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I often wondered why these words of Jesus’ have rattled some people cages so much.
Perhaps I’ve become jaded, being accustomed to living in the world
where words are high on calories and low on substance. Where talking is cheap.
Where words rarely match their meaning. And I am not thinking, politicians or preachers only.
It's all the rest of us.
We just say things.
We don’t really mean them.
How are you?
Fine. And you, how are you?
Oh, just fine.
Great. How are you?
My questions are as empty as your answers.
As a result, we’ve all become a little jaded… a little deaf… a little
hard of hearing.
We hear words but we’ve learned to ignore
them. Tune out. Dismiss.
Truly, this may not be all bad, it might be a
sheer survival skill because much of what is being communicated is not worth
hearing. Not worth hearing at all.
But, in the process, something incredibly valuable gets
lost. In the process of voicing our meaningless words, we’ve stripped them of their true power. The way we treat
our words – every day, in all our ‘casual’ and 'formal' interactions - we've earned our right to
be ignored.
Children start out differently.
They discover this potent gift of language and they begin to use it about the age of one or two.
They say things, and Mom does them - it's powerful!
They express what they want, feel and think with disarming honesty. It's quite delightful (unless you are their parent!). But sooner or later, heartbreak and ridicule eventually teaches them to become hardened just like the rest of us.
They learn to hide behind their words rather than to reveal. To cover up rather than express.
But, not so with Jesus.
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