Understanding words: standing under words
In
every society or organization the people at the bottom, in order to survive or
move up, must translate and understand the words and actions of the people
above them. The people on top, in order to stay on top, do not need to
understand those on the bottom, nor must they work at being understood by those
beneath them. Here in Glasgow I am in the position—for the first time in my
life as a white, middle-class female—of regularly working hard to understand
just about everyone, in order to do anything. (They understand me because I
sound like American actors.) Sometimes, when it’s really important, I ask for a
key word to be spelled out only to find that the pronunciation of certain
letters is different: J rhymes with I (and looks like it, too) rather than K,
and the last letter of the alphabet is Zed rather than Zee. But even if I manage
to make out a word or phrase I still may not know what it means. It’s very
humbling, and I end up asking a lot of questions for clarification and relying
heavily on people’s patience and good humor.
As
a preacher I intentionally choose to conduct worship from the chancel area,
basically at eye-level, rather than from the pulpit that in many Scottish
church sanctuaries is one full flight of steps up and looking down on the congregation.
I’m sure a sky-high pulpit enabled many a minister to be better heard before
electronic microphones and sound systems came along. But I have a visceral
reaction against appearing high and mighty. I know that the Word and Wisdom of
God not only comes down from “above
ye heavenly hosts” but that it also comes from
within “all creatures here below.” And thanks to a colleague who lives with
a disability I am reminded—and I explain to every congregation on my first
Sunday with them—that the church needs to make accessible its positions of
leadership, including its pulpits and podiums, as well as its buildings.
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