23 August 2020
Eleventh Sunday after Trinity
The Gospel reading for last Sunday 10th Sunday after Trinity, Matthew 15 [10-20] 21-28 made me reflect upon communication. ‘Jesus called the crowd to him and said to them ‘listen and understand’ but the disciples challenged him saying ‘Do you know that the Pharisees took offence when they heard what you said? Later Peter said to Jesus ‘Explain this parable to us’.
In this context it’s about verbal communication – still the most frequent and important form for all of us today – despite my love of reading, writing and, in my own case, most especially pictures (I would like pictures as a dermatologist wouldn’t I!) However, in our current context of COVID-19, it got me thinking about some of the modern ways of communicating – telephone, email, Zoom, MS Teams and social media (which I don’t use myself). Each has a value and a place, but the old adage remains true that each new method brings new ways of misunderstanding!
Essentially in any communication: Person A thinks, then says, the sound waves are transmitted, then received and finally interpreted. At each step this process can go awry – and the modern methods have more steps and therefore more scope for misunderstanding. Of course, the additional visual clues, tone of voice and context are absent from some modalities removing the checks we rely upon for authentication. Sometimes people find it easier to communicate bad or difficult news remotely – it is well recognised that people ‘email tougher than they talk’ – thereby identifying the importance of face to face meetings when emotions run high.
In these COVID-19 times, when I find myself spending hours in MS Teams management meetings and consulting with patients remotely I find the lack of humanity and personal warmth render it a poorer experience – and one in which it is difficult to do anything other than routine tasks. Clearly, I will get better at using these tools – but I keep thinking about the challenge in the reading. Its easy for me to think: ‘Listen and understand’ – but I rather suspect the recipient often takes offence due to my clumsy use of the technology.
As ever, the Gospel speaks to us about today’s problems……. As a church we are exploring these new ways of coming together. In many ways it is helping us address some of our inequalities (whilst also creating new ones) – but we need to work at getting the balance right, minimising misunderstanding and maximising the personal warmth that is so important to us a Christian community.