May I Have Your Attention Please
How many ways can you think of that someone gets your attention? Or perhaps the attention of a group of which you are a member. There is of course yelling, “HEY – BE QUIET!!” If the host has a public address system available there is always the thumping on the microphone > which by the way, audio/visual types tell me is the ultimate no-no in the A/V world. Maybe they view that as just walking up to someone and tweaking their nose. If you have been fortunate enough to have had hors d’oeuvres or a meal then there is the infernal clanging of a water glass with a knife, fork or spoon. And inevitably there will be someone in the crowd who has mastered the enviable trick of the hail a cab, summon an alien space ship, crack crystal (with or without their fingers) whistle. We jam our fingers in our ears as if to block the sound when in actuality we are simply trying to stop our partially liquefied brains from dripping onto our shirt collars. All attention getters for sure. All with a dire consequence – the one on the receiving end is so shocked and startled at having been extracted from their current activity that they aren’t really ready to re-engage with the task or meeting at hand. Not prepared to be a good listener.
Annual Conference is a most wonderful thing. A time to worship and hear awesome music and well, yes, conduct a little business. It is a time when people across the Conference can re-connect after maybe not seeing or talking to a friend since the last Conference. The 10-15 minute breaks are a wonder to watch. It can’t be easy to reconvene a thousand people. With poise and grace and ZERO mic thumping or glass tinkling, our Bishop sings us back into session. She begins a hymn, a cappella, and before you know it, the room quiets and when the tune is recognized all join in, we finish the verse and voila, we are back in session. Ready to listen!
How many times have you been engaged in a debate and very soon into it know emphatically that you do not agree with the other person? Maybe it’s which translation of the Bible is best. Maybe it’s whether or not to clap in church. Maybe it’s political, troops in the Middle East, the nativity scene placed on government property. Whatever the topic - you have t-u-n-e-d o-u-t. You are waiting on your turn to tell them how wrong they are. Ready to whistle, thump, clang or just simply tweak them in the nose. However you get their attention, they probably aren’t going to be ready to listen to YOU.
Sing them into conversation. Zephaniah 3:17 says; The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you with his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
I pray that during this Advent season we don’t get so caught up in the LOUD that we fail to hear the still, small voice calling us back into harmony with God and others.
Steve Matthews
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