BHBlogger Caroline Koster has done it again, publishing another beautifully written op-ed in the New York Daily News. It’s a “Lenten essay about free speech and the privilege of listening,” inspired by a recent visit with her mother-in-law who said, “God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason!”
Caroline discusses the disruption of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s speech at the Brooklyn Heights Association annual meeting, and a recent experience at the Public Theater during the play “The Ally,” when two audience members stormed out noisily shouting “Never forget Oct. 7!” An excerpt:
No teapot or stew will heal humanitarian crises that hurt us all. No coat drive will forever warm today’s cold world. Noisy theater grandmas are a far cry from silencing a senator. A disrupted neighborhood meeting is a laughable inconvenience to any community ravaged by death, hunger and war. A shelter night with a poor New Yorker has a short shelf-life. My community curry won’t save a soul. Diapers and sweatpants will be used up by summer.
But as we move through Easter, Ramadan and Passover, we can swap disruption for compassion and listening.
These long Lenten weeks reminded me that any prayer for resolution surely starts with God’s gift — whichever one you worship — of two ears and just one mouth.
Be sure to read the full op-ed at this link.
Photo by Caroline Koster.
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