Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Do you hear what I hear?

A whole lot (some might say everything!) depends on perspective. What I hear in a word may be very different from what someone else hears. I was reminded of this by a commenter to this blog who wrote about how crucially important it is to 'know your audience'. One of the most intriguing and frightening things about writing (perhaps especially in an online web-based blog format) is that to a large extent I can't know my audience.

Sure, I have friends and maybe followers that I invite to read one way or another.  But there is an entire online world out there that might interact with this blog in ways I can't even imagine, let alone predict. Like I said, that's scary...but it's also part of what makes it so potentially fun!

I pair those words - scary/fun - intentionally. Personally, I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to scary things. I recall as a child the embarrassment of having to sit with my mom outside of a local community haunted house (at the old Fashion Square in La Habra if anyone cares to remember) one Halloween because I was too scared to go inside. For many years I refused to ride Space Mountain at Disneyland because I was convinced, contrary to any and all testimony from family and friends, that it went upside down. For some reason I equated roller coaster inversion with imminent bodily danger.

Anyhow, now that I'm a parent, I'm determined not to raise kids as wimpy as I was. So I've been constantly repeating to them the mantra that 'it's not scary, it's fun!' in the hope that it will somehow rub off. I think I'm even seeing some modest results. Whenever there is the potential for something to be thought of as 'scary' we consider instead whether it might not rather be (or also be) 'fun'. This tends to involve lots of talk about what is pretend and what is real, which seems to me like an added bonus.

Anyway, so much depends on our perspectives. One person's 'scary' is another person's 'fun' - and vice versa. Given that simple fact of communication, it's obvious why 'know your audience' is such valuable advice.

But I wonder if there isn't also a corollary equally as valuable: 'know your speaker'. 

As depicted throughout the Gospels, Jesus deserves a lot of credit for how well he spoke to his various audiences. If anyone could serve as a model of quality communication, it would be him. But, then, if that's the case, why was he (and why does he continue to be?) so widely misunderstood?

It's significant to me to recognize how often Jesus almost pleaded with his audience to acknowledge who he was and where he was coming from as a speaker, and to listen to and interpret what he was saying accordingly. It seems it just isn't enough for a speaker - even a uniquely gifted speaker like Jesus - to know her audience. The audience plays an indispensable role in what is heard, determined in large part by the assumptions, preconceptions, past histories and present judgments each one holds about the speaker to whom they are listening.

As I read it, "to whomever has ears to hear" is one of Jesus' most troubling subversive sayings...

5 comments:

  1. I read this post this morning(Febrruary 20,2014). I haven't yet put this blog in my favorites or made it easier to find in some other way. So, I was doing an Internet search for it, and found this article:

    http://www.friendsjournal.org/richard-nixons-first-cover-up-2/#comment-24747

    As you can see, I commented on his blog entry.
    I know that for the most part, people at our church do not want to bring up this part of our history because we do not want to carry on debates about someone whose heart only God knows. I am not going to write about politics, but words.

    But, this brings up an interesting point about words. People can communicate in negative ways, and the information is taken as fact. We experience this all the time.

    I will ask someone for details about something they say. Usually, this is one of those "not so fun" discussions.

    To use a sterile example, someone might say, "He is not a good player because he makes all those errors in the field." So, I might ask something like, Who would you suggest take his place? And they have no answer for that question. Or they compare the object of their complaint with another player who does not have the range of the first. This means the one they are complaining actually gets to more balls, but has more errors, because he takes more risks, producing more outs ultimately.

    That illustration became way more complicated than necessary. But, what I am trying to get across is that when we(all people) make general comments about something, let's have a little evidence. Let's also put some thought into it.

    Who are the people we crave to be around, and listen to? Those who are encouragers. Let us be an example of that. Please keep me accountable on that. The men who I consider my sages are those who are the most encouraging. They do not avoid difficult issues, but their approach is even-keeled.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Tom. I appreciate your even-handedness.

      The linked article is fascinating -- obviously "evangelical" Friends worship sounds quite different to a silent Quaker!

      I love the author's implications regarding pacifism. Can (should?) someone be a "private" pacifist, while also "aiding and abetting" the violent militarism of national war policies?

      Delete
  2. We had to teach David the concept of "know your audience" in the first grade, when I was called to a meeting with his teacher and the school psychologist, who looked very grim. He had written a story with his usual David sense of humor, that I thought was pretty creative and funny, but they found alarming. We still have the story that he wrote, with illustrations--it's a family classic!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha!

      And as a parent, how do I encourage my children's creativity while also teaching them appropriate respect for social institutions and expectations?

      I wondered this one Sunday as I was defending daughter's decision to color baby Jesus a brilliant shade of green...

      Delete
  3. Jeremy,
    How sad that someone would say anything disparaging about a young child's art? I am greatly disappointed that anyone would do that. I would write more about how this makes me feel, but, this blog is intended to be somewhat G rated.

    As one who is childless(not by choice), I would be very happy my child were drawing Jesus, no matter what color or style.

    Also, when I was growing up, we felt fortunate to have a crayon, or colored pencil, or marker to use to draw. If there was only one, it was not enough to share between all three children. I know this makes me look old.

    I think that any and all creativity from a child should be encouraged. I do think, however, being careful about an audience is good later. But, something a child is doing like this on her own, should never be discouraged.

    Does anyone really know what color Jesus looks like when we see him? Does anyone have any clue as to what language we will speak? Will we need to speak? What style of worship will we have? Hmmmm....,,,

    I love this blog... I just wish we had more contributors.

    ReplyDelete