Dear Friends and Parishioners,
April marks the 100th anniversary of the first broadcast by a
monarch of the United Kingdom, when King George V opened the British
Empire Exhibition at Wembley on 23rd April 2024. The speech on the
BBC lasts about six and a half minutes, and you can hear it in all
its scratchily-recorded glory on YouTube!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R7tOqDocQo
How broadcasting has changed in 100 years! No one could have had any
idea what would happen to broadcasting over the coming century. We
now take for granted the fact that we can see and hear almost anyone
or anything at any time thanks to a 24-hour media. Facebook and
YouTube, TikTok and Instagram have brought broadcasting within reach
of any of us with a smartphone.
Communication is part and parcel of our lives as human beings. That
shouldn’t surprise us, because the God who created us is a God who
communicates. Back in the earliest chapters of Genesis, it’s the
voice of God that brings creation into being. The opening chapter of
John’s Gospel describes Jesus as the Word – God communicating
himself as the Word to the world and to us. When Jesus is awoken by
his terrified disciples in the middle of a storm, Jesus speaks to
the wind and the waves and they are calm. When the Holy Spirit comes
upon the apostles at Pentecost, they speak the message of Christ
crucified and risen in words their hearers can understand.
The words that we use to communicate can be both encouraging and
damaging. Words can wound us as well as heal us. If you are on
social media, you will know the way that so-called ‘keyboard
warriors’ write, and the hurt that their words can cause.
The writer James in the New Testament wrote about the power of
speech and how hard it is to tame the tongue, especially considering
how small a part of the body is it. He wrote about how inconsistent
we are if we say, “Praise God,” in one breath and then in the next
we run down or curse another human being. He also said that
“everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to
become angry.” (James 1:19)
Just how do we communicate with each other and with the world? Do we
pay enough attention to speaking to each other in words that
encourage and build up, rather than in language that discourages and
knocks down.
When Jesus spoke to his disciples and to the crowds, it was with
words of love and compassion. He told the people about the
importance of having love for each other – and he defined the
quality of that love by demonstrating his own love in action – a
love that involved laying down his life for his friends.
We may never be those who broadcast to the world, as King George V
did 100 years ago, or as so many do now. But I wonder whether we can
reflect on just how we broadcast our lives to others, and aim to do
so by speaking words of life and love to those who are longing to
hear them?
Sincerely yours in Christ,
01732 882211 – rector@wrothamchurch.org
PLEASE NOTE! – Sunday 14th April at St George’s, Wrotham
10:30am Joint Benefice Service
with the Bishop of Rochester, Bishop Jonathan Gibbs
During the service Michelle Lawson and John Webster will be licensed
by Bishop Jonathan as Lay Ministers in the Benefice of Ightham and
Wrotham.
All are warmly welcome at the service.