I'll confess it up front ... I'm guilty of diverting from my stated aim. This blog doesn't specifically refer to an everyday article, theme or circumstance. Instead, I'm hoping my illustration will prompt a parallel thought in the minds of my readers that will, in turn, focus their minds on the fundamental point.
One of my great hobbies is bell-ringing; I've been at it for fifty years or so, off and on, and - as I admitted to someone recently - I find it difficult to appreciate what it's like not to know things that to me are, after that length of time, second nature. If you've never tried, it may surprise you that one of the most difficult aspects of learning to ring is the language! If you visit a foreign country, aware that they speak a different language, you might well seek out a good dictionary and do some homework in advance. This isn't a different language, however, it's all English ... but a lot of everyday words have different from everyday meanings.
To make things worse, there are instances where the same thing is known equally by two or more different words: had you ever considered that both 'over' and 'to' could mean 'after'? Or that 'in', 'down' or 'to the front' could actually mean 'earlier'. And then there are normal English words, that not only preserve their 'proper' meaning, but also have a specific and totally different one as well, such as 'lead': it appears in its literal meaning as in 'take the lead in doing something'; but a lead (pronounced in exactly the same way) is also the name given to the basic unit of a method, or pattern, of ringing.
Two intelligent learners who trained with our local band last year focused my attention on this problem ... one that I'd never really appreciated before. In the days when I learned to ring, a beginner remained largely silent and absorbed these things rather by osmosis than by being told. Not so in today's world ... and all the better for that!
This isn't a new phenomenon, of course, and one that is far from confined to bell-ringing. Most hobbies and interests have a jargon all their own that has to be understood by newcomers in order to gain the most satisfaction from them. We can take encouragement from the example of St Paul. In about AD 50, he visited Thessalonica in the north-eastern part of what today is Greece. As a result of a riot, his friends sent him to nearby Berea for safety but the trouble followed him there, so he went further south to Athens, and waited for his friends to join him there later.
Making good use of his time while he was waiting, he chatted to Jews and Greeks in the market place. There he was overheard by some Epicurian and Stoic philosophers who enjoyed the challenge of debating with him. Some called him a babbler; others didn't understand what he was saying about Jesus and the resurrection, and thought he was talking about two foreign gods. It was a far cry from Paul's intended message about the One True God! (You can find the whole story in Acts 17:10-21).
During the autumn, I took part in a ringing outing, and overheard a conversation between our organiser and the man who had met us at one of the churches we visited. He was explaining about a young learner he'd taught a while ago. "He just didn't get it," he said, "He couldn't see how we knew which bell to follow when we were ringing a method. Then one day, he realised what we meant, what we'd been trying to explain one way or another for ages. He suddenly shouted, 'I get it!' and then there was no holding him. In a few months he was ringing stuff I could never master!"
Just like that trainer, and St Paul, those explaining the Christian faith are faced time after time by folks who simply can't grasp the fundamental but far-reaching simplicity of faith. We don't have to earn our salvation ... it's already been won, once for all, by Jesus on the Cross. All we have to do is accept that, for what it is ... a gift.
At Christmas time, we celebrate the gift of Jesus arriving on earth in the form of a tiny, vulnerable baby, born to a humble family in the Middle East. Each year our church is transformed for a living tableau illustrating 'The Christmas Journey'. Over the course of a week hundreds of primary school children, along with their teachers, pass through our doors to see a portrayal of the real story of Christmas. It's surprising how many of them had no idea what this great festival time is all about ... and sometimes quite moving to witness their emotional reaction!
If you have been trying for years, whether in terms of Christmas, Easter or purely in everyday conversation, to explain your faith to someone close to you, take heart from the example of Paul. Think how many thousands - millions, even - owe their faith to his determination not to give up.
No comments:
Post a Comment