You have probably heard it said (often, if you are in the second year of my class!) that context is everything. Okay, so I admit, it is definitely a cliché, but I would also like to suggest that it is a whole lot more than that.
I recently read a blog post in which a woman detailed a story about attending a church service that was very "charismatic." In other words, people were very vocal and enthusiastic in their worship style. She was okay with that, at least at first. But it really started becoming annoying to her when a woman behind her started yelling "Glory!" and sometimes, "Glory, Glory, Glory!" during the service and the preacher's sermon. Once was fine. Twice or three times was pushing it. But when it became constant, the blogger had enough. She had formed a judgment about this woman and it wasn't a complimentary one.
After the service, the blogger stopped to speak with the pastor's wife, who was a friend.
The pastor's wife asked, "Did you happen to notice the woman who sat behind you today?" The blogger commented that yes, indeed, she had noticed her, but she stopped herself from saying anything negative or judgmental that she might regret (she was in a church, after all!). That was when the pastor's wife said, "Her son was killed just last week in a drive by shooting." The pastor's wife went on to share what an inspiration the woman had been to everyone at the church in the way she had clung to her faith through her pain, "It's truly beautiful," she said.
In that moment, everything changed. No longer did the blogger see the woman as an obnoxious, over zealous church goer. The woman calling out, "Glory!" had suffered unspeakable loss and tragedy; she was a human being who was bravely confronting her pain and suffering. The blogger posted these words: "When we know context, we are slower to judge, slower to write people off, slower to feel disdain, and slower to puff ourselves up in self-righteous [or indignant] pride."*
Communication and social interaction processes are an integral part of our every day lives; at school, at work, and at home. In each of these situations, both our culture and the unique context of our individual lives and situations play a role in how information is communicated, received, and most importantly, understood. This is such an important revelation as you take in the flurry of information hurled in almost rapid fire succession at you everyday. Whether in watching the news, paging through advertisements, engaging in hallway gossip, or just making your own observations, you must always consider the role that the larger context of that message or sound bite is playing.
This should inspire this question in us all: Who is judging you without a context today? All of us can
do only so much to allow others to see the "bigger picture." But ultimately; in a world of Snapchats, Instagram, Facebook Posts, short tweets and snippets of time that people may see us in the grocery store, hallway, or out on the field, they are going to see what they want to see, make of it what they will, and form an instant judgement. This shouldn't surprise us; after all, we live in a hurried, "instant" world. Personally, I'd like to hope that people who see me out and about, at my best and my worst, will give me the benefit of the doubt...
I have attached a video link here that highlights the results of a very interesting experiment. Several photographers were hired (unaware of each other) to photograph the same man. Each photographer was given a simple background or "context" of their subject. None of them were true, and all were very different from each other. It's very interesting how it affected even their artistic choices! Please watch it by clicking this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-TyPfYMDK8
Share what you learned in the video, and what your own life experiences have taught you about the importance of context.
We live in a fast moving, rapidly changing world of quick reactions and snap judgements. Maybe it would do us all good to stop, take a deep breath, and consider all the experiences, emotions, interactions and relationships that have brought us to this very moment. Maybe it would do us all one better if we took the time to stop and consider all the possible factors that have brought each individual we encounter to this moment, as well...
(*Booker, Adriel. "Context is Everything," I Still Belong blog, 2017)
