A Silent Journey
I experienced a lonely bus ride this afternoon as I returned to Sagewood after a full day of school. The only audible sounds where the giant diesel engine of the bus, and the cracking and crashing that accompanies every bump and pot hole because the University refuses to install shocks so that its students can have an enjoyable commute.
Anyone who knows me is fully aware that I despise the over-stimulated aspect of our culture. Quiet: good. Rest: good. No cable TV: extremely good. What bothered me about this recent twenty-minute journey was that the bus was full of people. One young woman was standing at the front because no man (or should I say boy?) was bold enough or kind enough to offer his seat.
A full bus, yet we sat in silence. I attempted to read Plato’s dialogue, the Meno, to drown out my guilty conscience. “Say hello to the guy next to you. Ask the girl about her day.” My selfish self replies, why should I be the one to break the norm?
Why don’t we engage each other? Why are we content in our prison of isolation? I try to imagine this hollow tube of metal, this temporary dungeon, full of conversation, brimming with life and laughter. To meet five or six new people every day – that would be over stimulating. But we would be connected. There would a community, despite its brevity. It seems that we want the overwhelming noise, music, movies, anything to drown out the rest of the world. We don’t want the responsibility that comes with establishing relationships and bearing the burdens of others. Our hearts go out to victims of Katrina, but we become embittered when the disabled person makes our bus trip fifteen minutes longer. We want to be detached. Why else do I only know 4 of my 12 immediate neighbors?
So why should I be the one that breaks the norm? Because I call myself a Christ-follower. I do not rest content with what our culture believes to be good enough. There are people surrounding me who need the Gospel. How will they know of redemption if I am too detached/selfish/scared to open my mouth? So often I am more concerned with my self-image than I am about the glory of the Lord. It’s time to get my priorities straight.
posted by Dan Reiter @ 4:23 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
"The mass of men live their lives in quiet desperation."
Thoreau
Great thoughts Dan...
Dan,
Well done sir. You should see the movie Crash...one of the central themes in the film is that in our current society, people do a lot to segregate and isolate themselves...using the example of thousands of cars moving along a crowded freeway...the freeway is full of densely packed people, but everyone is safely separated from everyone else in their own metal box. No one has to engage anyone else...the only time that a person feels any affect from another person is when they crash into them. Anyway the film expounds on that in a profound way. Great movie...a little intense at times.
I notice that what you are saying is most prominent in buses and in elevators (remember our days in Jackson and the painfully akward elevator rides where no one said anything to anyone, or made eye contact, at any time). We are so individually minded (I am guilty of this sometimes as well) that we refuse to acknowledge the needs or existence of others around us...so much so that you see people not even cognizant enough of their surroundings to give up their seat to someone who might obviously need it more at the time (this is not to be construed as a simply gender related comment of course, it could just as easily be someone who has a broken ankle).
One thing that my project team was asked to do in Los Angeles this past summer was use public transit whenever possible when going to our work sites. That alone would make some people nervious, but we were also asked to engage other passengers in conversation whenever possible. Talk about breaking down comfort zones...some are afraid to talk to someone else on a bus that is their age, has similar interests, is also in college and looks like them. Imagine if that same student was asked to ride a bus in the inner city and engage someone who is likely very different on the outside...but at the same time has knowledge that can be benificial...or mabye just needs someone to talk to...hey, they have needs to.
What you've said has challanged me, reminded me of what I learned about social interaction this summer, and got me thinking all at once. Good job man. I will ask you about this sometime.
- Jordan
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