When we moved to Boston, we were actually looking forward to learning all about this new place. We expected we would need to make some cultural adjustments. We just had no idea how much adjustment was going to be needed.
The thing we thought we could depend on to make our transition a bit easier is the very thing that failed us: the English language. I might have expected a language challenge if we had moved to London, England or, say, Edinburgh, Scotland. But not from a move within the USA. I thought we only had to adjust to the New England accent. I was so naive.
From the very beginning, we could not communicate.
Perhaps the biggest challenge: we had to learn all new terminology. A shopping cart was a “carriage.” Sprinkles on ice cream? “Jimmies.” A milkshake was a “frappe,” and a water fountain was a “bubbler.” Those small cardboard cups of ice cream with the little wooden spoon? “Hoodsies.”
Each of these had a distinct name ... and no other name. Take, for instance, ice cream. If you asked for sprinkles on your ice cream, you would be met by a blank stare. If you failed to ask for a Hoodsie, by name, you didn’t get one. And don’t get me started on the drama that follows ordering a “double dip” when you should have requested two scoops.
When change encounters culture, culture wins. We weren’t going to change them. So, it didn’t take long for us to fall into the habit of assuming we just didn’t understand ... especially when a strange word appeared before us. We had become conditioned.
Hopefully, that explains my response when I saw the sign for FRIED DOUG.
I admit the fleeting thought: Who’s Doug and why would you fry him? But, I had come to the point I no longer questioned, critically, the terms and practices of my culture. My repeated experiences had formed a certain mindset: others who preceded me in history had made choices to speak and act certain ways. Even if I didn’t really understand the why, I was conditioned: FRIED DOUG must mean something.
Or, must it? For me, my FRIED DOUG clarity came just moments later when the crowd moved aside. As they parted, I realized I had only been seeing part of the sign. Now that I could see it all, I could easily understand my error. There, immediately to the right of “DOUG” was the letter “H.”
... Oh.
FRIED DOUGH made a lot more sense than FRIED DOUG. My own habit had tricked me into believing there was one meaning, when In fact there was another.
It’s similar, in a way, to what was happening with God’s people when Isaiah confronted them with their hypocrisy in this week’s scripture selection. God rejected all their religious practices, en mass. In fact, God told them those actions and observances had become a burden, and He had grown weary of bearing them! God rejected their prayers, their gatherings, their festivals: every part of what they did or said as worshippers.
Why? What had they done to warrant such a reaction? I’m sure they attempted, much as we do today, to performed each religious practice, properly. Where had they gone wrong?
They fell into a habit.
Their culture required certain religious practices of them. They had been conditioned to do them, and so ... they did them. But, over time, what made those practices meaningful had fallen away. God said their hands were bloody from doing evil. They had to restore themselves by serving justice, rescuing the oppressed, defending the orphan, and pleading for the widow.
They needed the clarity the Prophet Isaiah was providing. Like the “H” in my FRIED DOUG sign, they were missing something essential. Without that missing piece, their worship was worse than meaningless: the object of their worship no longer wanted to hear from them. If they wanted their religion to be acceptable to God, they had to actually do good.
There is no doubt they were going to have to make some serious adjustments. The question is: do we?
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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 14 (19) (August 11, 2019)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=274
Isaiah 1:1, 10-20
Psalm 50:1-8, 22-23
Genesis 15:1-6
Psalm 33:12-22
Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
Luke 12:32-40
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DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast meets Friday morning at the “Egg and I” restaurant (soon to be renamed “Our Breakfast Place”). We start at 8:00, and enjoy a time of scripture, prayer, food, and fellowship.
Blessings,
Steve
