The "R" in RADIO: Reaching

Students probably don't remember the boomboxes of the 1970s and 80s--maybe only from pictures. They were big as a house, weighing up to 25 lbs., with 16 batteries, hyper-bass and scads of speakers. Like the one pictured above.

They made some serious noise, and everybody in a quarter-mile radius heard you....even felt you. That's how deep and loud the bass boom was from these boxes.

Today, the loud, in-your-face, hear-you-comin-from-a-mile-away boombox has given way to a more "genteel" form of entertainment: the personal stereo. You know it as an iPod, or mp3 player. These technological wonders create the same big sound the boomboxes made, but they make it available ONLY to you. You listen to what you want to listen to, and those around you can't hear a thing. They may not even be aware you're listening to music at all.

Let's say each of these music devices represented the way we live our faith. Which one would best represent your faith?

In the first chapel of Spiritual Life Emphasis Week, Mennonite Church USA's Glen Guyton suggested to Dock students that while the boombox is a technology that has fallen out of fashion, it is by far a better analogy for the way Christians are to live their faith.

"I want you to think about your faith this week," Guyton told students. "It should be big and booming, just like that big old boombox--not some iPod Nano faith."

What kind of faith do you have? Is it like a boombox, out there for all to see and hear and feel? Or is like an iPod--a quiet, I'll-just-keep-this-to-myself kind of faith. If your faith is more like an iPod than a boombox, maybe it's time to let the world know what kind of beat you're listening to. You never know--they may want to dance to it, too.

Talking about boomboxes was also Glen's way of introducing the SLEW theme, R.A.D.I.O. On Monday he discussed the first letter, "R," which stands for "Reach."

"One of the things I have come to understand," he said, "is that God always has his hand out to us. We simply have to say yes, and reach out to him. The spirit of God connects each of us. So reach out to God. Did you give God the summer off? Reach out to him. Reach out to other people. You'll be amazed what God can do."