Sometimes there just are no words

It's times like this that I'm glad I left daily newspaper life behind. The images from Aurora, Colo., are beyond disturbing and it's got to be awful to be on this 24-hour news cycle when there is a story like this. At least with daily newspapers there was time to process, think and put stories together in a way that made sense. Now it's just an ever-flowing stream of bits and pieces and stories never come together so much as they build like some information tsunami that drowns us in trivialities.


But, even worse is the instantaneous commentary drives people to Facebook and other venting places to express the way they feel about what happened in purely political terms. Words. Words. Words. Too many words. Not enough thoughts. It's all visceral and it's all meaningless. Guns. No guns. Ban guns. More guns. Executions. Terrorism. Death penalty. No death penalty.


Meanwhile, in Aurora, Colo., people are gathering at a school and waiting for words. Family members who were going to the movie and who now aren't answering cell phones. Bodies unidentified that could be a loved one. Wounded in hospitals unable to speak for themselves that are still being treated to save their lives by people too busy and desperate to figure out--yet--who their loved ones might be. The awful waiting. And the awful waiting coming to an end with the words nobody ever wants to hear.


A mother is fighting for her life as I write this and she doesn't know her six-year old daughter is dead. I'm sure it was all to be a wonderful treat for mother and daughter to go out late and watch the summer's most-anticipated movie. And this, this is just so senseless. Sometimes there just are no words.


So, why, can't we just set aside the words? Can we just spend the day in quiet prayer and contemplation of all that is dear and precious to us? Let us all pray thanks for what we have and pray for comfort and healing in Aurora, Colo. Set our words aside for a day and, instead, think about those at that school waiting for news? Let's all leave the opinions and loud yammering behind for a day--a week even--and instead think about those in Aurora trying to make sense of the senseless.Let's focus our energy and strength on healing and comforting in these dark days. Because, truly, there just are no words.

The more you know ...

One of the many things I've learned over the years as a journalist and writer (two different things, you know) is that more information is a sure way to create confusion. We are all so good at snap judgements and we wind up with our worlds set pretty firmly in place. Then we come across more information.

I look across the political debates going on today and think about my time as a reporter and what it was like to see that whole process up close. Pretty ugly actually. Truth is, these folks are actually, in many cases, far worse than we suppose they are. And that's quite sad.

The recent debates and accompanying high-dollar attacks show us that the more we know the less we understand in many ways. Or, perhaps, the question isn't really about how much we know but, rather, how well we understand it and turn it into something thoughtful.

We've reached a point where everybody comes to the table with his or her own set of facts. We've stopping seeking understanding and have turned our focus purely to seeking confirmation that what we thought before we knew anything is true even in the face of facts that get in the way of the world being as we want it to be. We hear but we don't listen. We look but we don't see.

I've often wondered why writers who are the most economical with words are the most powerful with their words. On the day Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address there was another speaker who was the "headline" act and who gave a speech that was several times longer than Lincoln's simple one written on the back of an envelope. I can't remember that other speaker's name. But I can sure remember the things Lincoln wrote on the back of that envelope when faced with the memory of that huge bloody clash at Gettysburg.

Things got crazy ...

Wow, things got crazy beginning in the spring of 2010. Then there was starting school, spending four months as a hospital chaplain and, now, working part-time as an intern at a United Methodist Church in Alpharetta, Ga. Now that's a wild ride.

My writing life has taken on a new chapter. As a seminary student, I've returned to the academic writing I thought I left behind when I walked away from graduate school about 20 years ago. And now I'm back and learning ever-new ways to approach words and writing through this strange new task called exegesis. It is, in a way, writing about writing. I've never taken such a close look at words and their meanings in my life. And it's been kind of fun. I'm about to face a large dose of it with New Testament studies this semester starting February 13.

I'm doing my seminary work at United Theological Seminary in Dayton,Ohio. United offers a hybrid M.Div. program that allows me to do most of my work online while spending a week on campus each semester. This allows me to continue working and pursue my studies at the same time. While helpful, it's still not exactly easy. It's a real challenge to fit school into a schedule already packed with a full-time job and a family.

And, as of September 2011, I added work at Midway United Methodist Church to that mix. I'm serving as an intern there and spending about 20 hours a week in church work at all sorts of levels. Pastor in Charge Stacey Hanson keeps me busy as the church keeps him busy. I knew Stacey from Roswell United Methodist Church and when he moved to Midway we stayed in touch with each other and when I need a place to do contextual ministry, I got in touch with Stacey and asked if he could find a place for me at Midway. The fact that I am unpaid probably made the offer even more attractive!

And, again, I face new styles of writing and wrestling with words. There are the weekly pastoral prayers and occasional sermons. All new styles of writing for me. And the idea of delivering my words out loud in front of others is a sometimes daunting task to take on. Preaching. It's what this calling leads to. And it's all about words.