Do you speak...?

When you travel in the summer for some holiday time, you get the opportunity to see lots of new places and people. We certainly got the opportunity to do that when we travelled recently to Nova Scotia (more about that in a later post). We spent two nights in Quebec (one going, one coming) and encoutered some people who did not speak English, or at least not very well, and they encountered some people (us!) who did not speak French very well! Some did speak English and did their best to serve us well. Those who spoke only French did their best to understand us, while we did our best to understand and be understood. It underscored for me the importance of learning and striving to communicate with other people using language and terminology they would understand. My mother-in-law doesn't understand or speak any French and is adamant that, if people live in Canada, they need to speak English! Too often that is the attitude of the church and many Christians. We carry on speaking in 'Christianese', oblivious to the fact that those outside the church and church/Christian culture have no idea what we're talking about. If we would take the time to listen to others, we would realize that they are struggling with and concerned about the same issues as we are.
Parlez-vous Francais? Sprechen zie deutsch?
It all begins by listening. It's amazing what you'll learn as you take the time to get to know the people around you.
Blessings,
David