Faith Venture

Shall we pause and reflect upon the manner with which we connect with others who are perhaps struggling with something or asking for help with a project?

We seldom realize the weight our words, even the shortest quip, fall on another’s consciousness.

Immediately I think of a quip an older student made to me when I was in first grade that controlled certain behaviors for ten years of school. The slightest comment can cause someone to gain faith…or lose it.

When we offer a critique of another’s work, choose wisely. Will our comment belittle them? Make them feel childish or ignorant or irrelevant?

Perhaps we can find encouraging words that enlarge their perspective giving them hope and positive guidance.

Maybe we have cultivated the life stance of kindness which guides our thoughts and comments.

I vaguely remember a TV show from long ago where the main character’s line went, “What we have here is a failure to communicate.”

We think we said something witty or worthwhile or wise. We think we have communicated.

What in fact was communicated was what was heard.

Even in a brief cursory encounter a quip or witty saying can have unintended impact on the other. These sometimes cause hurt and lasting relationship damage.

Of course, some people intend to hurt. Avoid those people. They harbor deep issues.

Often the best response is to ask in a manner decidedly unlike a defense attorney cross-examining a witness, “I’m not sure I heard what you mean. Did you mean…?”

That is not exactly closing the loop. It’s an invitation to take the loop up a level, sort of like an upward spiral. Exploring meaning. Deepening the conversation.

Then communication occurs.

Words.

What a wonderful invention. We can combine them to assist thinking and communicate our thoughts to others.

I forget the movie, but I remember the line—“What we have here is a failure to communicate.”

Sometimes the words just come out wrong (to paraphrase a song from somewhere). We thought we said one thing, but somehow it came out another.

I offer this thought.

“Communication is about what is received, not what is intended. If there is a gap between what you are saying and what they are hearing, you have to find a new way to say it.”

The author discussed the Apostle Paul’s speech before a Jewish synagogue and then compared and contrasted to a speech before a council of Greek philosophers in Athens. The only common point was the conclusion centered on the fact and meaning of the resurrection of Jesus.

The approaches and arguments could not have been more different.

The conclusion?

Paul wasn’t trying to make a point. He was trying to make a difference.

Irresistible, Andy Stanley

When we open our favorite social media app, perhaps we could pause and consider–am I just trying to make some point? Ah, ha! Gotcha! Boy, that was a zinger.

Or perhaps we close the app and go out to be of service and make a difference in a life.