“Are you allowed to touch that?”, asked the man behind me at the Dunkin Donuts line, addressing the little boy who was tapping his outstretched fingers on the plastic front of the “Please enter here” sign.

The boy looked at him, and then back at the sign, and reached out to touch the sign again.
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Sometimes the faith journey feels like an exercise in multiple personality management I find that I am often a different person when with other people of faith compared to when I am with what our friend Gary Davis calls “normal people”…

This manifests itself most strikingly in the words and language I use when I am with these different groups of people. When I am talking with someone who I know is “a believer”, I find myself seamlessly using Christianese lingo a lot in describing how life is going. Phrases like “it was such a blessing”, “praise God”, “during my quiet time the other day”, “how can I be praying for you?” make it into the conversation with ease and fluidity.

But when I am having a conversation with someone who may not be “a believer”, I find myself seamlessly and fluidly using “regular” lingo. Phrases like “we were lucky indeed”, “thank goodness!”, “I was thinking the other day”, “so how’s life going?” make it into the conversation instead of the Christian jargon.

Even the term “believer” is a dead giveaway - just what do Christians mean by that anyway?
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I’m with Alexis in Fort Collins, Colorado, on a training trip. I’m teaching a four-day course starting tomorrow, but today is Sunday, and we are hanging out in a nifty local coffee shop in downtown Fort Collins, right on College Street in “Old Town”. Alexis is reading and journaling while I am walking through the course materials in preparation for tomorrow.

We’re listening to some folk and jazz over the cafe’s music system, and at one point I take a break to look up the start time for the World Cup final. As I am browsing BBC’s news website, a new song comes on the speakers, a funky/bluesy/folksy tune with the main refrain being “Look at the daaaay the Lord has made… take a look… take a look… Look at the daaaay…”

It was a catchy and upbeat tune, with a clapping chorus section, and enthusiastic vocals. It was quite pleasant…

… except that, for me, I was reading the main headlines on the BBC while the song was playing, so it kinda formed a surreal soundtrack for the day’s major news stories:

“Look at the daaaaaay…”

• Dozens killed in Baghdad attacks: Gunmen kill at least 40 people at a fake checkpoint, while at least 17 others die in a double car bombing in Baghdad.
• Passenger plane crashes in Russia: Nearly 150 people, including many children, are feared dead after a Russian airliner crashes on landing.

“… the Lord has made…”

• Two French girls in kidnap alert
• Pirates film on target for record

“… take a look …”

• After the shooting: Israeli battle leaves anger and grief in Gaza town
• Blue is the colour: Berlin set for biggest party as World Cup nears climax

“… take a look …”

• India tests new ballistic missile
• Bulls savage runners at annual Spanish festival

“… this is the daaaaay …”

• US soldiers charged in rape case
• Gaza assault ‘may continue’

“… the Lord has made …”

• Children use fancy footwork in clog world record attempt
• Federer battles to fourth title

“… take a look … take a look … this is the day the Lord has made…”

I’ve often experienced a similar surrealness when watching the typical TV news broadcast : call me sensitive, but when a smiling and charming news anchor seamlessly goes from shocking story to brutal story to sad story to silly story to celebrity story to local interest story to weather story to war story with the same fake smile, all within five minutes, it really does disturb me deep down that we are so plastic and callous to what mankind is up to.

This is why I often check the BBC for my news instead of CNN - I find CNN to have a really warped entertainment-centric focus, and the BBC’s main page really does a great job with presenting the major world stories in one place.

But to hear such an upbeat optimistic song in the background while reflecting on the news… exhorting us to focus on the presence of the Lord in all this, to believe that the LORD made this day…

My reality check just bounced.