Radio Leicester Thought
for the Day
© John Denney, 2 August 1999
Some of you might
know that on alternate weeks I do a review of the Sunday papers
on BBC Radio Leicester’s Morning Extra programme on
Sunday mornings. Yesterday’s papers were proof that
we’re in the “silly season”, when there’s not
much hard news about. So there were no major stories that
were covered in every paper, no scoops to make us all say
“wow”, nothing to change governments. The few
journalists who are not on holiday themselves flounder around,
printing stories that have been gathering dust for months, and
even making up stories about nothing. Gossip becomes news.
Trivia is magnified. So at this time of year we can expect
to read of crop circles; and cabinet reshuffles that don’t
happen; of Archbishops who are believed to possibly be going to
reject some central article of faith in some speech they
haven’t yet drafted; of football transfers that never in
fact happen.
But here are some
genuine newspaper headlines that I’ve collected over
the years:
¨
¨ Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges
¨
¨ Children Make Nutritious Snacks
¨
¨ Enraged Cow Injures Farmer with Axe
¨
¨ Stolen Painting Found by Tree
And my personal
favourite,
¨
¨ Crashed Plane Flew Too Close To
Ground, Expert Says
It’s very
easy to express yourself badly, and that can lead to
misunderstandings. I wonder if, like me, you sometimes find
yourself ignoring the old saying “Put brain into gear before
engaging mouth”. I once found myself asking whether
someone’s father was up and about again when I had attended
his funeral just a couple of weeks earlier. And boy, did I
cringe when I realised! It taught me that you really do
have to be careful about what you say.
Jesus had a
brother called James. Around 50 AD, he wrote a letter to
Jewish converts to Christianity. He warns them to be
careful to control what they say. He says our tongue is
like the rudder of a ship. It is small, but it has
disproportionate effects. He remarks that just as a forest
fire can start with just a tiny spark, likewise the words we
speak can have unforeseeable effects.
So my thought for
us today is to think twice before we say something unpleasant
about someone else; to hold back before we pass on a delicious
piece of gossip or tittle-tattle. In short, to watch our
tongue.
Let’s make
today a sensible day in the middle of a silly season.