Charlie is a dog. That means that he can’t use words like people do to communicate. Despite the lack of words, he is pretty good about getting his point across.
When Charlie is excited he has a much different bark than the one he uses when he’s upset. The happy excited bark is high pitched and short. His angry bark is lower and has a bit of a growl to it. When Charlie is not happy about something you are doing, he gives a low guttural growl and when he is annoyed or disappointed he has a growly kind of sigh. Sometimes, he even seems to make some talking sounds when he is asked a question and he wants to get a point across.
Charlie also has soundless ways of communicating. Of course the wag of a tail can indicate pleasure, but when the wag is slow and the tail held vertical it can mean he is on the offensive. When he is excited to see me and wants my attention, he jumps up on me so I will acknowledge him. At other times, when Charlie is feeling sad or bored, he comes over and snuggles in my lap. He has so many different ways of communicating that the lack of words isn’t usually a problem. Of course, it would be pretty cool if he could use language to tell me what he’s really thinking!
Do we use our words the best we can when communicating? I think, maybe not. Words can be beautiful and uplifting, but many times we use words to be hurtful and nasty. Sometimes, we withhold words to wound one another.
Perhaps, we aren’t aware of the damage we are doing. Maybe we expect that people “know” what we really mean. It’s possible we’re not aware of how negative our words are. Sometimes we don’t grasp the harsh ways others interpret our words. The negativity hurts and the unkind words leave scars. Those around us withdraw, and we are bewildered wondering what happened.
When Charlie barks harshly at me he gets squirted in the face with a water bottle. I don’t think we would get a very good reaction if we were to use that same recourse with one another.
What we can do is speak kindly. We can tell each other that the words being used are harsh, inconsiderate, or un-loving. We can try to be more peaceful with not only our words, but with our tone.
We don’t only use words with one another, though. We also use them to communicate with God. Or, at least, we should.
Sometimes we let the words be the mundane recitations of rote prayer. And, sometimes, we don’t even say those.
Are we afraid of telling God what is really going on with us? What we are really thinking and feeling?
The thing is, God knows us. It’s not like the communications between Charlie and me. The Lord knows our hearts and he knows what is going on in our heads. It’s us that has to fess up to what we are hoping for, what we are fearing, and what we are ashamed to say. Because we know, once we say it out loud, it’s real. Once we put it out there, we can’t take it back.
That’s a vulnerable place to be, and that can be scary. There’s no question whether or not God will accept us, though. The question is, do we still accept ourselves? Jesus says we should, because he still accepts and loves us in spite of ourselves. One of the beauties of our tradition is that we are always forgiven.
We just have to speak.
~Christy Cabaniss
Parish Minister
