Not to be confused with the old John Wayne film, "The Quiet Man." A photograph taken when I was about five shows me in a pose ( and facial expression) similar to Rodan's Philosopher. It is hard to imagine a child that young looking so serious, but there I am. As a young Christian I heard a message based upon Ecc. 5:2 "Let your words be few." I took this to the extreme of "let your words be none," for which, after some days, I was threatened with expulsion from the ministry by my house head. Most other people still feel a need to speak more than I do. However, I am a good listener. The real struggle is when I encounter some one who wants to say even less than I do. The gaps and silences can become lengthy.
On the other hand I have expressed myself through writing since I first learned to put pencil to paper. My first story, in first grade, dealt with a Farmer Brown, and a fox getting into his chickens, which my first grade teacher, a veteran of decades of working with my age group, refused to believe that I had written until my mother affirmed that I had no older sibling that had done the work for me.
Thus the blog has been a Godsend for me, an avenue of expression and testimony that I seldom seem to have in real life. While I remain disconcerted by certain comments that seize upon one tiny fragment of what I have written and blow it up out of proportion, or so it seems to me, yet I remain thankful for the vehicle God has provided.
On another topic a brother whom I respect told me that he believed God has spoken to him about a gift he sees God having given to me. If he were the first mature brother to have done this perhaps I could take it less seriously. As it is the weight and responsibility that accompanies this gift makes me want to do a Jonah and head to Tarshish. But three days and nights in the belly of a great fish doesn't appeal to me either. Lord, have mercy.
No comments:
Post a Comment