Monday, March 25, 2013

Loud Speakers versus Quiet Words

We were crossing Yonge Street at Dundas. In front of the Eaton Centre there were several street preachers all with signs about God's Love and Jesus' Life. They spoke through very tinny speakers, they spoke of love, oddly, with angry voices. As we went over to get a hot dog, Ruby holding tight onto my hand, I had to guide her through the messages. I hoped, fervently, she wasn't hearing them. "Deaf," "Blind," and "Crippled" were words flung into the air - typifying the lives of non-believers. On the other side of the street a young man was talking about how the culture was promoting hoMOsexULAITY which was a sign that we were in the end times.

I was frustrated at hearing disability used as a metaphor for sin and sinners and homosexuality used as a sign of ultimate evil. I was angered that children were hearing this kind of hatred. Those people who would disapprove of Joe and I caring for these two little girls were the very people we wanted to protect them from. I don't know if that is irony but I do know that it saddens me deeply. Ruby still believes that God's primary job is to love. She thinks that Jesus is a nice man who love all his children. I want her to know that God for as long as she can before she meets the God whose message is blared out on street corners with fury as a motivator and discrimination as a constant theme.

The day before I had been driven to work on a bus with a man with whom I had a powerful hour long chat. In the course of that chat he mentioned his faith but once. I knew he was a Christian. Once he did that we talked about a variety of topics and God did not intrude, or need to be praised, even once. God was always there, like a friend listening in, but his presence was in the tone and the texture of what was being said. I knew this man, from our talk over that hour, to be a gentle man who loved his children, loved his wife, loved his church and loved the role he had in the lives of others.

He never shouted.

He never angrily denounced worldly sin.

He used metaphors that were kind - of sun, and spring, and hope.

This was a man I would have loved to hear preach. And, in effect, I did. Because he knew that what he said and how he said it, what he did and how he did it, were more important that a biblical quote or a passed on condemnation. I arrived at work having been edified by the conversation and I found that I kept coming back to different parts of what was said over my day. I told Joe as much as I could remember of what we talked about.

It was hard to reconcile those people with microphones speaking to crowds who rushed away from their hatred and their anger with the gentle man who drove my bus to work.

One fellow called to me as I went by, "I'll pray for you."

It sounded like a threat.

That can't be good.

But I resolve to think less of them on the street with microphones full of hypocrisy and more of the man whose voice sounded like each word was crafted in kindness.

I admit however, that's hard to do.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dave, what you said in this post is something I've been trying to say for years but couldn't get it right. So I'm going to quote your words and give you the credit. Well done. Very appropriate topic for the season

scribe said...

Amen, brother!

(sorry - I couldn't resist)

Belinda said...

Amen from me too. I will link to this on Whatever He Says.

Anonymous said...

“Shimmer little one, shimmer little one
shine on, shine on, you were born to shine on.
Shimmer little one, shimmer little one
shine on, shine on, you were born to shine on.
I am your refelction and you are mine.
All of us, reflections of the light divine,
so shimmer little one, shimmer little one
you were born to shine.”
I got on the bus today
I was feeling down
Didn’t get off, I just knew I had to take a ride.
I looked out the window, yeah, I just looked around
and tried to make sense of all that I was feeling inside
then a strange man sitting right next to me
said, “I can feel what your eyes can see.
Don’t you worry brother,
everybody’s doin’ fine.”
His stop came up and he rang the bell.
There was something in his voice I knew so well.
Something in the way his eyes looked into mine
when he whispered,
“It’s alright, it’s alright, it’s alright.”
“Shimmer little one, shimmer little one
shine on, shine on, you were born to shine on.
Shimmer little one, shimmer little one
shine on, shine on, you were born to shine on.
I am your refelction and you are mine.
All of us reflections of the light divine,
so shimmer little one, shimmer little one
you were born to shine.”
I waved out the window as we drove away.
He never looked back as he vanished into all of the rest.
I looked at the people getting through the day
and something must have changed ’cause somehow everybody seemed blessed.
Sometimes I can tell myself that I’m all alone.
I can tell myself that I’m on my own.
Tell myself to question all the love I receive.
Sometimes I can tell myself that it’s all too much.
I can tell myself not to ever trust,
then someone comes along
that I know I just gotta believe
when he whispers,
“It’s alright,it’s alright, it’s alright…
“Shimmer little one, shimmer little one
shine on, shine on, you were born to shine on.
Shimmer little one, shimmer little one
shine on, shine on, you were born to shine on.
I am your refelction and you are mine.
All of us reflections of the light divine,
so shimmer little one, shimmer little one.
You were born to shine.”

Dave I did not simply wanted to copy the link to Joshua Kadisons BORN TO SHINE. But it was that what came up after reading your post.

Julia

Tara said...

"...they spoke of love, oddly, with angry voices."
Sigh. I want to apologize for them. I have probably been the one with the angry voice speaking of something I did not understand, had not actually experienced. For some reason, it's easy to invoke the name of Jesus while missing His message entirely. It's easy to put God in our agenda-sized box instead of recognizing that He's bigger than any of our ideas or plans. It's easy to become consumed with our "rightness" and forget altogether that love wins.

Thank you for reminding me to close my mouth and simply love.

"Mike" said...

I had an experience like this in a Goodwill store. I was looking through the books and a sister walked up. She began a conversation. She was older, very nice, and positively serene. I brought up the war (the latest one, whichever that one was) and told her how worried I was about my students, who were returning in pieces (mentally and physically). We didn't exactly share the same faith but we bonded over the shared suffering we were witnessing in our students. When we stop calling them "body bags" and start using terms like "transfer tubes," we are headed in the wrong direction. We need to understand just exactly what happens when deploy things like bombs. Most of these words are euphemisms and don't scratch the surface. The intent is to hide the reality of violence behind words that don't convey any meaning. There's someone at PSU who wrote extensively about what he called the "Lexicon of Violence."