Lost in the Translation

Samantha, or Sam for short, is an amazing young physical therapist who was recently assigned to Mom's care to help with strengthening and stamina. She is knowledgeable, energetic, encouraging and very professional. She is also from Minnesota.

For those of you who have visited Minnesota or have the pleasure to know a Minnesotan, they have a distinctive accent that simply charms the socks right off of me. Even in speaking the name of their state, you can hear their long "ohhhhh" sound as in Minne-Sohhhhhh-da. I once had a flight connection in Minneapolis and rather than read, I simply sat and marinated in the lulling sounds of the voices around me.

So yeah. I love the accent. Mom, not so much. Oh, she likes Sam fine, despite shooting her the occasional stink eye for her requests of additional reps or steps. But she can't understand a darn thing Sam says.

So when Sam speaks,  Mom looks at me, and Sam looks at me and there is a little pause. And I translate. I translate from Minnesotan to our native dialect, which is actually a Virginia Piedmont Accent. Or as my husband says is the one that sounds like there are grits flying out of my mouth.

And so on we go, like a ping pong game back and forth - Sam to me and me to Mom. And it works. And there is humor in it, and affection, and union. 

And isn't that what we want in our communication with people? The united front, the face to face communication, the listening, the sharing, the sound of a warm voice and - the light - the understanding!

We have created many barriers to effective communication in society today: texts, Facebook, emails, and Twitter. So efficient!   Yet the heart of communication - the heart of understanding lies in speech - and time. In the quiet back and forth of a shared conversation, the non-verbal facial cues that allow us the richness of  fully comprehending one another.

Paul writes in Colossians 4:6:

 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

 So let's talk - face-to-face or on a phone. Skype or Google Hangout. Use Facetime. But talk - graciously - to one other. And listen.

Father, we thank you for the richness of speech and the opportunities to live in authentic relationship with one another. Help us to make time for carefully curated words and the moments in between.