Communication is a Miracle

My graphics professor, Guy Chase, was a very patient communicator. He was never in a hurry to explain his work. It was more fun that way. He almost always made time to listen. Every fall I feel the urge to stop by his office at Bethel University, my annual tradition. I think often of his attachment to smiley faces and coffee prepared to his specification, “about like ice cream.” I used to bring him my paintings for a second opinion. Guy was honest. Somehow he knew the internal struggle that I went through as I learned how to make certain shapes and textures. He pointed to some flowers expressed as messy circles and said, “how did you get to the point where you could make those shapes?” It was a struggle. How did he know that? I remember him saying, “communication between two people is a miracle...there is no way to really explain it.”  

“...Naked I came out of my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”  
— Job 1:21

I think we all know something has been taken away. Have you heard the people talking? Nobody understands. Everyone is just making noise. Communication results in shared meaning, but all we share is self interest. Self interest leads to distrust, distrust to fear, fear to anger, anger to hate, and hate to death. We are dying. Do you know you’re dying? Guy Chase knew he was dying. He told me that day in his office—surrounded by smiley faces and ideas on the wall. They were good ideas. I pretended not to know already. I made him special coffee. Dale Johnson had secretly told me an hour before and made me promise I wouldn’t tell on him. He thought Guy might hide it. Dale was looking out for me. Guy said, “I have a joke to tell you.” He was smiling. I already knew the joke. “I’m dying” he said, and then he laughed. “Other people don’t think it’s funny, but I do. I feel fine, but the doctor said I could be dead in a year. I feel like I have so much to do. Is God really done with me? It doesn’t really feel like he is.” He wasn’t. Guy’s thoughtful ideas still live. There were many things we didn’t agree about. But we shared in a context—The Great Context. It was a miracle. Miracles still happen for those who share in him, but something has changed in the world. Everyone disagrees and hates each other for it. When Guy disagreed with me he smiled. So did I. I missed his funeral. I was in the hospital for the birth of my son, Gabriel. Gabriel is a patient communicator. He makes time to listen.

—reh