The other morning my wife missed her alarm and overslept. She usually gets up much earlier than I do, therefore she simply leaves me to sleep an extra 30 minutes or so. But on this particular morning, as she flew out of the bed, she managed to mumble something in a panicked tone that I struggled to interpret in my near comatose state.
“Oh my gosh, I overslept!” to me amounted to little more than gibberish. Between her groggy mumbling and my partial consciousness, we were virtually unable to communicate. I think I managed some kind of, “What?” to which she replied with something else I could not really understand. It was quite confusing.
As I thought back about the incident later that day, it began to dawn on me just how fragile communication is. In fact, I would say that 99% of the time all forms of human communication fall far short of perfection. Without trying to get philosophical, I just want to point out that communication in this fallen world is a very, very difficult thing to get right.
There is something profoundly symbolic in this thought in relation to our understanding of God. It with with speech that God brought the creation into existence. It is with words that God revealed himself to all mankind through the holy scriptures. The very Word incarnate communicates to us with precision exactly who God is in His very nature. To speak, therefore, is to be something like God — to image Him.
It is only natural for a fallen creation, therefore, to have fallen communication. I want to understand you, but I struggle. This is particularly true here in Jackson where I have trouble understanding the vast majority of what people say to me. But the problem is universal to mankind, and not just across the typical language barriers, but even among those who speak the same language with the same accent!
What am I trying to say out of all this? Not much, really. I’m just thinking out loud about things. I guess the direct application for me is to make an extra effort to understand what you are trying to say to me, and go the extra mile in making myself clear to you. Perhaps the church would more closely resemble a body if we all made the extra efforts to speak and to listen more clearly.
What are your thoughts on the matter?
What?……Seriously, I agree with you. As much as we rely on communication, we are not very good at it. So many people underestimate the importance of listening. I am currently stressing this to a group of teens I am working with. Just stop and listen to GOD!