Hunny! 40 Days in the 100 Aker Wood – Day 12 – Tuesday after 2nd Sunday of Lent

To Read:

“…if anyone knows anything about anything,” said Bear to himself, “it’s Owl who knows something about something,” he said, “or my name’s not Winnie-the-Pooh,”  he said.  “Which it is,” he added.  “So there you are.”

Owl lived at The Chestnuts, an old-world residence of great charm, which was grander than anybody else’s, or seemed so to Bear, because it had both a knocker and a bell-pull.  Underneath the knocker there was a notice which said:

PLES RING IF AN RNSER IS REQIRD.

Underneath the bell-pull there was a notice which said:

PLEZ CNOKE IF AN RNSR IS NOT REQID.

These notices had been written by Christopher Robin, who was the only one in the forest who could spell; for Owl, wise though he was in many ways, able to read and write and spell his own name WOL, yet somehow went all to pieces over delicate words like MEASLES and BUTTEREDTOAST.

Winnie-the-Pooh read the two notices very carefully, first from left to right, and afterwards, in case he had missed some of it, from right to left.  Then, to make quite sure, he knocked and pulled the knocker, and he pulled and knocked the bell-rope, and he called out in a very loud voice, “Owl! I require an answer!  It’s Bear speaking.”

(Winnie the Pooh – In which Eeyore loses a Tail)

(Matthew 5v7-8)

To Reflect:

These notices had been written by Christopher Robin, who was the only one in the forest who could spell; for Owl, wise though he was in many ways, able to read and write and spell his own name WOL, yet somehow went all to pieces over delicate words like MEASLES and BUTTEREDTOAST.

As I read through the stories of the Winnie the Pooh and his friends I sometimes wonder if Owl and Rabbit are twins separated at birth?  Yes I know one is covered by fur and the other by feathers but both seem to have the same habits of wordiness, officiousness and what is now called Mansplaining.  They do seem to love the sound of their own voices and the use of long over-complicated words don’t they?  This rarely helps the 100 Aker wood community grow and leads to confusion and despair for those around them who are of very small brain.

Owl, however, although an amicable one, is a fraud.  His wordiness is script written by Christopher Robin and the notices on his door contradictory, which confuses all those who visit him and puts them on the back foot.

Do you know people such as this?  I type these words whilst General Synod is in session (other Church Governance meetings may be used as an example) and again and again as I sit in the Synod Chamber I marvel at our capacity for the use of long words and convoluted arguments to confuse and browbeat our sisters and brothers in Christ.  This is not the Church our Beloved came to build.  We are supposed to gather together in harmony and unity and be an example of reconciliation to a world that is torn apart by selfishness and sin.  Too often the ones who should be making plain the way of the LORD are cluttering it with Points of Order, procedural motions, and a general antagonism towards their siblings.  Oh for the days when Tertullian’s words, ‘See, how these Christians love one another’, was not an ironic statement.

Thankfully, and this I honestly believe, (both for Owl and those church members who love to speak often and long), very little of this involves malice aforethought.  I believe they really do mean well but are not always aware that their frequent displaying of competence and knowledge cows those around them into submissive compliance instead of enabling us to take counsel together.  

And when this happens everybody loses.

(Lao-Tzu)

To Do: 

1. If you are in the habit of producing speeches and sermons before you deliver your next one pass the text to a friend or family member and check that it is understandable.  This applies especially to preachers and writers of Lent Reflections!
2. When next asked in a meeting to introduce yourself to other members simply give your name without any justification as to why your voice is more important than that of others.  Certification (relating your qualifications and aims) can at best be mansplaining and at worst be a form of bullying.