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Writer's pictureRick Dancer

A Silent Conversation


The Silent Conversation


Sponsored by CrisDental Family Dentistry Eugene


There’s a rap on my window.

I look up and a man who looks like he might be homeless is holding a bunch of keychains and motioning me to let him into my office.


He steps inside.

I ask him a question….nothing.

He begins to sign, telling me he is deaf and cannot speak.

It’s also apparent he doesn’t read lips very well.

I know enough sign language to be dangerous.

At this moment that’s all I’ve got.


He signs his name…N-E-I-L.

I return with R-I-C-K.

A huge smile covers his face and his eyes dance with excitement as he realizes I understand him.


I buy a keychain for three dollars.

He heads for the door, I tap him on the shoulder and continue our rough and confusing conversation.

I think he lost his hearing as a young child in some kind of explosion.

In the ten minutes he was in my office that’s really all I got of his story.

But in that ten minutes he also made my day and I think I made his.


There are so many people in the world who are out for themselves.

They strike up conversations with you in person or online, pretending to want to get to know you.

But their selfish desires boil and in the end all they want is to use you in one fashion or another.

In my line of work it’s one of the prices paid for recognition, openness and allowing all kinds of people into my life.


I have days I’d like to recoil, hide and fall back a little. But then I meet someone like N-E-I-L and realize, to let the “users” silence me also quiets the voiceless, voices of people like N-E-I-L.


I never want to be the guy who hears a rap on the window and refused to let someone in.

I don’t know why things happen but feel like God knew my story was growing stale and my day needed a lift. He knew a conversation later that night would throw me a bit and that N-E-I-L stopped by to remind me….It is well with my soul.



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4 Comments


jimjamieson48
jimjamieson48
Sep 27, 2023

What we do for the least , we do for Jesus

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marcwstauffer
Sep 27, 2023

I hope that someday, Lord willing, we will have the chance to meet and I can shake your hand, look you in the eye and say thank you for what you do and then thank your wife for supporting you in your endeavors.

- M

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nonniesim
Sep 27, 2023

As it says in Psalm 91:1, "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." In other words, because you live your life walking with God, in the daylight and in the dark of night, He covers you. This includes your conversations. 🤗 Here's a hug for you, from me (and probably from Him).


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terrellv
Sep 27, 2023

Angels come into our life almost daily some we know for a few minutes, a few days or a lifetime. They show up when we need them, for protection, support, guidance, and those we do not know why. We met them and never realize who or what they were or why they were there at that precise moment in time. Sometimes, it may be years, then the light come on; we realize they were sent for a purpose. They can take on many forms even perhaps an animal like a dog. i learned God truly does work in mysterious ways. I have also finally learned not to question God, though I question everyone and everything. We pray and mus…

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