Opinion
Keep you a mardlin’ the scriptures!
Rev Ron Skivington urges us not to allow awareness of the Bible message to decline in the same way as some regional dialects have.
Recently a neighbour gave me a couple of books he thought I might like, Bible stories in Broad Norfolk by Colin Riches. Coming from North of the border - Scotland, not Suffolk - and hearing some of “the Press Gang” sing and tell stories in Norfolk dialects I can understand it better than I could speak it, here’s a flavour:
“Yew know, dornt yer, that Jesus wus born an bred in the country, He understood things what others dint know narthen about, an livin se cloose te God loike he done, he never argued the toss about whether God wus thare or no. Te him, the world done that, ’cause that wus God’s creartion”.
Reading the books got me thinking that it’s sad when dialects get lost as fewer speak or write them, therefore something of worth and value as a way of life fades, so please do what you can to maintain Norfolk’s unique language.
I also questioned “Are we in danger of losing the unique Christian message, as many are growing up with little or no awareness of God, certainly not like Jesus had, and no knowledge either of the powerful stories and lessons found between the pages of Genesis and Revelation?”
Easter 2024 has passed but how much notice was given to it apart from the bank holidays, chocolate eggs, and talk about the weather?
Politics, sport, world unrest continue to make the headlines, while celebrity stories can swamp the media and many are not shy to share their views and opinions about what we need and how we should live, in comparison how much notice is taken of the “greatest story ever told” or of teaching that really can bring abundant life to its followers.
Jesus, God living on earth, came to show us His father, what He is like, how much He loves us, and taught how we can live at peace with God, ourselves and others, something you would think people would be smashing down doors to access for themselves because it really is Good News.
Dialects die out because people stop passing them on; ancient Israel was told “Tell your children the ways, the words and works of God so they may live in peace and security”. They didn’t and so, before long, we read everyone simply did what they felt was right.
As church today, perhaps we need to re-find our confidence in God and His word and ‘keep a troshin’ in sharing about it and about Him?
The photo of the Norfolk road sign is courtesy of Tony Rothe.
This article first appeared on Network Yarmouth.
Rev Ron Skivington is Senior Pastor of Stalham Baptist Church.
The views carried here are those of the author, not of Network Norwich and Norfolk, and are intended to stimulate constructive debate between website users.