Chapter 5, Page 1

Chapter 5

The Dialectic at Home

Home is where life gets itself together (or pulls itself apart). Home is our first school. Rebel against it as we may, the Dialectic of home life cannot be shaken. It shapes our thought, habit, and action more than we are aware of. We are much more like our parents than we suppose. On the other hand, to the degree that we rebel against parental example, it is that example that is calling the shots, telling us what we do not want to become. As with most of us, I was a parent, perhaps even a grandparent, before my dialectical relationship with home came into focus.

Are You Listening?

Deep into his sermon, he would lean over the pulpit and ask, “Dear hearts tonight, are you listening?” That was a long time ago, but I can still hear him addressing his congregation with these old-timey words of endearment. Daddy used the rhetoric of a bygone era, but everyone in the church knew that they were dear to him, and we knew he wanted us to pay attention because his sermons were punctuated repeatedly with, “Are you listening?” After all, what is the point of preaching if nobody is listening?

And what about us? What can we accomplish in our conversations if no one is listening? If we are going to live with each other, we will have to listen, hear, and acknowledge each other. If I don’t listen, or at least look, I may not realize when you are hurting and that you are about to go under unless someone comes to your rescue. If I don’t listen, I may not realize how much you