Overheard

January 3, 2020

THREE GRACES OVERHEARD

1.  This morning, a friend whose perspective and wisdom I cherish, emailed our writer’s group from his new home in the Carolinas. “I’m going to try to follow pastor Jim’s example of being thankful,” he said. He’s been around enough to know that is not an easy path, as I discovered when I began walking this road myself. Not passing judgment on events and situations I believe to be foolish or even dangerous seemed to be an abdication of responsibility, requiring that I take decisive steps to curtail my critical tongue. It took awhile, but in the process I learned that most of my commentary, especially on social media, was either preaching to the choir or merely raising the hackles of those on the other side. 

Interestingly, response from around the table seemed to think my approach to be somewhat naïve or Pollyanna-ish. Perhaps it is, but I am grateful for this discipline that has governed my thinking and writing for the past seven years. It hasn’t changed the world, but it has changed me, and if my friend is the only one who picks up the torch, it will have changed one other person, too. This conversation overheard inspires me to keep going.

2. Tonight our dinner group met. We ate and talked, and as the meal ended and the conversation tapered off, it was time to pray. We adjourned to the living room where one by one, we spoke of situations we or loved ones were facing. Our host then prayed for each request. He commented afterward that it wasn’t polished like mine would be, whereupon I reminded him that heartfelt trumps polish every time. Besides, he wasn’t talking to me; he was talking to our Heavenly Father. As an earthly father, I’m not concerned about the presentation when my children want to talk. I’m just glad to have them come. No, Ken wasn’t talking to me; he was talking to God, and the rest of us merely had the privilege of listening in and overhearing a conversation that included us. 

3. It’s hard to overhear conversations when you’re nearly deaf. It isn’t polite to lean over into the next booth at a restaurant. I’ve watched movies where the protagonist overhears a conversation that leads to a mystery to be solved. That’s not going to happen here! I did however, happen to overhear a conversation as I read my Bible this morning. John was baptizing people who came to hear his preaching. He had called on people to repent, i.e. to make an about face in the trajectory of their lives. Some of the religious leaders of the day came to hear him and requested baptism also. Most preachers I know would be ecstatic to have prominent people come requesting baptism, but not John. “You generation of snakes!” he thundered. “Who warned you to flee the wrath to come?” John was about as fire and brimstone as they come, and Jesus said of him, “There is none greater.”

Whenever I see one of those shirts or signs that says, “In a world where you can be anything, be kind,” I think of John. Why aren’t we encouraging people to be bold, to be holy, to be courageous, to excel? Kindness is a wonderful attribute, but it isn’t the end-all. As I read this morning, I overheard this conversation between John and the religious leaders, and as a retired pastor I have to ask myself, “Is he talking to me?”