"That's What I'm Talking About!"

The sun warmed the winter air when Jared and Cade pulled in at the barn. We were waiting on their arrival. The girls and I had just been oohing and ahhing at a bald eagle Jeff had spotting flying low over the cow pasture. The girls love birds. At age nine, Naomi's intention is to pursue ornithology. The sighting caused quite a stir but when their uncle arrived, they were ready for the next thing. They came out for more than bird watching. They wanted to “work cows.”

Cade wanted to work cows too. He dressed for the part in his muddy boots and cowboy hat. The boy is two and a half and would live outdoors if he could get away with it. His daddy took up his cow-calling yodel, “Come on gurrrrls, Come oooon gurrrrls” and Cade joined him like an echo. "Come ooooh gurrrrls."

 

The plan was to spend the afternoon getting the first set of calves ready for market. These chores are shaping my grandbabies. I realize I can't keep them from the muck of this world, but I can measure their participation from my place on the sideline. They don’t avoid walking in the mud. I don't stop them from going through it. My intention is to give them a small part of  their calling to fill the earth and subdue it.

When Jared and Jeff got the last couple of stragglers pushed into the coral, our pint-size cowhands were ready to help move calves along the chute---from the outside. Cade headed around the barn like he knew what he was doing. “That’s what I’m talking about!” The things kids say!

I've loved witnessing Cade’s language evolve. Language seems to be alive. We experience its evolution even when we are older. A year ago no one used the phrases “flattening the curve,” “social distancing,” or “viral load.” When these entered the cultural conversation, it caught some of us off guard. We woke  one day and these phrases rolled off the tongues of friends and neighbors with ease like they were saying “Good morning,” or “Pass the salt.” Culture adapted quickly so we could name what we were experiencing. We use language to make sense of our lives. 

The power of words and how we choose to use them is one of the defining characteristics of being made in the image of God. So important are our words, that even silence is powerful. We understand this, but we rarely think about it.

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, those who love it will eat its fruits.” (Prov. 18:21)

As we have lived with our new vocabulary, we understand there are varied emotional responses connected to the phrases. Though we have named the virus COVID-19 and have our talking points around it, our common language hasn’t brought us to agreement on its reality or importance. Naming doesn’t always mean we have a common understanding of the meaning of the words we say. Often, our language separates and divides. Definition is not the only thing that makes words significant. How we receive them matters. Cynicism, fear, anger, and grief shape our understanding of words as do hope, faith, and love.

No matter our personal opinions concerning the pandemic, most people are longing for a reversal of fortune, for what is wrong to be made right. We are weary of the unending cycle of bad news circling our lives like a raptor on the hunt.

I’ve tended toward the opinion that if we could all be “on the same page” and would “take the virus seriously,” then we would be able “to get a handle on this” and “move on.” Am I not being reasonable? Maybe, or maybe not?

The people building the Tower of Babel got on the same page. They used their common language to band together. They would consolidate their power for the interests of humankind. Their common language was a tool, a tool as important as a chisel. Their tower would be a testament to their unlimited human potential.  

In Genesis 11, the Bible says the Triune God considered what was happening on the plain in Shinar. The conclusion concerning man’s attempt at controlling his own destiny:

“Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” (v. 11)

So it was that people scattered over the face of the earth.

It’s tempting to skim past this Sunday School story or consider it a myth, but when we turn to Acts 2 we can see its one side of a bigger story, a redemption story. 

The redemption came on the Day of Pentecost, the day the fire of the Holy Spirit came upon people from various language groups gathered in Jerusalem for an annual feast. God sent the Holy Spirit into the world, not to bring confusion but to give clarity. The people understood other languages as if they were their own. This gift caused them to be “bewildered," but it did not bring confusion. The church was born.

The cross of Jesus is the fulcrum of all redemption stories. The curse of Babel found redemption at Pentecost because of the sacrifice made by Jesus and received by the Father. What was wrong was made right. Those who "formerly were far off were brought near by the blood of Christ.” (Eph. 2:13) The Holy Spirit came to bring understanding to the things of God. He empowered those who would receive Christ to speak the language of love. 

Love never has to be translated.

In these early days of 2021, we are all longing for the curve to be flat and for social distancing to be a distant memory. We long for a “reversal of fortune” for ourselves and for this world suffering in these “unprecedented times.” 

What words will we choose to use in these days? Will they be words that give hope, reveal faith, and point to Jesus? Will our words and attitudes show our expectation for our ultimate redemption to come when the Kingdom of God comes in its fullness, when all will be made new? No more tears, no more sickness. No more pandemic!

We wait with anticipation. Until then, let us “rejoice with those who rejoice, and mourn with those who mourn.” (Rom. 12:15) Let us set aside ambition and seek to understand our neighbors, to speak to them the words of life.

Now, “that’s what I’m talking about.”