A Bullhorn Not Wasted

I once joined a group that made me the custodian of its bullhorn. Bullhorns are for making oneself heard, but that presumes one has something to say, and even if one has something to say, is a bullhorn the best way to say it?

It brings to mind a certain Los Angeles street corner where a preacher with a bullhorn regularly calls sinners to repent while there is yet time. He broadcasts his message with a very loud bullhorn, but having observed the scene from the safety of my car, windows up, it is my observation that his “congregation” generally tolerated but otherwise fully ignored his proclamation. Call it a bullhorn wasted.

Perhaps he might have found a more receptive audience had he first fed our innate spirituality (and so possible interest in his message) through two visible threads common to most all religious traditions.

The first thread is simple compassion: to the hungry, say, we offer something to eat. In other words, don’t just talk the talk. Anybody can fill the space with words, but putting the words to work by first walking the walk will give the words meaning and so build bridges between people.

The second thread is perhaps less obvious but just as vital and takes the form of a question, why: why are there hungry people? Significantly, asking the question opens the door to the issue of justice and together, compassion and justice lie at the heart of whatever message has to proclaim. Visibly expressed compassion and justice capture our attention.

A person with a bullhorn who lives simple compassion and pokes around in the sticky matter of justice is hard to ignore and (not infrequently) to tolerate as well. Call it a bullhorn not wasted.

Don Helder Camera, formerly Catholic Bishop of Recife, Brazil, puts it this way:

“When I feed the hungry, they call me a saint. When I ask why they are hungry, they call me a communist.” He continues, “I can pull people out of the river all day, but sooner or later I must go up the river to see who is throwing them in.”

Doing justice, living compassion requires no bullhorn. The actions alone deliver the message … loud and clear.