Bryan Thompson :: Blogged

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.

Have you ever wished you could go back in time and fix all of those terrible things you've always wished you never did? Well, this year, one man has undergone that task, and although he can't go back in time, he can make up for every bad thing he's ever done. And he does mean every...single...thing he's ever done.

Meet Earl Hickey. He's one of those ol' boys from Good Ol' Country USA who took advantage of everyone he ever met just to satisfy his own selfish wants. And after discovering the concept of Karma (or "What goes around comes around") and realizing that he kept being punished by jail time, auto accidents, and homicidal ex-wives for all of the chaos he'd put everybody else through, Earl's decided he's going to take his life and his future back. Not only has he decided to take the 'straight and narrow' from here on out. He's gone and made a list of every single bad thing he's ever done to anybody; and one by one, he's making amends for every last one of them.

NBC's "My Name Is Earl," if you haven't seen it yet, is taking the country by storm, and is one of the most hilarious, down-to-earth, and original pieces of comedy to hit the small screen. Played by Jason Lee ("A Guy Thing," "Vanilla Sky," and "Big Trouble"), Earl Hickey is one of the small-town prophets of our time. He isn't rich, powerful, or well educated. He lives in a motel room with his even more academically challenged younger brother Randy (Ethan Suplee - best known as the huge bully Frankie on the teen series "Boy Meets World"), and although every odd is against him, he is bound and determined to make wrongs right and to get the very spiritual forces of the universe on his side for a change.

I wonder how many people across America can relate to Earl Hickey. It's funny how even in such a big college town like Springfield, MO (where there are more than ten colleges), so many people still settle for mediocrity, ignorance, and apathy. And it only gets worse throughout the country. I come from a deep southern town in Florida where the mobile home lots exceed car dealerships and the career at the Department of Corrections is deemed "the American Dream." And with so many people settling for mediocrity, it's people like Earl who become heroes. And maybe if enough of those "good ol' boys" tune in on Thursday nights (NBC, 8/7 Central), we might just start changing this ol' world for the good.

And isn't this what Jesus calls us to do as well (I haven't been spiritual in a while - you knew it was coming sooner or later.)? As a result of His goodness, aren't we supposed to quite literally become agents of peace and justice in a world that has forgotten it? Think of what might happen if we flawed and ordinary human beings began making things right that we had made wrong so many times. We might just be able to start turning the tide on civilization, and truly make this world better.

Well, I don't know about you, but I'm excited. I've even made a list. Unfortunately, I think I lost it.