MARLA

Ever heard of Marla Kavanaugh? I hadn’t either until I watched TV 1 Breakfast news last Friday. I recognised her face though. Marla sang our national anthem at the All Blacks game against Fiji in San Diego. 

Let’s just say it didn’t go well. Marla showed courage, grace and eloquence to tell viewers of her and her families suffering under the weight of vitriolic comments about her performance. She described the messages as ‘absolutely savage’. They even threatened her not to come back to New Zealand. She went on to say, “The worst of it were the people who targeted her cleft-affected daughter and made fun of her.”
Marla described words that were spoken about and to her as dangerous. They sure were. No one deserves abuse like that. I often despair about the misuse of social media in this way. 
My dad used to say to me. “Son, if you’ve got nothing nice to say, say nothing”. He was and is right. Our words need to be respectful and encouraging. They need to inspire, motivate and offer hope. They need to be kind.