Gestures – Week 2
“Peace!”
August 12, 2018
Pastor Ed Young
It’s perhaps the most used and recognized gesture in the world. ✌️ But could it be that this simple hand gesture holds more power and meaning than we often give it? In this message, Pastor Ed Young unpacks peace from God’s point of view and helps us see that there is much more to it than we may know. But when we gain the proper perspective on peace, it becomes something that can transform every area of our lives!
Transcript
[Ed walks on stage holding up the “Peace!” sign.] There we go, it took awhile. Whenever I flash the peace sign please, show me some love and flash the peace sign back. Peace, peace!
The peace sign has got to be the most common gesture in the world today, the peace sign. I've been talking about gestures lately, and I've discovered that 93% of communication is non-verbal. Just watch people as they exit all of our locations, as they make their way to the parking lot, watch the gestures they use. Maybe watch the gestures of people on the freeway when you cut them off, the gestures.
You know, we're all about gestures. We talk so much with gestures. I thought today we would talk about the peace sign, peace.
When I say peace, when I flash the peace sign, what do you think about? What goes through your mind?
ILLUS: As I've told you before, my first encounter with the peace sign happened when I was in the second grade at Taylors Elementary School. We were in the cafeteria eating food with about, I don't know, a hundred or so kids. We were misbehaving, even though the teachers were telling us “Shh, shh!” We were flinging English peas with our spoons at one another, laughing and pulling the girl's hair, all that stuff. It was sort of mayhem in the cafeteria at Taylors Elementary.
Suddenly though, we heard the screen door, that's right, there was a screen door that opened a hallway into the cafeteria. Suddenly we heard the screen door open, everyone looked, and to our shock and amazement the most intimidating principal in the history of public education walked through the door. I'm talking about Principal W. A. Woodruff. I wish we would use like initials when we talk about people in today's culture like we did back in the day. W. A., instead of calling me Ed Young, how about E.B. Young. Edwin Barry, just call me E.B., I like that, old school.
Well W. A. Woodruff man this guy was scary. At least six-four, 300 pounds, had a crew cut gray hair, these big, black horn-rimmed glasses. A scowl on his face like a middle linebacker for the Cowboys. Giant wingtips, and he always sported the short-sleeve dress shirt. Let's bring back the short-sleeve dress shirt, what do you say? Remember those? He had on a little black tie, and he was just looking at all the kids in the cafeteria misbehaving. A holy hush came over the cafeteria. Word got out, W. A. Woodruff was in the house.
Word on the street was he paddled kids. That's right, principals would paddle kids who misbehaved back in the day. I know that's a shocker, some of the kids are going, “What?!” Yeah, it was rumored he used a two-by-four, with nails some of my friends said, I don't know. He was a scary figure.
So a holy hush hit the cafeteria, I mean we were like, “Whoa! He's caught us in the midst of our misbehavior!” Everyone was quiet, even the teachers were scared.
There's always that crazy person in every group. Do you know what I'm saying to you? Even in the second grade, there was this crazy kid in our class and he had enough guts to say to Principal W. A. Woodruff, these words, "Hey Mr. Woodruff, peace, peace!"
