St Francis vs George Orwell
So, I was watching one of those reality TV shows which has a panel of Judges who comment on the performers abilities. The Judges of course are some sort of celebrity in their fields and therefore authorities in what they do. What hit me as I watched this show, I think it was dancing, or dancing and singing, I can’t remember, anyway the judges comments or method of commenting captivated me.One of them seemed to be visibly touched by the performance and attempted to express their awe. As they formulated their praise, relating the talent they perceived and the impact of the artistic expression, they stammered at a loss for words. Like a car running out of gas, engine sputtering, stalling, almost continuing, and then lurching to a halt. This caught my attention but held it when the scene repeated each time with the same judge and the same lack of expression. This professional TV star, unable to find the words to express themselves, nodded, shifted in their chair, sat forward and with outstretched arm, grunted. I guess it could be construed as a satisfied groan like when your mouth is full of the most delicious chocolate delicacy, you cannot speak with a mouth full but, at that moment of chocolaty flavor epiphany must express yourself…mmmm…mmmmm, is all that comes out. This groan preceded a restatement of the fourteen or fifteen words this expert had at their disposal, in different order. I think it could be described as Dr. Suess spoken word. I sat entranced by this minimalist poet. My mind began to wander a bit to the idea of vocabulary and thoughts. I have to admit, if you haven’t already gathered from my writing, I am a shabby wordsmith compared to some.
I remembered one of my all-time favorite books 1984, George Orwell, please read it. If you don’t have time because there are too many reality TV shows on then just read the appendix on “Newspeak.”(http://wikilivres.info/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four/Appendix_-_The_Principles_of_Newspeak) If you don’t have time to even read that because your DVR is broken and you’ll have to spend extra time watching TV in real-time (Yikes!) I will try and express the main point. I sit nodding, shifting in my chair, and beginning to lean forward, formulating a guttural affirmation which when combined with my hand pounding my chest will communicate everything, but you will have to go to youtube for that one. In the meantime, George Orwell writes about a future totalitarian state, where things like banks, mortgage lenders, and automobile manufacturers are all owned by a central government. Everyone has large viewing screens in their houses connected to each other in a huge sort of network. I know, I know he was writing in the 1940’s. What a kook…wait a minute. Anyways the totalitarian state needs to control everything including thoughts. They are attempting to control thought by revising, or should I say dumbing down, the English language. The improved version of English is called “Newspeak.” To quote the appendix, “Newspeak was designed not to extend but to DIMINISH the range of thought, and this purpose was indirectly assisted by cutting the choice of words down to a minimum.” There is more to it than just that but my point is, are we collectively contributing to the shaping of our own “Newspeak” through apathy and laziness of thought? Not only in our society as a whole but we in the Church? Are we able to express the magnificent glory of God? The Gospel which is the power of God unto salvation? Or do we allow ourselves to cough out fragmentary biblical words into the vacuum of our post-everything society, which is desperately lost? Of course the devotees of St Francis will chime in at this point and say, “I always preach the Gospel [with my life], and use words when necessary.” I say, eloquently put. Can you communicate that without words?
It is like my friend, a well meaning short term missionary, trying to give an exhortation to a Church in the Ecuadorean jungle. We sat, sweating under the tin roof church on home made benches. Roger, name not changed because he is totally guilty but wouldn’t mind me sharing his story in the interest of fighting totalitarian theological illiteracy, gets up to share with his 4 months of Spanish language study and begins to tell everyone how much he appreciates them. He wants to share how awesome God is and is sort of free-styling. Bad idea in a language you are barely able to speak. He says God is “muy” which roughly translated means very, and pauses. Silence, then muy. More silence, Roger’s mind is racing I can see it, the car is sputtering, running out of gas. He begins to wave his hand in a circle, pausing as if to speak, saying muy, and then repeating. Muy is slowly repeated about 11 times and followed by “bien,” good. Translation: God is very, very, very, very, very,very, very, very, very, very,very good. The Brothers were gracious to us and didn’t even crack a smile. I translate that sentence to illustrate what I am ranting about, can we do better in our own language with the people we are interacting with? Can we speak their language well enough? But more importantly do we know Christ? Can we proclaim the Gospel to their situation with more that Christian Newspeak? “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” - 2 Timothy 2:15
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John