The appearance of being helpful

"If you would like to complete a brief survey at the end of your call (after waiting 10 minutes and not being helped) please push the pound key now" 

"We're appreciate the opportunity to serve you!  We're emailing to ask you to please click on this link and take 10 minutes to complete the online satisfaction survey?"

"If you go to the website on the bottom of your receipt and complete the questionnaire you will be eligible for $100k in prizes..."

"Yes, I know someone in our office told you it could happen, but no, we can't pick up that item in your trash until next week.  Is there anything else I can help you with :-)?"

So I'm thinking at the end of the day-- what am I missing?  (no, at the moment I didn't think of these as "opportunities for patience")

3 musings...
1) It seems like the appearance of being helpful has taken the place of being helpful.  
2) Time is so valuable, and if I'm going to survive I have to say "no" a lot more often.  
3) Engagement person to person re: real life is at the top of the hierarchy of needs. 

Imagine hanging out with Jesus when He said:

“I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples. John 15:5-8 Message Version

It isn't real hard to spot a branch that isn't connected to the Vine.  If it snaps when you bend it, chances are it needs to be reconnected.  Sometimes I begin to hear the "snap, crackle and pop" in my own life.

There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!  Romans 5:3-5 Message

This is the quest we are on at Smoky Hill Vineyard, for something beyond the appearance of being helpful!  And I'm so thankful to be on the journey together!