Something Understood

My Sunday radio listening usually consists of the Sunday programme on Radio 4, which is on while I’m getting ready for church services; and at the end of the day, if I’m still awake, I listen to Something Understood.

The Sunday Programme is often a religious version of the weekday Today programme. Religious spokespersons are usually pitted against one another, peddling differing interpretations of this or that doctrinal or moral point, across the faith divide or within the same faith. I find it a depressing example of all that I dislike about religion and, increasingly, refuse to accept or engage with.

Something Understood can be really good, or can be a bit dire. Sometimes it sounds like the presenter has always wanted to string together this poem, that song, and an interview with this other person, and has compiled some form of thread to hold the whole thing together. But, just occasionally, I want to “Yes! Thank you!” for the evening’s offering. Last Sunday was just such, and I did in fact say thank you out loud to no-one in particular. The lovely Mark Tully presented a simple, understated act of praise for liberal values of tolerance, acceptance and understanding, for finding what we hold in common, for being able to live with difference. The interview with the Reformed Jewish rabbi, only two years into her ministry, was a joy. Her problems came not with liberals of other faiths or none, she said, but with her own congregation. The arguments over the new Reform Jewish Prayer Book sound exactly like those we Anglicans have been having since our Alternative Services Series 2 appeared in 1967, the year I was confirmed. Modern versus traditional language; inclusive versus exclusive gender specific; and so on. The resulting book sounds great, and I intend to get myself a copy.