We have come to that time of
the year when people share and post speeches and quotes and memorable quips
that they’ve heard and read. Whether it’s the sage advice dispensed in commencement
addresses, the admonition pronounced in baccalaureate sermons, the tokens of
wisdom inscribed in yearbook covers, or the speeches given by valedictorians
that are imbued with equal amounts of nostalgia and hope, it seems that the end
of the academic year offers plenty of opportunities for people to offer or
listen to words...words that have the
power to inspire and form imagination and shape lives. I even ran across a website today that claims to have sorted through hundreds of commencement
addresses given at universities and colleges over the past century or so and sifted
from them the pithiest one-liner nuggets. It is interesting to me that in this
age of the digital, CGI-enhanced screen we still choose to punctuate major life
events with someone standing up at a podium and talking.
Words are my stock and trade.
By virtue of what I do for a living, I find myself delivering sermons, writing personal
notes, and teaching classes on a very regular basis. I do a lot of talking and
writing. Despite all the effort and time I throw into those things, however, sometimes
the most important (or most damaging) words I ever offer are the terse
expressions of sympathy in the midst of a crisis or the off-hand remark I make
in passing after worship. Whatever the scenario, in the back of my mind rings the wisdom of a theology professor who
taught us to pay very close attention to the particular words we use,
especially in the study of theology, because ultimately that practice is a
reflection of how we pay attention to the Word of God that is to form our
lives.
All this, and yet I often get
cynical about how much famous quotes and memorable lines really matter. Words,
after all, aren’t everything. Actions matter greatly. Fancy rhetoric can only
mask inauthenticity for so long. And people who quote things all the time get annoying. Besides, I'm keenly aware that a great many words—including a heaping helping
of my own—are just meaningless bluster meant more for the pride of the speaker
and his or her need to be remembered than they are for the edification of the
listener. Furthermore, placing so much weight on eloquent turns of phrase can diminish
the contributions of those who may not be as articulate or those who are never
really given a chance to speak.
Nevertheless, all this talk
about speeches and the imparting of wisdom has caused me to reflect on the fact
that certain phrases and quotes have been very influential in my own life. I
can’t deny it. There have been a few choice passages that I’ve come across, often
at critical points in my life, that have had a profound influence on my
well-being, my identity, and my ability to move ahead. I have been reflecting
on these quotes and passages lately and thought I’d offer them here. This is
not meant (I hope) to imply any narcissism or self-divulging on my part, as if
my navel-gazing has produced wisdom of which others should be in awe, but
rather just a way of taking honest stock of certain words that I’ve heard or
read that have, like it or not, stuck with me for a long time.
“No one can make you feel inferior without your
consent.” (accredited to Eleanor
Roosevelt) This alone got me through large portions of high school.
“Live in the moment.” (Ward Williams, a guy in my high school orchestra and
drama club who graduated two years ahead of me) He actually directed this quote
to me, and it helped me realize that I was spending too much time
resume-building in those days.
“Deal with it!”
(Mr. Huie, Middle School teacher and drama director) Mr. Huie would shout this
to us while we were in the middle of a class presentation or play practice
whenever we would start to focus on something that was going wrong or were beginning
to complain—rather than making do and getting on with things.
“I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me
and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you…we are in charge of our
attitudes.” (Charles Swindoll) This,
along with a larger portion of the whole passage, was printed inside of the
manual for the first job I ever had. I didn’t realize it until now, but it’s
basically a longer riff on Mr. Huie’s wisdom above.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new
creation. Everything old has passed away. Behold, everything has become new.” (the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:17) This was the
verse I chose for my confirmation. I can’t even remember where I found it.
Maybe off a page of ‘inspiring Bible verses’? I doubt I was tuned in enough in
9th grade to have heard it in a sermon or read it on my own.
Regardless of where I got it, I’m glad I did. The grace of Christ always makes
things new. Over and over. Second chances abound. It’s amazing.
(no mediocrity)
(Emmett Wicker) More of a visual than a quote, this was
handwritten on a large piece of posterboard. The speaker used it as his object
lesson for our last pep talk before the first batch of campers arrived on my
first summer on camp staff. He didn't tell us what the M stood for until he had been talking for a while. It was very effective rhetorical device. It was a great motivator and it has inspired me at least to
aspire to perfectionism in all of the jobs I’ve had (not that I’ve succeeded).
“What you are should speak so loudly that people
cannot hear what you say.” (Dr. Martha
Roy, in a paraphrase of Ralph Waldo Emerson) Perhaps this is ironic. It’s a
quote that downplays quotes themselves. Character is more complex than just
what comes out of your mouth. Dr. Roy, the 87-year-old matriarch and organist
of my internship congregation in Cairo, embodied this quote, and yet—again,
ironically—she may have been the most eloquent person I’ve ever met.
“Thank you, dear Lord, for this good life and forgive
us if we do not love it enough.”
(Garrison Keillor). This is the final line of one of his stories from fabled
Lake Wobegon, State Fair. I listened
to Keillor quite a lot growing up, but this one I heard when our English
teacher read it to us in class one day. It is not very profound, but for some
reason it is my favorite piece of writing of all time.
