*a personal musing on* Communication and Miscommunication... Love

Don't know if this will make sense to anyone but me, but since there are only a few who read this blog... here goes...

Do you ever find yourself speaking a "language" that is truly not your own?

No, I'm not talking about "speaking in tongues" although I suppose that could be one such way of doing this... I am speaking of something far less noble.

For example...

I am not a sarcastic person, and yet there are people/friends/family members in my life who regularly engage in this form of "humor" (questionable to me!!)

When I am with them, it seems that I start speaking their language... sarcasm comes from out my mouth and escapes despite my attempts at its restraint. (I am not really good at it)

I really don't like sarcasm, but something in me says... that's the way they do it, so you should do it like that when you talk to them.

I have people in my life who are great "pretenders"... like I love to pretend with KG that she's Lucy and we can walk right into Narnia... or that the little boys can be High King Peter and Caspian wielding swords and dispatching the enemy righteously and swiftly... but that is good pretending... there is another kind that is important in maintaining the "status quo"...

because if you don't... who knows what might happen....

the "truth" might be more than the system can bear.

It's like... When you are in Mexico, your price is in pesos, or in Europe, in Euros etc... you can't buy things unless it is converted to the "coin" of the country in which you are doing business. Somehow, I think in my mind, there are those people which whom I communicate who must be responded to in the coin that they give... even if it is an unfamiliar mode of payment for me. Since it is not my normal mode... I could "pay" too much or too little.... depending on the place it is presented. Am I making any sense here to anyone besides me?

It would seem that this happens most when we are confronted with people who really don't know us, or can't see us... people who already have us in a box that fits neatly into their circumstance, and if we begin to speak another language,

(or do something out of their image for us)

it is disconcerting and messes up the status quo.

I think this happens more than we know... I think this happened even in Jesus' day

(and I/you AM NOT JESUS)

so why shouldn't I be exposed to the same pressure of trying to fit a round peg

into a square hole? The scriptures say...

"a prophet is not known in his home town" (or something to that effect).

People couldn't see Jesus for who he truly was because they'd watched him grow up... they knew His family... they might have even been His own brothers and sisters who needed Him to stay just the older brother who slept in the same house, ate the same food, shared the same memories (to a point)... but then.... as He became something outside of them, they no longer could "see" Him...(I wonder, did they WANT to SEE Him?)

He spoke a language they didn't recognize...

He wasn't Who they thought He was.... sooooooo

it was easier to reject him and, at one point, assume and tell others He must be a little daft.

He spoke another "language"....

and they choose not to listen because it was unfamiliar and different.

In our own biology... the cells of our body are great at outcasting the germs that try to invade the cell... if they don't have the correct password, or if they speak the "unfamiliar"... the cell quickly disposes of them and voila... we don't get the bad cold, or the flu, or the infection... whatever. This is a good thing right????

Our immune system, when functioning properly is terrific at search and destroy the unfamiliar.

I wonder... do we do that to people?

Is that always a good thing? When is it bad?

I am called to be in the world even though I am not of it.... Jesus came to dwell in flesh just so that He could identify with His own creation.... He chose to speak our language so that He could teach us His.... LOVE

I find the pie-chart above very interesting..... I wonder if it is true for the majority of people? Maybe that is why "body language" specialists are so good at reading the politicians on the

Fox News channel.

And yet.... for me... words seem to be a much bigger part of my "pie"!

Why is it that most people I know can just let words roll away, and for me, they are boulders that crush my heart... or just as readily... they are eagle's wings that take me high and away?

Words carry great weight with me.... they are not casual.

Gary Smalley has a book "Love Languages" in which are described 5 ways of communicating love. His premise is that we all speak one of these languages primarily and the others in greater or lesser degree. I KNOW my primary language is "words". Do you know yours?

Today... as I listen (well... right now, I am choosing to NO LONGER LISTEN, to the news) about economics, politics, the state of the world... the words I hear are just too much to bear. I feel like the battering that has been taking place on both sides of the fence has left me (and others) victimized by their blatant disregard... people's lack of vision (ability to really see).... and people's manipulation of ANYTHING to get to the top of the

"Caterpillar pillar"!

(a great old book if you've never read it).

Today... I feel totally undefended, I feel totally vulnerable, and completely exposed.... and I think I may be feeling some things that are just reflections of those around me

(I will tend to do that on occasion).....

If you asked me what do I want, or what do I expect... I think I'd say to you...

By the ones to whom I give permission (that means I trust them)....I want to be seen...... I want to be known..... I want to be loved and received for who I've been created to be, not what the world or any other created being wants me to be.

Sometime I think the Thumper Rule is just pretty good for me...

"if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all"

But then there is the dilemma.... what do we do with all those words left unspoken???

Lord give me eyes to see and ears to hear, and let me know how to speak the language You give me into the ears that are willing to hear, and let mine hear first. Let me love as You love not as the world does. Let me not give in the same tarnished coin that I might get... let me give from the abundance of a son, not hoarding as is the case of an orphan. Lord forgive us here in the US... as we are in such a privileged nation and yet we bicker, bite and complain about our lack, when I know, we truly have no idea of our providence. Forgive ME Father... for my silly concerns in light of the true plans You have for this explosive time in history. Teach me the universal language that Your Word says is You... Love... and let me rest in this vulnerable state knowing that it is You Who covers me with the wings of a protective parent. Hear my heart Lord, and help me be what You want me to be in this crazy time of our history on this earth. You are good Father, and I know You see me. Thank YOU from the depths of me.