The other.

{This is an old post that I had saved as a 'draft', I did not know that was
possible, any way here it is.}


Communication theory has said that we develop a concept of our self by engaging with other people. We express ideas through symbols (words, body language) these symbols are interpreted by another person then returned to us, we interpret and then re-express... Though this is a overly simple and dumbed down explanation, the idea is that we develop our sense of self through interaction with the other. If this is true we need other people in order be ourselves.

The loss of words

Have you ever noticed how sometimes our language just does not cut it. That there are things that words cannot express. Take art, somtimes It seems that art has the abilty to speak louder and with more clarity to the truth of somethings, and most often without words. 

The same is often true when answering the question " how do we know we are loved?" We can be told that we are loved, but it is always more powerful when we see or experience being loved. In those moments it is as if the language goes past words and speaks directly to the inside in some way that I don't get and sounds cheesy, but you know what I am talking about if you have paid any attention to art. That leads to this question.

Have you ever seen God speak to someone? 

I think I have. 

It is pretty cool to watch the story be told. The story often is of some trivial event in a persons life, take a some what random phone call, but to the person it seems to have carried a disproportional amount of weight. The phone call comes as an answer or an encouragement. See for that person the trivial phone call has come in the midst of an on going inner dialogue of sorts with God, and until then God has seemed some what absent or quiet as the person talked. but then when we have stopped talking, God speaks not through the phone, but to the inside. God says all the things that we have heard God say in the past through the word, but this time it is deeper and louder. "I love you, I'm with you, I will complete what I have started..."  and that person has heard God speak. 

  

Who Knew ?

I recently learned that Psalm 95 has been traditionally read by the church at the out set of the day, so I spent so time reading it. As I was read the psalm I noticed that it seems to tells a story, and as that story is told I could not but help to see it as a call to worship. The psalmist calls the people to worship God, to recognize the worthiness of God, and to do it through song. As the psalmist continues, the story tells what happens when Israel, or when we, neglect to worship. Israel's hearts were hardened and they turned away from God, and God left them there, away from the presence of God, left them to their own destruction. 

Who knew that Singing could save my life. 

The Narrative (section 2)

In the movie, The Return of the King, from The Lord of the Rings trilogy, there is a scene in which Frodo and his companion, Sam, are being lead into the heart of Mordor, which is the land of the enemy, in order to destroy the ring. It is evident that carrying the ring has began to take its’ toll on Frodo. This is when Frodo begins to see this journey is, perhaps, his last. However, as they begin to set out one morning, Sam takes account of their food stock and states that there should be enough. When questioned by Froto as to what he means by enough, Sam replies with “enough for the return trip home.” Sam was operating by a different narrative than Frodo; Sam's narrative brought hope while Frodo’s was one of defeat. When Sam's narrative that ends with them returning home was shared with Frodo, it brings hope and light into Frodo’s story. They both were on the same quest in the same land, but somehow Sam operated by a different narrative, and his narrative brought life.