This weekend we have been thinking about the words we may hear and speak about climate change. Words which inform us, inspire us and lead us to action based in hope. We use words to speak to God and to each other. Words can be used in lament, praise, and fellowship.
Words are also an essential part of democracy. Politicians debate with each other using words and communicate their manifestos in words. MP surgeries give anyone in the population a chance to come and speak and tell their MP what matters to them. This enables MPs to properly represent their constituents. It is shocking and tragic when MPs are killed or threatened while meeting, communicating with and trying to understand their communities and the issues facing them. Fifteen minutes before his death Sir David Amess was standing on the church steps chatting and laughing with local people.
John described Jesus as ‘the Word’ and a ‘light that shines in the darkness’. We pray that however dark things may seem, God’s word will be heard and that all people, both politicians and those they represent, will be free and safe to speak to each other in words of peace, understanding and trust.
John 1: 1-5.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.