Break The Code

I have been reading Alan Alda's book, Never Have Your Dog Stuffed. Alan Alda has long been a favorite of mine. At seminary at 10:30 p.m. each weekday night, there was a holy gathering in the commons room. MASH reruns came on. One night a newbie wandered into the room just as the show was beginning. For some reason, she thought it would be okay to change the channel. Bad move. You would have thought she was removing the Holy Grail. For some reason after she left, she never came back to the Commons Room.

If you did not know, Alan Alda was reared in a family of silence. His mom was by his own description mentally ill. His dad was a traveling actor. For a period of his life, Alda thought his parents loved a pig more than their son. At least the pig got to travel with them. The code of silence reigned in their house. If there was something unusual or problematic, do not even think of talking about it.

The "Code of Silence" is what I label this. If we do not talk about it, it will go away. So we think. It usually does not. It becomes a cancer that eventually destroys life. Like cancer, it destroys from the inside out.

When Jesus meets people, he often asks this question. "What do you want me to do?" Many times it is obvious what Jesus needs to do. It is obvious where the pain of life is located. Maybe it is a part of the rabbinical influence that trained Jesus. Good rabbis will ask questions. The wisest Rabbis answer the first question with another.

Maybe answering the obvious question is an invitation to a more intimate relationship. Jesus invites those that he meets to talk about what no one else wants to hear. To the leper, Jesus says "Tell me what this disease has done to your Spirit." To the woman with the flow of blood, perceived as so unclean and undesirable, Jesus wants her to know that he will listen to her. Jesus wants the healing touch to be more than a passing glance.

Jesus breaks the code of silence. Jesus invites us to be vulnerable and authentic so we can experience the depth of love that God has for us. Talking about it brings us into the redemptive community that gives us life. Talking about it invites us to allow others to share our burdens and celebrate our wholeness. It invites us out of the cold of darkness into the warmth of light.

During this Lent season, I am preaching a series of sermons on The Experience of Prayer. Prayer is a living relationship of intimacy that is best known through authentic and intimate relationships with God and with each other. Prayer is communicating all of life not just the part of life that seems okay. Sometimes the most authentic prayers are found within our helplessness.

Maybe it is time for each of us to risk breaking the code of silence.

Pray for me as I pray for you!