In one sense, Mount Vernon is a microcosm of what much of the United States will be like in the next fifty years or so. We are what is called a majority-minority community. That is, the majority of the people of this community are members of groups that are minorities in the overall population of the United States. It is a bit confusing and it has very little impact on day to day life. What it means in practical terms is that there are a lot of different folks who mix easily in day to day life. Walking down the street, it is common to hear folks having conversation in Spanish and not at all rare to hear Ukrainian. About 8% of the population of this city are first- or second-generation immigrants from the Ukraine. While there are plenty of folks who are bilingual and it is common for stores and service agencies to have bilingual employees to serve customers, the common language is English.

Not long ago, I was outside our home and I overheard our neighbor having a conversation with someone in the street, so their voices were raised slightly. Their conversation was in English and I could understand what they were saying. However, the rhythm of their speaking was Spanish. I’m pretty sure that both of the folks who were speaking are bilingual, but for whatever reason, the conversation was taking place in English. Around here when folks are speaking Spanish, they speak quickly and take short pauses amidst long phrases. It isn’t the formal, Castilian Spanish taught when we were in school, but the musical Spanish of Central America. Before you begin to recognize the words, you recognize the rhythm of the language.

Ukrainian also has its own rhythm. I no virtually no words in Ukrainian. I can’t even write the Cyrillic alphabet. But if I walk past someone who is speaking Ukrainian on the phone, I can identify the likely language. It would be possible to confuse me with a similar language. I might have identified the language as Russian did I not know about the Ukrainian population in our area. But the language has a distinct rhythm as do all languages.

At the same time as our community is working out how to do business and provide services to our people in multiple languages, the English language is changing. Our vocabularies are expanding. New technologies are producing new words. Terms like gig economy, bitcoin, and cloud computing did not exist when I was born, but I have had to learn to use them. Technology influences our language in other ways, as well. Now that most of us carry cell phones with us, we are constantly overhearing one side of a conversation that doesn’t involve us. Without trying to eavesdrop, we are immersed in the constant conversation with others.

I was thinking about language and how it is being transformed earlier this week as I participated in a Zoom discussion with other members of our church. The pandemic has taught many of us a new skill of participating in video conversations with multiple participants. I think there were about nine frames of pictures on my computer during this recent conversation. As I have learned, I kept my audio muted except when I was speaking. This caused a slight delay when I wanted to speak or when I responded to a direct question. It also meant that I was much less likely to interrupt another’s speaking than would be the case if we were together. In face to face conversation there is a tendency to start speaking at nearly any silence, even when that silence is just a pause in another’s idea.

In my time as a pastor, I learned to appreciate interruptions. Our conversations would take twists and turns and often we had to wonder through several different subjects before we got to the real important reason for our conversation. There have been times when I was annoyed by “small talk” and eager to get to the “meat” of the meeting, but over the years I realized that small talk has a social function. It is part of getting to know one another and learning how to engage the other in meaningful conversation. It is a way of exploring shared concerns and common passions. Sometimes the interruption becomes the most revealing aspect of an exchange.

Zoom, however, is moderating our use of interruption. Because of the way that the audio works in computer group chat, only one person can speak at a time. When there are multiple people speaking, the group hears only the one who has temporary control of the audio. A loud background noise such as a barking dog or a crying child can cause control of the audio to shift. I use the mute feature to keep my background noise from disrupting the conversation. A dropped book won’t interrupt the meeting. The practice changes the natural rhythm of conversation.

It seems possible that I am just a bit more deliberative when we have Zoom meetings. I think that I am practicing and learning new listening skills through the media. I feel like I am less quick to speak and more careful in listening. The system works in many ways and we are fairly good at having substantial conversations in limited time frames. Meetings tend to start and stop on time, something that is rare in face to face church meetings.

While I accept that some elements of our pandemic separation will continue, I am eager for face to face meetings. Our church here is slow to return to such meetings, but they have begun. I don’t know exactly when face to face worship will return, but with many of us fully vaccinated, I suspect that it won’t be long. I confess I’ve gotten a bit used to wandering around the room during worship. Facebook worship doesn’t command my full attention in the same way as worshiping in a group does. I miss singing hymns together. It isn’t the same, trying to sing along with the speakers on my computer. I know my computer speakers don’t do justice to the organ or piano.

Our language is evolving and we are changing as we acquire new skills at listening and speaking. Even so, we miss the sounds of our childhood and the way things used to be. As the pandemic begins to wane, we realize that we won’t be going back, but rather ahead to a new way of conversing. I may even become less likely to interrupt in face to face conversation after the experiences of this year.