Easter weekend is amongst us. The memories of Easter egg hunting and all else that goes with the whole holiday family get-together ensemble still resonant, as I live in my present reality of a solitary young adult and the value I place on holiday celebrations depreciates. This weekend I celebrate my Lord and Saviour. I remember His life; how He lived, what He preached, and the fact that He died for my sins. Even in understanding this, I still long to make the idea of celebrating this Easter holiday with my family and friends a reality, though I know it is a hopeless desire, as everyone is doing their own thing. Tonight I ask myself, “How can something broken be made whole again, unless someone takes the challenge and puts forth the energy and effort required to do so?”
I just finished watching Othello, it is a play written by Shakespeare, which was made into a movie some years back. Just listening to the dialogue in the movie, how words were spoken, the emotion behind the word usage, the order in which they were given, and the respect which is found in the expression of the words, is like reading Psalms and feeling the spirit behind the written words. I so believe that the passion of life has lost itself in our everyday language. I feel to a certain extent, conversations between two people are experienced even before a single word is spoken; as we pass each other and say, “How are you doing?’, with placing no real effort to listen to the response. And, sometimes these questions are answered without any response, maybe just a nod of the head. As if people should assume that the question was asked with no desire to be responded to.
The story of Othello is a story of love, pain, and honor, which are common themes of all European plays. In the story, Othello, being just married to his enchanting virtuous love, is led to believe that his wife has been unfaithful with another man. Othello is told these lies by his closest friend, Iago, in a deceitful scheme to attain power and reputation within their country. Though being deceived by Iago, Othello never stopped loving his wife, Desdemona, even though he was blinded by her professed truth of faithfulness. And, as he was hunted by mental images of his wife being with another man, and thoughts of her unproven infidelity, his actions became controlled not by the truth of his sincere love for his wife, but by his assumptions which were implanted in his mind by his deceiver.
When I think of someone who deceives, I picture a bad person who’s main goal in life is to cause hell on earth. But, I am a deceivor every time I tell a lie, and every time don’t tell the full truth (like when Abraham told Abimelech that Sarah was his sister, and not his wife – Gen. 20); and I think I’m a pretty good person. My heart convicts me of deception, that’s why I try so hard to get clarity of understanding in my beliefs. God is Truth, and I am a sinner who wants to live in truth.
You know I sometimes wonder, am I being deceived by the normalicies of society? Can I see the truth behind the words of my friends, and what they speak into my life? In faith, I know that God has given me wisdom to do so. Yet, the question is do I use it, the wisdom that has been given to me.