How to really confuse people
I love this video clip from the BBC. Science correspondent Jonathan Amos explains the Higgs Boson by sharing an illustration that obviously makes perfect sense to him. Everybody else is left even more confused than they were to begin with. I particularly enjoyed the bit where, gripped with enthusiasm, he grabs the ball with a string and hurls it across the room. If you look carefully you can see the newscaster's eyes glazing over as it whizzes by. Preachers should take note. There's a common assumption in preaching that if you construct something that can be mapped on to the point you're trying to make, then you have illustrated it. Sadly you may find that you have actually completely obscured your point. The classic example is Trinity Sunday, when a whole raft of inappropriate comparisons is floated by an army of preachers who imagine that because their example contains the word "three", then it must in some way illustrate the