This is the script of this morning’s Thought for the Day on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme.
Good morning. Whether it will be, of course, will largely depend on what is happening in your life and how you feel about it.
One person who found his morning becoming strange was a fish shop owner in Dublin many years ago when George Bernard Shaw walked in. These were the days when shops had advertising painted in white on the window. On this particular day Shaw saw the words: “Fresh fish sold here today” and went to work. He scrubbed out the word ‘fresh’, saying that it is unlikely that stale fish would be sold. Then he rubbed out ‘fish’ on the grounds that only fish were to be seen through the window. Next, he wiped out ‘sold’ because a business couldn’t simply give the fish away for free. ‘Here’ could go – it’s obvious that you wouldn’t be advertising for somewhere else. You can imagine what he did with the word ‘today’. And pity the poor fishmonger.
The whole sentence was redundant. If you think that makes choosing words challenging, then have some sympathy for the politicians signing up for the Makerfield by-election coming soon. Words they have used in the past – and thought were redundant – might now be held in evidence against them.
Choosing words wisely is equalled in importance only by hearing language accurately. “Not bearing false witness against your neighbour” essentially means not misrepresenting their case. In other words, speaking, writing and reading demand critical thinking – not always obvious or easy.
This is really important. Language works in different ways at different times and in different contexts. You can’t approach mythology as if it were history. You can’t read a poem as if it were a scientific treatise. And you’ll get into trouble if you take metaphors too literally.
Now, if this applies when we listen to the news or read a newspaper, it is essential when reading religious texts. For example, if I went down to the woods today, I wouldn’t expect to hear applause because a psalmist once wrote that “the trees of the field will clap their hands”. When I say the Lord’s Prayer, which word do I stress? “Your kingdom come”, your kingdom come” or “Your kingdom come…” as opposed to other kingdoms, values and rules? I happen to think that last one is the intended meaning – praying that the way of Jesus Christ will be lived on earth rather than, say, the violence of a Caesar. How I say it implies what I assume it means.
So, words really matter – in fact, they become flesh. As someone once wrote.
