Banners In The Sky

I am not a beach person per se.
That is a strange truth considering the fact that our entire family goes to the beach each year.
Perhaps it is the fact that we are all together that makes this time so special.
It is not the sun and sand that call to me.

Being Irish and fair skinned, my time at the beach is under the umbrella with lots of sunscreen.
None of us come home with a tan.
A few of us come home, despite our efforts to the contrary, with some sunburn.
Sun kissed rather than sun baked is fine with me.

What I do love about being near the ocean, is the sound of the waves.
I love the vastness of the sea before me.
I love to think that just over there, right at the line of the horizon, is another land.
The ocean is fodder for the imagination.

What breaks into my reverie, an unwelcome interruption, are the banners in the sky.
Planes fly overhead with a long banner trailing behind them.
The same plane will fly back again, going the other direction, making sure the words are read.
There is nothing profound on the banner, as if that would make the interruption acceptable.

The banners advertise a restaurant with its dinner special.
The banners advertise an event or happening that is not to be missed, according to them.
The beauty of the blue sky is marred by a plane with words trailing behind.
Does anyone even pay attention?

I was remembering the banners in the sky.
I was remembering my husband reading a few to me as I read my book.
Look, steak dinner…as his words got lost on the breeze.
There was nothing that could have lured my away from my reading or my reverie.

As I pondered the banners in the sky, I thought, What if?
What if every word we ever said was written out on a long banner?
What if our words were there for everyone to see?
Would we be pleased or would we be embarrassed?

We have two ears and one mouth.
That should mean that we listen more than we speak.
However, I don’t think that’s true.
We speak far more than we listen.

There is a poem that I tumble in my mind from time to time.

If all that we say in a single day,
With never a word left out.
Were printed each night
in clear black and white
‘Twould prove strange reading, no doubt.
And then, just suppose,
‘ere our eyes we could close,
We must read the whole record through;
Then wouldn’t we sigh,
and wouldn’t we try
A great deal less talking to do?
And I more than half think
That many a kink
Would be smoother in life’s tangled thread.
If half that we say in a single day
Were left forever unsaid.
(Author Unknown)

I have pondered something Michael Card once said, words I have never forgotten.
We don’t like silence because it says too much.
We fill up our days with noise.
Silence is uncomfortable, instead of being a welcome respite from the cacophony around us.

What if our words were banners in the sky?
Would they be worth reading?
If not, then are our words always worth saying?
Would silence be more companionable than incessant voices?

I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak.
(Matthew 12:36)

One day, our words will be like banners in the sky as we stand before God.
What words will be printed on them?
Let’s consider what our word banners would say if someone were to read them.
Our words really matter.