Translating what we hear and read into lives that speak

Today at St John's Seven Kings we hosted a thanksgiving service for the life of John Toll. During the service I said the following:

"The Book of Common Prayer has been and continues to be loved" (as was the case with John) "for its wonderful language, dignified and memorable but always speaking to our human condition. Phrases from it have come into everyday use and have been quoted in literature. 'Till death us do part', 'read, mark, learn and inwardly digest', 'peace in our time'." With the Authorised Version of the Bible, "it has shaped the language of worship both in public services and private prayers." More than that, as Melvyn Bragg has said, "There is no doubt in my mind that the King James Bible not Shakespeare set this language on its path to become a universal language on a scale unprecedented before or since." 
 

John might have disagreed with that because he also loved Shakespeare’s ability "to summarize the range of human emotions in simple yet profoundly eloquent verse which is perhaps the greatest reason for his enduring popularity. If you cannot find words to express how you feel about love or music or growing older, Shakespeare can speak for you. No author in the Western world has penned more beloved passages. Many of the common expressions now thought to be clichés were Shakespeare's creations. Chances are you use Shakespeare's expressions all the time even though you may not know it is the Bard you are quoting."
 

As Bernard Levin said, “... if you have ever refused to budge an inch or suffered from green-eyed jealousy, if you have played fast and loose, if you have been tongue-tied, a tower of strength, hoodwinked or in a pickle, if you have knitted your brows, made a virtue of necessity, insisted on fair play, slept not one wink, stood on ceremony, danced attendance (on your lord and master), laughed yourself into stitches, had short shrift, cold comfort or too much of a good thing, if you have seen better days or lived in a fool's paradise - why, be that as it may, the more fool you, for it is a foregone conclusion that you are (as good luck would have it) quoting Shakespeare ...”

The language of Shakespeare, the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer live on when we use their words and phrases in everyday discourse but these words really come alive, as John knew for himself, when we act them out. Shakespeare lives in performance and the King James Bible and Book of Common Prayer become contemporary when we "translate what we hear and read into lives that speak God’s truth afresh in our generation."

That was what John sought to do in every aspect of his full and varied life: in his conscientious work for Plesseys; in his enjoyment of sport and his encouragement of the boys in his football team; in his many friendships and his love of his godchildren; in his care of his mother; in his dedication to the support of live theatre; in the care and commitment shown in his volunteering; and in his enabling of worship through his many years as a server here at St John’s. The words that he loved shaped the man that he became and the man that he became translated what he heard and read into a life that spoke God’s truth in and through all aspects of the full life he lived - in the Arts, the Church, relationships, sport, and work (paid and unpaid).

In bearing God's image John brought light to our lives; for we saw in his friendship reflections of God's compassion, in his integrity demonstrations of God's goodness, in his faithfulness glimpses of God's eternal love. As we pray, may God grant to each of us, beloved and bereft, the grace to follow John's good example so that we, with him, may come to God's everlasting kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord.        

O eternal Word of God, limitless and free, yet handed down to us through careful human speech, telling salvation's story in the homely and glorious words of our own mother tongue: translate what we hear and read into lives that speak your truth afresh in this generation, that many may come to love you our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

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Tomaso Albinoni - Violin Concerto in G Minor.