A picture is worth a thousand words. You’ve heard this phrase before. And you probably took it to mean something along the lines of “a picture can show us something better than words can tell us.”
If you’re an author, you probably expect me to launch into a lecture about “show, don’t tell.” We’ve all heard that criticism about our work before. Spoiler alert: that’s not where I’m going.
It’s a great phrase though, right? If left to our own devices, we could look at a painting and interpret what the artist wanted to convey. We don’t need a typed explanation. (Okay, maybe with some art we do—I’ve seen some pretty strange paintings hanging in museums.)
Leonardo da Vinci had a go at using the phrase. In his estimation, a poet would be “overcome by sleep and hunger before [being able to] describe with words what a painter is able to [depict] in an instant.”
This phrase tells us to use our eyes to get our message, not words on a page. It exhorts us to use our senses. To think for ourselves.
But maybe—sometimes—our interpretation is wrong.
Look at this picture. What thousand words does it say to you?
Forget a thousand. Pick five. What five words come to your mind when you see this man? Be honest. And if you know who he is, keep your lip buttoned. Don’t ruin the surprise for the rest of us.
Got your five words? OK. Jot them down. We’ll come back to them later.
Let’s take a look at a different picture. Come up with five words to describe these guys. Take ten if you need to, since there are two of them.
I would venture to guess your words this time around were friendlier, more positive. If you’re my age or older, you probably recognize this pair. The tall one is Art Garfunkle. Fuzzy hair. Baby-faced smile. Nerdy name. Not the same vibe as the first guy.
The short one is Paul Simon. He has made his living as a musician for the past six decades. He won sixteen Grammy Awards, he is a two-time inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Time selected him as one of the “100 People Who Shaped the World,” and Rolling Stone ranked him eighth in their list of “The 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time.” Very respectable.
And he wrote The Sound of Silence.
The song is gorgeous. It’s incredible. It’s poetry.
Garfunkle described the song’s meaning this way: “the inability of people to communicate with each other . . . so what you see around you are people unable to love each other.”
In case you’ve lived your life under a rock and have never heard this song, here is a link to a live performance in 1981. Pay attention to the lyrics.
The inability of people to love each other is a failing of the greatest magnitude. In Mark 12, when a teacher of the law asked Jesus which of the commandments was most important, Jesus answered, “The most important one is this. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’”
But he wasn’t finished. He also said, “The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
Remember the five words I asked you to write? Jesus’ five words may have been, “Love God. Love your neighbor.” Jesus didn’t qualify the neighbor part by telling us what they should look like.
I’m afraid sometimes the five words I come up with are not words that lead me to love my neighbor. Sometimes my words are racist or criminal. Thug or terrorist. Sometimes words like stupid.
And I could nest all those words under a category titled “Different.” From me.
Society teaches us to fear different. But that’s not what Jesus modeled. He really upset some folks by hanging out with the wrong kind of people. Different. He talked to the wrong kind of people. Different. He ate with, worked with, loved the wrong kind of people. Different.
I want to follow Jesus. I want to live my life the way he did. I want to love the way he did. I want to be different. So, I have to see my pictures with different eyes. Think different words. Be open to the surprises I will find when I do.
Our friend at the beginning of the post? His name is David Draiman. He was a surprise for me. He is the vocalist for the metal band Disturbed. The band has debuted five albums at number one on the Billboard 200. They have sold over 17 million records worldwide. If you Google the band or search for their music videos on YouTube, you’ll see exactly what you were expecting. Metal music. Loud singing, almost screaming. Bad language. Not exactly my cup of tea.
But what might surprise you is David grew up in a Jewish household. He went to Jewish schools where he expected to receive rabbinic ordination. He trained as a hazzan, or precentor, taught in the vocal arts to lead the congregation in soulful prayer. He started pre-law studies at Loyola University. He graduated from the University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Government, Philosophy, and Business Administration.
Were any of those words in your list of five? Mine either.
Let’s challenge each other to move past our initial, knee-jerk reaction to the pictures we see and dig deeper. Maybe we find some surprises. Maybe there are more things we share than we expected.
Like Paul Simon and David Draiman. Paul Simon wrote The Sound of Silence in 1964. It hit number one on the Billboard charts and was added to the National Recording Registry in 2012 for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically important.” Fifty years later, David Draiman sang a cover of it with his metal band. It hit number one again. Listeners have streamed the song over 54 million times, and viewers have watched the music video on YouTube over 500 million times. (I’m pretty sure I’m responsible for at least 20, maybe 30 of those views.)
Looking at those two pictures, we would never in a million years believe those two men had anything in common. Nor would we expect the cover of the song to be something just as powerful and emotional from Disturbed as the original from Simon and Garfunkle. We would’ve been wrong.
So, go forth and be different. Be curious. Dig a little deeper.
And sit back and enjoy the precision, beauty, and power of this man’s voice.
Be surprised.
I was reading the email with my toddler (2 1/2) on my lap, and he kept saying “creepy” and pointing at the picture, so I clicked on the article and read it. All I could think of was that he reminded me of Peter Furler from Newsboys. After we watched the music video, my son said “cute” instead of “creepy,” so I think the point was well received.
Ah, Rebecca, I love that story. A perfect example of why we should pause our judgement button when we first see someone.
I loved this and listened to both of the “Sounds of Silence” versions. Will always listen to it with a different perspective in the future.
How do I get your podcast?
You’ll get an email now when I post something new. And thank you for reading (and listening). I’m glad you enjoyed it. I was surprised by what I learned about the Disturbed singer. People are almost never what they seem, are they?
This is a great story. One that has deep meaning but differently deep meanings. One of love and compassion for all things different but sort of a disgust for all things different. It made me look at those disgusting things differently, the way Jesus wants me too.
Thank you for the story Paula. It made me think differently. ✨
Oh, that makes me happy, Robbie. To build on what you said, I saw a tweet one day that said: A lot of people are going to be very surprised about the people they see when they get to heaven. I immediately took that to mean my “enemies” on the other end of the political spectrum would be shocked to realize their Christian intolerance would be slapped down, that it didn’t fit with God’s teachings about love. I gave a mental fist pump. As I wondered about particular persons they might meet in heaven, chortling in a mean way, a name popped into my head. About a year and a half ago, a popular commentator died. A lot of people lived and breathed his words, but I detested him. The voice in my heart said, “I love this man, too. What will YOU think if you meet him on the streets of heaven?” My gleeful victory dance stopped immediately. Jesus, help me be the person you want me to be.
What a beautiful reminder of how Jesus met with all, the unwashed, unsaved, “unlovely.”
And also the lesson for us to look deeper into someone’s lives, not take them at face value, and see the identifiable and quite lovely parts. Thanks, Paula!
Yes, Jesus met with disreputable people. He also went into the temple and drove out the money lenders. He always knows what is in a person’s heart. In my opinion, this group has hate in their hearts, hate for the marginalized people who are welcome at our church.
Good point, Vicki. He knows what is in our hearts. We can leave that to him.
P. S. Interesting how God doesn’t miss much. After I hit “save” on this article, feeling pleased with myself for my inclusive message, I got a test.
My church received a request to use our space for a public meeting. My church does this often. We open our doors to Boy Scout troops, high school graduations, Little Red Schoolhouse distribution, warming station during ice storms, discipline classes for parents. Our church leadership does not require these groups to be members at our church. The group itself doesn’t have to be Christian. We open our doors. I’ve always loved that.
This particular request, however, I didn’t love. It was a request made by a political group in my town, but they described the event as a town hall-type meeting where the mayor would speak, ostensibly about the plans our town would make moving forward with the virus. An economic meeting, if you will.
Our church regulations say anyone can use our space, but due to tax laws (and maybe separation of church and state?), the meeting can’t be political. As soon as I saw the name of the group, a sinking feeling cratered my stomach. I didn’t see how this meeting could progress and remain apolitical. I didn’t want them to meet in my church. I didn’t want the name of my church associated with this group. Reading the divisive language in their invitation to their members, I didn’t want them. Period.
All of this was less than 24 hours after I finished this article.
Time for some soul-searching.
Jesus met with the tax collectors, some of the most hated people in his day. The tax collectors were political. Didn’t keep Jesus away. He even invited one to be a disciple, one of his twelve.
Jesus didn’t worry about his reputation.
Was the way I looked at the political group any different from me looking at the picture of David Draiman and forming my opinions? Was I leaping to conclusions that were wrong? Even if they weren’t wrong, did I want to welcome these people with their divisive rhetoric to my church? To paint us with their brush?
In the end, church leadership asked the group to meet elsewhere. More language had surfaced that was even worse than the original invitation. The words they used made it clear their intent was of a political bent. My church politely declined to host them based on that.
I was relieved. The Jesus I follow wouldn’t say those things, use those words, call those names.
But I do wonder. Would Jesus have turned them away? Food for thought.