Hush the Noise

Hush the Noise

On Friday a genuinely life-changing decision was reached in the House of Commons to continue conversations and work on the possibility of legalising assisted dying here in the UK. Regardless of what final decision is reached at the end of the process the lives of some people will be changed forever, either because assisted dying is legalised, or because it is not. Several political commentators remarked at the manner in which the debate was held, without the usual heckling and interruptions. The deeply-held beliefs and personal stories which were shared in the House were done so in respectful silence and with careful listening, those who ‘won’ the vote did not celebrate with cheers, it was almost as if the space was sacred space. I have witnessed similar careful and respectful listening at Methodist Conference when we have discussed topics like whether or not to allow same-sex marriage in Methodist buildings, although, sadly, this wasn’t always mirrored in more local conversations.

The decision of the House of Commons coincided with my reading of a book given to be by a fellow preacher called ‘Unoffendable’ by Brant Hansen. I haven’t finished it yet, but the premise of the book is that we can choose to be unoffendable and live our lives with an attitude of gratitude and forgiveness. That does make it seem very winsome and twee and does it a mis-service as it is more detailed than that. However, I think the title of the book is somewhat mis-leading, as it seems to me it’s really about recognising that we get angry about things all the time but then taking a good hard look at what it is we are angry about and making a decision about whether it is worth it. (Like Pete Wicks getting through to the semi-finals of Strictly which has cause uproar in Facebook land in the last few hours.) Are we being a touch hypocritical, because haven’t we done the same thing? Or, in the situations where there is real injustice, then responding, not out of anger (which usually just makes things worse) but out of a place of love in wanting to put things right in the best way. As the wonderful character Para Handy would say; ‘Let us pause and consider.’

‘Pause and consider’ is a phrase I’m also using around the Methodist Church’s Advent material for this year; ‘Hush the Noise and hear the angels sing.’ To still the noisy busyness of the world for a time and listen hard for the song of the angels working in the world. We hear the angels singing in moments where we listen respectfully and carefully to each other instead of assuming the completion of each other’s thoughts and beliefs, making assumptions and so revealing our prejudices. We hear the angels singing when we take a moment to seek out some of the groceries on the list for the local foodbank as we do our dash around the supermarket. We hear the angels singing when we allow someone else the time to get off the treadmill for a while instead of keeping their nose to the grindstone (apologies for the mixed metaphors.)

Hushing the noise, it seems, may genuinely be something we can do to make the world a better place.

With Advent and Christmas blessings to you all,

Rev Angy