Preach Magazine Issue 4 - Preaching in the digital age | Page 40
40
COLUMN
COLUMNIST
KATE BOTTLEY
What am I
supposed to say?
I’m not known for being lost for words. I always
have plenty to say. To be honest, many would argue
I sometimes have far too much to say. But – just
every now and again – the words seem to not be
enough, to be empty and meaningless.
A
s any person who does
funerals knows, everyone
gets tongue-tied at times.
Times like the visit to the
next of kin, when you ask what
the loved one enjoyed doing, and
you’re left trying to make some
link between a Bible passage and
their passion for crosswords. My
training incumbent once preached
a great funeral sermon about
bingo and ‘my Father’s house’,
get it? Of course there are some
funerals that are easier than
others, but to be honest they are
all pretty tough, and they never
seem to get easier. Often the family
doesn’t know what Bible passage
they would like, but when they do,
the twenty-third psalm crops up
frequently. If the person is older
and has led a full life, the truth of
the resurrection is a joy to preach,
but sometimes the circumstances
are somewhat different.
A child – very young, tragic
circumstances – slipped under the
water at bath time while mum
was taken ill. The visit was tough,
I WAS ANGRY AND NOT
LOOKING FOR ANY
PLATITUDES. WHEN
ANYONE DIES IN TRAGIC
CIRCUMSTANCES WE FIND
OURSELVES SAYING TO THEIR
NEAREST AND DEAREST, ‘I
DON’T KNOW WHAT TO SAY’
tougher for them than me of course,
and the community and family
had rallied round. It was my job
to try and put together the service
and to find a passage to preach on.
Words of comfort and consolation,
words of hope and peace. Some
preachers, other preachers, might
not have any problem with this.
But for me, being honest, searching
through the scriptures was tough.
I was angry and not looking for
any platitudes. When anyone dies
in tragic circumstances we find
ourselves saying to their nearest
and dearest, ‘I don’t know what
to say’, and this was a much
bigger version of this. Should it
be ‘Jesus blesses the children’ or
a narrative of Jesus’ suffering,
the message being ‘he is in it
with us’? Remembering my
training, when I was told ‘It’s not
what you say, it’s the way that
you say it’, I decide the tune is
more important than th H\