Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Luke 18:39 (NIV)
When I was in college studying acting, my professor sent us on an unusual assignment. He sent us a few miles up the road to a busy shopping mall. We were told to sit in the middle of the mall for at least two hours.
Watch people.
Really observe them.
How they move.
Their unusual tics.
The particular way they behave with others.
The goal was to teach me as an actor about creating a realistic and believable character on stage. It’s more than memorizing lines and regurgitating them on stage. It’s about creating a real person.
With a particular gate to his walk.
Mannerisms unique to his character.
A specific way he reacts and responds physically.
That lesson profited me far beyond my training for the stage.
The importance of observation was an entire life-lesson.
It had spiritual implications.
In my daily life. On this chapter-a-day journey.
I keep the eyes and ears of my heart open.
Observing.
Watching for patterns, repetition, and surprises.
As I read and meditated on today’s chapter, I noticed something.
The chapter is book-ended with a parable and an episode.
There’s a connection.
The parable concerns a judge and an old widow.
A widow in the culture of Jesus’ day was a nobody.
Marginalized.
Poor.
Zero social status.
Everyday she begged the judge to hear her case.
Everyday.
She made herself annoying.
Until the judge heard the case just to shut her up.
At the end of the chapter, Jesus is walking through a crowd.
On the side of the road was a blind man.
A beggar.
He shouts, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!”
Again. And again. And again.
Annoyed, those around him tell him to shut up.
He yells louder.
Jesus stops. Calls the man over, and heals him.
The widow knocked on the judge’s door.
The blind man shouted into the crowd.
Different scenes. Same audacity.
A week or so ago, I was struck by a similar parable Jesus told.
The neighbor who begs for bread at midnight.
Shameless audacity.
Socially inappropriate.
What struck me as I meditated on these things this morning was that I was observing a pattern in the parables and stories that are lifting off the page for me in the quiet.
Prayer.
Pleading.
Persistence.
A holy refusal to be ignored.
It’s a Holy Spirit whisper.
“Pray Tom.
Keep praying.
Be bold.
Be audacious.
Don’t stop.
Try to annoy me.”
And so in the quiet this morning and observable pattern informs me of my marching orders.
And with that, I will finish this post.
I have some praying to do.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
