Thoughts for the day....

Sunday, so aptly, I thought I’d share a moment with you. No it’s not a heavy philosophical or religious statement, more a simple comment, ‘we hear what we believe we hear’.

Prompted by a conversation with a friends about her early retirement plans, she was explaining her voluntary work in her church group and how busy she was. I was convinced she had said that she was ‘taking the lead on faith guarding’. Seemed logical to me; regular and new congregation members, you must need to do a lot to guard people’s faith. I had a mental picture of my friend somewhere between superwoman and Saint George, fending off all doubts and affirming all positive convictions.

Seems it was ‘Safeguarding’, a process to check and ensure the safety of children, incorporating police checks of all those working with those young children. A very important process, but not quite the theological and moral battlefield I had imagined. As another friend reminded me, its all about the ‘received language’ and that depends on the receiver as well as the person transmitting the message.
So my recently retired friend is doing sterling work in a new role and very much living the moment. And I am wondering, hence thought for the day, about my own receptors or reception of language.

As a French guest commented having viewed an episode of the British comedy farce ‘Allo,Allo’. “Why do they keep saying, ‘allo,allo’, when it has an H sound’’. I tried to explain that humour and satire of all the languages and nationalities depicted was part of the comedy of the drama. “yes’’, replied my new friend,’’ but they need to be clear in their pronunciation of ‘allo,allo’ ‘’.

I will say this only once, ‘Reception is in the ear of the befuddled’….