Is anyrone listening? (Magazine Editorial)

In my first appointment, as a curate in busy Croydon, I had to preach every day and produce once a week an editorial for the pew sheet. I was metaphorically thrown into the deep end of the pool. Although a hard slog at the time I look back with gratitude for the experience. By the end of that year I felt as if I had not only kissed the Blarney Stone but digested a sizeable chunk. By contrast most colleagues in my college year were preaching only once a month - if lucky. Even the other curate in this particular parish found this quite a task and often relied on pre-printed sermons.


The danger is that in this fast-paced media age we are all becoming overwhelmed, if not swamped, with information. Per day the average Briton probably receives twenty to thirty emails, open half a dozen junk mail letters, spends time on social networking sites, sends half a dozen texts, and listens to thirty minutes of news. Likewise, at work there will reams of policies, regulations, and directives to read. On top of this Governments and corporations will spend billions each year trying to target us with information.


The value of all this data is another matter? If we look at the majority of stuff we hear or read, it has little impact on our lives. Even if a piece of information was so startling most of us can now mentally switch off and forget about it. It is rare that we read or hear of something which throws our world upside down. Further more, in our hectic world, newspaper and TV news editor increasingly rely on opinion rather than news. I now find myself increasingly infuriated by broadsheet newspapers which sell me opinion and “analysis” rather than hard facts.


In the middle of this the preacher can often wonder ‘Am I being heard?’ and ‘Why bother?’ Yet the Church in its worship offer not only a sermon. Year after year the extracts of the same text is offered. Liturgical calendars chop it up so that each day, or each Sunday, we can sit and listen. This is the antithesis of contemporary media. To many it must seem plainly boring. But to those who persevere this act of simply listening gradually becomes a delightful oasis in a noisy world. ‘The Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us.’ (John 1.14) Through this passivity comes power, grace and freedom.