It is not too often I feel sorry for MPs,
but my heart did go out to Labour backbencher Rachel Reeves who was humiliated
by Newsnight’s editor.
Ian Katz accidentally told his 26,000-odd Twitter followers how he thought the female MP was “boring snoring” in her interview.
The mistake was quickly picked up and seems to have touched a very public nerve. Well, no-one likes to be considered boring, do they?
In wanting to be seen as interesting, some of us are tempted to take on opinions that are not our own. We listen to culture-current music to impress our teenage kids that quickly gets turned off when they leave the room.
We have a view on Syria. Should we bomb? We have a stock statement on saving the planet and the merits of Aldi. We have more than one opinion on how to solve the NHS crisis. We also store up amusing anecdotes to add sparkle to social occasions.
Apparently, 8 out of 10 of us lie in social situations to sound more intelligent, worldly and more travelled than we are.
Now as I approach the end of my 40s I have to accept that I have failed to conquer the world with my own brand of rock and roll, so I will probably never make it onto the interviewer’s couch. Instead. I find myself middle-aged, middle-incomed and, well, er, middle of the road.
Have I become boring? Well, I have to admit that I have found myself saying, “If I go now I can beat the queue at the tip” and “That looks a great film. Must watch that when it comes round on TV.”
The trouble is ‘boring’ is a downer. For our own self-esteem and public confidence we want acceptance. We want to be loved.
Through God’s eyes there appears to be no such concept as ‘boring’. I have searched through my whole Bible and not found one single reference to it. You might think that is boring in itself, but I have to deduce that we are able to get God’s attention for who we are, without the need to be someone special. I find that rather liberating.
Being around God and his church has undoubtedly built up my self-esteem and public confidence.
The Bible says that when two or three people get together in the name of Jesus he is there in the midst of them. In short hand, that means in the church, through our worship, through prayer and through acts of kindness to one another.
He takes ordinary people like you and me and does extraordinary things with us and through us, if we dare to believe in him and take his words at face value.
Becoming a Christian some 25 years ago was one of the best decisions of my entire life. It’s been a blast! You might think that makes me boring, but maybe that’s because your view of church is boring.
ASD
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