My friend Karen Anne has a new blog and it is wonderful! Check out Scones and Crones and soak up some "comfort and joy" -- Karen Anne style. KA has inspired me to reconstitute this blog and play around here with some thoughts and dreams and a-ha moments and some silliness, too. I need an outlet. Thanks, Karen Anne!
So ... I need to talk. Literally. Because I can't talk. Literally. Today is DAY 5 of my medical vow of silence. Completely no talking. For 2 whole weeks. And I've been forbidden to whisper, sing or yell since the doctor informed me 2 weeks and 2 days ago that I have a slight injury on my vocal cords that needs rest. The singing is the hardest. A surprising thing I've learned about myself is that I sing through my life. And, of course, I love to sing in church.
My COMFORT is my new constant companion -- a personal-sized white marker board where I write what I simply have to say. I'm on my second erasable marker. In 4 days, I burned out the first one.
My JOY is that I do get a special medical dispensation to talk in church. Still no singing -- or whispering or yelling -- but I do get to do the parts of the worship service that are mine, like the sermon. The lay worship leaders have been a delight and a great help! A lasting gift of this time is that I am going to be more disciplined in asking them more regularly to lead worship with me.
There are lessons in this, and the most obvious is the one everyone jokes about -- that is, I do talk too much. That's just a gift of a truth. I need to make space for other voices -- in the worship service, for example. I also see the value of other ways of communicating -- email, instant message, and body language. I have seen how my not being so verbal lets other people shine. And I've enjoyed listening! I've heard people in new ways, and I've been listening to my life.
I like what I hear!
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