Lent@Landmark: Day 34

“I don’t get it.”

It’s the worst response when you tell a joke, tell a story, tutor someone in school, etc. It means our first try didn’t get through. It made sense to us, but that doesn’t matter much if the point is getting it to make sense to someone else, so it also means that we’re going to have to try explaining it a different way.

(Unless you were telling a joke. If you have to explain a joke, the moment is pretty much lost, I’m afraid…)

I confess that my second attempt at explaining is not always my best. I am probably a little stunned by the ineffectiveness of my first, thinking something like, “What do you mean you don’t get it?” “What don’t you get?” “That joke is hilarious—maybe you just don’t have much of a sense of humor.”

My second attempt, therefore, may lack effort or creativity. I might just say the same thing again, or I might say it again, but slower. I have been known to talk fast on occasion. After my third or fourth attempt, it begins to occur to me that they aren’t the problem, and that maybe I don’t get how to explain this very well.

“Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.” (1Corinthians 1:26-27)

Before we let ourselves get frustrated by those we think can’t keep up with us, introspection is in order. Being in the lead does not make us a good leader—helping people keep up with us does. Knowing a lot does not make us a good teacher, helping others know what we know does. —MH

PS. It’s also possible that the joke just wasn’t that funny…