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September 11, 2006
Shalom
What do you think about when you hear the word Shalom?
Most of you are aware that I have decided to return to the books over the summer and complete my journey on what has turned into the Ten-Year College Plan. I have decided to finish through a degree completion cohort at Evangel University here in town. For those of you who may not be familiar with Evangel, it is a Christian university, so several of the courses deal with faith and how it relates to us in our career fields.
And so it goes that the class I just completed in this cohort (my major is in Communications) is called "Communicating Through the Eyes of Faith." In the course, the assigned reading was Communicating for Life , by Quentin J. Schultze. Although the book deals with communication in terms of media, I found it very insightful for life in general. I would highly recommend it, if you are looking to be challenged.The book deals with a variety of topics, such as using our voices to help the voiceless and authenticity in our communication, but the word Schultze keeps coming back to is an ancient Hebrew word most of us have heard a thousand times: Shalom.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines Shalom as peace, but upon further study of the Hebrew definition, I discovered there was much more to Shalom than peace, although peace certainly is important. The actual word embodies a whole worldview that's wrapped up in what the New Testament calls the Fruit of the Spirit. Everything including love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, and self-control is wrapped up in this one powerful word that has sadly been lost on much of the Christian church.
In fact, this is the word (Shalom) that was said to embody all of Scripture, which is why the Jews called the Scriptures the "WORD" (Shalom) "of God." Get it? I think I confused myself for a minute. Powerful stuff. "Shalom" is God's word, or "God's CHOICE of words," you could say. I never really thought about the "Word of God" meaning that God has a favorite word.
As you think about the word and concept of Shalom, how does it relate to every aspect of your life? The question the book forced me to ask myself is, "How is what I'm doing demonstrating Shalom in the world I find myself in? Does what I do even matter? How do the words I use in everyday life help to spread all of the concepts wrapped up in the word Shalom? Do people see through my diplomacy and smiles? And if they do (and all of us have to put on the smiles once in a while), what is it that hides beneath? Is it shalom?"
These are probably simple questions to some of you, and perhaps you've long been asking yourself these questions, and it's made all the difference in your life. But, if you haven't asked these of yourself, I would encourage you to do so.
How does Shalom change you? I'd love to read (or hear) your thoughts.21:00 Posted in Theology and Religion | Permalink | Comments (2) | Trackbacks (0) | Email this | Tags: Shalom, Word of God, Peace, Love, Joy, Fruit of Spirit, Christianity
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