Deer. Deer! DEER!

By Charlotte Riegel –

It was dusk as we headed onto the road for an appointment in the city. We had not even climbed out of our valley when I spotted a deer ambling along the opposite side of the road a short distance ahead. My husband, the driver, did not see it, so I calmly but pointedly said, “Deer.”

He did not let up speed so I repeated, “Deer!” with a bit more force, anxiety rising. Still no response from my faithful and very good driver. By this time we were almost beside the animal and I feared it might cross the road in front of us, a very common practice that often ends with dreadful, and sometimes deadly, results.

I shouted, “DEER!” which finally got his attention and he began slowing speed. We whizzed by and thankfully the animal did not cross the road in front of us. All of this happened in a few seconds’ time span and I was baffled as to why hubby had not responded sooner. While discussing it after the fact, he confessed to hearing “dear”, not “deer”.

A very long dialogue ensued as to how I might have said it differently to get his attention about the crisis we were encountering. Perhaps next time I’ll rapidly blurt, “There is a deer on the road ahead!” and point towards it as well.

This incident reminds me how easy it is to use ‘Christianese’ when speaking about our faith to others, yet in reality fail to communicate what we actually mean in a language they understand.

“The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life” (John 6:63 NIV).

Prayer: Dear God, grant me wisdom to know what to say and how to say it when alerting others to physical danger or spiritual danger, especially when there is little time to think through what we need to say.