Why ‘The Quiet Man’?

If you are a John Wayne fan, you may already know one answer to this question.  “The Quiet Man” is classic film starring ‘The Duke’ and Maureen O’hara.  John Wayne plays an American who escapes to Ireland, the land of his birth, in hopes of starting over in a life of simplicity.  He soon discovers things are more complicated than he expected, as he falls in love with a beautiful Irish girl but faces the difficulty of cultural gaps.  So what does this have to do with me and this blog?  The film is in many ways an observation of cultural oddities and cultural differences and their affect on the lives of the characters.  Much of this blog, too, is an observation of culture, be it Christian, American, or other.  Also, the name of the character John Wayne plays in this movie is “Sean Thornton”.

Besides the movie connection, I have throughout my life been accused of being ‘quiet.’  Truth be told, I am a bit of an introvert.  But isn’t it interesting how the Scripture calls us to “live a quiet life” (1 Thess. 4:11), or lauds the quality of “meekness” (Matthew 5:5), or even how “gentleness” is listed as “fruit of the Spirit” (Gal. 5:22-23)?  Gentleness, meekness, quietness are Biblical concepts generally ignored, dismissed, or even ridiculed in the world (especially when applied to men), yet esteemed by God.  I find it fitting, then, to call this blog ‘The Quiet Man’.