Luke 3:1-6
Sound and Fury
James Sledge December
6, 2015 – Advent 2
In
the final act of the play, shortly before his own death, Macbeth learns that
Lady Macbeth has died, prompting him to launch into a brief soliloquy ending
with these famous words. “Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow,
a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard
no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying
nothing.”
Macbeth
seems unimpressed by our sojourn through mortality. I hope he’s wrong about
life being a poorly told tale with lots of noise, but ultimately meaningless.
Yet we might well borrow his words to describe a great deal in our world.
If you frequent Facebook or Twitter or other
social media you know something about sound and fury. The internet overflows
with bombastic speech with no hint of nuance. People hurl unequivocal
statements at one another, apparently unable to imagine that their opinions
could have the slightest flaw, or that their opponents’ opinions a sliver of
truth. And right now there are many such posts about guns and Muslims and
Islamic terror.
Social
media are often just a less polished versions of the talking heads so prominent
on so-called “news channels.” There is much sound and fury, but is sometimes
difficult to say if there is anything more. And in the wake of events like
Paris or San Bernardino, the sound and fury can be deafening.
But
for the ultimate in sound and fury, nothing tops what passes for political
discourse in our age. Such noise is bipartisan, but perhaps because of so many
candidates, each needing to get noticed, the Republican presidential field
surely pushes the sound and fury meter to absurd levels. This past week even
more so.
In such a climate, where does one go to
hear a word that is wisdom and truth? Where are we to find a word that actually
signifies something? Who has a word to give meaning and hope and life?