Thursday 4th September 2025
‘A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.’ [Proverbs 15:1]
If I might be permitted to hazard an opinion, despite my being…how can I put this…a namby-pamby, cardigan wearing, softie with a pathological aversion to confrontation…then it would simply be this: is it any wonder that the world is at war when our public discourse is so frequently characterised by accusatory, inflammatory, and aggressively unsympathetic comments?
This week has seen a politician vilified for what some would consider, at worst, an understandable if highly embarrassing error of judgment on a complex area of tax legislation that is open to more than one interpretation; a comedy writer arrested for expressing a not uncommon yet highly controversial opinion with the result that those on both sides of the debate, who have every right to feel passionate about the matter, have hurled abuse at one another; and me and my long suffering wife have nearly come to blows over who’s right on the thorny issue of how best to hang a tea towel out to dry.
Which is not to suggest that such complex matters should be dismissed, as Father Ted may have been tempted to, as an ecumenical matter. On the contrary, they need to be properly discussed.
But even though it’s not wrong to hold strong opinions on any of these matters, as I do myself, it doesn’t mean we should cease to be polite in our conversations. Not at all. Rather we need to express our reasonable and deeply held positions with kindness, whilst trying to understand the point of view of those we disagree with, and recognising that, rather than everything being black and white, life is frequently made up of a kaleidoscope of grey.
If, that is, we’re not going to end up killing each other.
Now, who’d like a hug?!
*******
Friday 5th September 2025
Having previously posted about the need to be understanding of those we don’t necessarily agree with, here’s a follow up thought, now that Angela Rayner has been deemed guilty of tax evasion and has been forced to resign her job.
There will be some who view this as the only appropriate outcome for what they’ll see as her flagrant error, and others who, accepting that she is guilty of what might be considered an understandable mistake, will look on her more as the victim of unfair media pressure. But whichever side we find ourselves on, I wonder how many of us are confident that we’ve never done anything wrong for which we need to be treated with a degree of leniency.
As for me, I’m just glad that I worship a God who is gracious – one who treats me far better than I deserve, and is willing to forgive me for even my most grievous and deliberate wrongdoings.
Which is, I think, reason enough to post this picture of Hector as proof, if proof were needed, that God really does cause the sun to shine on both the righteous and the unrighteous alike! [Matthew 5:45]
Some musings 