For Wishire Baptist Church
I’ve been stuck on what to write or say recently. There is so much anger in every corner, ugliness on every side. So much noise in our streets and in our social networks. Everyone has something to say about everything and yet everyone is offended by what each other is saying. Everyone is an expert. Everyone has a voice. Everyone is talking and nobody is listening.
Real friend Steve Hill challenged all of his Facebook friends recently with these words: “Like many of you, I have grown weary and frustrated looking at a newsfeed that contains nothing but, as one young friend put it, a ‘negative spewing of opinions’. No matter which side of the political spectrum we occupy, we’re not going to change anyone’s opinion with our posts, shares, comments, and likes. Maybe if we all refrain from these types of activities for just a week, then the tidal wave of all this activity will slow down just a bit.”
And then Steve offered this challenge: “As an alternative, and as an experiment, go dig out a picture of yourself when you were a baby or a toddler and post it to your wall.”
So we did, and the result was photos of dozens of kids from the 1950s and early ’60s sporting their toddler styles and smiles. I don’t know if Steve intended this, but his experiment not only pulled us off the negativity grid for a while but it opened my eyes, at least, to who we once were.
Every picture was a portrait of innocence. Not the innocence of the era – which is a myth – but the innocence in our minds and hearts. At that age none of us was feeding yet on fear, distrust, anger, rejection, guilt or confusion. We hadn’t learned how to hate, mock, harass, belittle or judge. In those pictures there was no hint of political ideology, theological dogma, bigotry or classism. There was just the light of God in the eyes and smiles of children.
None of us can go back to that place of innocence; we’ve been tainted by our experiences, crippled by our attitudes, and enslaved by our addictions. But the God who created us still holds our spirits, and we can go back to that innocence of spirit if we ask Him to lead us. How that happens is different for each of us, but perhaps a place to start is to look back at a picture of who we were before the world changed us. Look at that child and consider the words of the 71st Psalm:
For you have been my hope, Sovereign Lord,
my confidence since my youth.
From birth I have relied on you;
you brought me forth from my mother’s womb.
I will ever praise you.
I have become a sign to many;
you are my strong refuge.
My mouth is filled with your praise,
declaring your splendor all day long.
The words of the Psalmist, if taken to heart, may help reset our spirit and also may lead us to a higher place of being with each other: To be the “sign” that God intended, and to speak God’s healing praise rather than spewing our poisonous venom.