Every day of my life is filled with words..... words I write, words I preach, words I read and probably the most important words of all, those I listen to from people who share their lives with me.
But, sometimes, there just are no words, or at least adequate words.
A couple of weeks ago, I attended the Community Chorus' performance of "The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace". My reaction was immediate and one of deep feeling: I wept and was touched. It was a wonderful and moving experience. But, my response was much deeper, in fact, indescribable. I know that I am truly different after that night. I am still pondering what this will mean and what I need to learn, but I am sure that I will be a fundamentally different kind of peacemaker from now on.
Holocaust survivor and theologian Elie Weisel says that there are no words..... to describe or explain or make sense of the holocaust. People with HIV have consistently told me there are no words when they learned they were HIV+.... only white noise. When I was pregnant with Avary, people would say that having a child fundamentally changes your life. There were no words to describe how my whole life would change.... it just would.
We usually cannot describe the events in our lives that profoundly change us or even those events that change the world. We can only respond as a new person.
In Sunday's text, Mark describes Jesus' calling of the first few disciples. The silence of the disciples is startling.... Not a single word. And, yet their encounter with Jesus changed their whole lives.... and ours. As you prepare for worship, think on those times in your life for which there were no words. Think of how God used those times to change you.
I look forward to seeing all of you on Sunday, Laura Lee
Texts for This Week:
Jonah 3:1-5, 10
I Corinthians 7:29-31
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