HitchHiker bLOG – 2022.11.08

Numbness Leads Dumbness

The other day, I was walking the Monster Behind the Door when I witnessed an SUV pull up and park in one of the spaces on Main Street. The lady had plenty of time to exit the driver’s side and step safely to the sidewalk, but she was momentarily delayed. Along comes a line of eastbound morning traffic (on her side of the street), traveling faster than the prescribed 30 mph and drafting like the lead pack in a NASCAR race. Now Main Street is not that wide, and under normal circumstances, this pack could have moved over a bit to pass her at a safe. However, another slipstreaming pack of westbound cars arrived at the exact moment as the eastbound. This can’t be good. 🫣

NOBODY SLOWED DOWN, and this poor woman, now a vulnerable pedestrian, was practically pinned to her car. Ugh!!! These drivers seemed oblivious to her peril, numb, and acting dumb.

Our nearly three-year journey in the liminal space of COVID and societal/political discord has made many of us numb to other people. We have been so divided and isolated that we treat others as if they are avatars in a virtual world rather than living, breathing fellow travelers created in the image of the Triune God of Grace. Our Numbness is leading to dumbness.

I have heard people defend or rationalize indefensible behaviors from players from their chosen teams. And it matters not which segment (left, right, democrat, republican, independent, black, white, Christian, Muslim, Ashiest, etc.) I have witnessed many examples of people reveling in the misfortunes of others simply on the basis that those “others” have different worldviews.

When did it become okay to joke about someone assaulted with a hammer by a disturbed man? When was it righteous to give out the personal address and incite people to protest in front of an individual’s house because you disagreed with their decisions at work? When did celebrities, sports figures, millionaires, judges, politicians, pundits, etc., become dictators of our moral compass? This disease is numbness leading to dumbness.

Let’s stop, breathe, reflect, and awaken from our numbness….

Please slow down and see all people as your neighbors and creations of God. Please help them to be safe from harm, tend to them when they are hurt, and help others to be aware of their numbness; this is the will of XLII. But don’t take my word for it; listen to HIM:

“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.” Luke 10:30-34