.

So, this April, think about God getting through to you, let Him speak to you. Let His word dwell in you richly, and don't worry about being out of range. He knows where you are.

After all, that's a great comfort.