“Nagging is the repetition of unpalatable truths.”
Thus said Baroness Edith Clara Summerskill. Born in 1901, she was a physician,
feminist, Labour politician, and writer. The quote about unpalatable truths was
in a speech given to the Married Women’s Association in the House of Commons on
14 July 1960.
Now if there were ever someone who repeated
unpalatable truths, it’s John the Baptist. He bursts on to the scene in his
camel’s hair tunic and leather belt, the first promoter of trail mix, made of
locusts and wild honey. And his cry is that he is not the Messiah, but the one
crying out in the wilderness to prepare the way for God.
The unpalatable truth John keeps repeating is to
prepare the way. I wonder this morning, what unpalatable truths have we heard
lately? Who are the John the Baptists in our lives? Who are the truth tellers
who call us to prepare the way of the Lord?
Most of us have someone in our lives who is an
annoyance. This is the person who refuses to let us off the hook. He or she is
the person who urges us to change. This is who believes we can do things
differently. This is the person who wants us start something or start over.
And yes, this morning is a good morning to talk about
this with John the Baptist for our example of a nag. And if nagging is the
repetition of unpalatable truths, perhaps we could find out about those truths.
As we move toward Christmas, let’s pause for a moment
and think Advent: a beginning, a time to repent and reflect, to anticipate and
recreate.
Think for a moment: Whom is the person telling you
unpalatable truths? Who is the person who repeats those truths? Who has nagged
you by repeating an unpalatable truth?
It helps to tell the story of that person and the
unpalatable truth you learned from them to someone else. This morning I invite
you to do this. Turn to the person next to you, or go and find someone near
you, and tell the other person what unpalatable truth you’ve been told. You
don’t have to say who told you that truth unless you want to do so. Just tell
the other person these things:
What is the unpalatable truth?
How has learning that your unpalatable truth made a
difference in preparing the way for God?
And when you have told your story of an unpalatable
truth that made a difference to you, listen to the other person’s story.
(I gave everyone about 5 minutes to talk about this.)
Now let’s pause for a moment and thank the truth
tellers in our lives. Silently thank the person who told you an unpalatable
truth that made a difference. And when you have a moment with that person some
time soon, you can thank them in person and see if they want to share some trail
mix with you. AMEN.
The Rev Nicolette Papanek
©2017
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