Rev Jim Rea: Alan Green showed hearing can be much better than seeing

One of my favourite commentators is Alan Green, a former pupil of Methodist College in Belfast, and it’s always a joy to hear his Ulster accent on the radio.

Alan has amazing ability to use descriptive language, word pictures that capture the scene. I recall Alan being asked towards the end of his BBC Radio-5 career what was the secret of being a good radio commentator. He replied: “I commentate as if everyone is blind.” I found this insight enlightening.

It also reminded me of a much more light-hearted story. In my days at the East Belfast Mission on the Newtownards Road, a Glaswegian called Mal lived for a short time in our newly built hostel. I soon realised that he was a dyed-in-the wool Glasgow Rangers supporter.

On a Saturday afternoon he could just about manage to tune his little portable radio to BBC Radio Scotland. Very often, the commentary was from a Rangers game at Ibrox Park.

Having a lifelong interest in football, in the early 1990s I installed Sky Sports. On one occasion I noticed that on the television schedule Rangers were playing their biggest rivals Celtic. Down at the Mission I saw Mal and called him aside and suggested that he be my guest the next Saturday to watch his team on television. To my surprise, he bluntly refused. For a moment I thought perhaps Mal was slightly bashful and didn’t want to come to our manse in the leafy suburbs of Cyprus Avenue.

I became a little more persistent but Mal was not to be convinced. He looked at me with a smile and remarked. “Rangers play better on the radio.” Humorous though it is, I understood.

It also made me think of some remarks made by the principal of Edgehill College in Belfast, where I trained for the ministry. The late Rev Richard Greenwood in May 1970 addressed the students leaving college to make their way to their new appointments. He said: “Don’t forget the importance of the public reading of scripture.”

While he advocated regular reading and study of the Bible he was adamant about the importance of having it heard. It has taken me some years to understand the profundity of that statement.

Nowadays, in some churches I often only hear snippets of scripture read. Recently in this pandemic lock-down and with my Bible to hand, I have begun to listen to the famous actor David Suchet read the scriptures.

To hear them read so well, brings me into another world. Suchet is doing in a similar way what Alan Green was doing for his audience. As I listen I am translated into those scenes from the Bible even though I cannot see them with my own eyes.