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Choosing words

“For sale – baby shoes, never worn” (Ernest Hemingway). Now that’s what I call a “short story”. It’s a “story” OK – you the reader must decide what – and it’s definitely “short”…!

Shortness is a skill most speakers and preachers do not embrace. Coming from a tradition where the quality of the sermon was measured by its length, brevity is a challenge. 50 years later I’m still working on it. Brevity of words should be balanced by length of preparation.  Winston Churchill was once reputed to have said “I’m going to make a long speech because I’ve not had time to prepare short one”.

But brevity by itself should never be an end – small is not always beautiful. Brevity can be:

• difficult – because words are wonderful but difficult. How often have you been misunderstood by something you said, by the wrong or inadequate choice of words? For a masterclass in the concise use of words, listen to “Just a Minute”…
• demanding – because it challenges us to think carefully and precisely about what it is we want to say, what we actually end up saying, and how we say it
• deductive – since the listener must “fill in” the gap between what is said and what is heard. Sometimes folk have thanked me for something I said that I have no recollection of saying, didn’t intend to say, or never said at all…but they reckon they heard it!

So…I know what you’re thinking at this moment – “How many words is he using here to get his point across?” Well, the brief(?) for this article is 500 words… and I’ve used just 349. Rather, this is an appeal for us to use fewer words but better words, since I fear some folk are “missing the kingdom” through our verbiage. How often did Jesus speak just one word (see John 19.30 “finished!”, Mark 4.39 “be still!”, Luke 8.54 “arise!”)  and spoke it with authority? There’s no need for long words, complicated words, impressive words (and certainly no need for the preacher to give a Greek lesson!)…keep it simple…

…after all Jesus Himself is the Word, just the one…and in Him God has said it all!

Precisely!

This week’s Thought for the Week is from Paul Rosier, a retired minister living in Cromer, and author of books including “A Word with Jesus” (Loxwood Press) available from Green Pastures, Dereham; Jarrolds Cromer and Amazon online. His latest book “A Word with the Psalmist” is published later this year. He is also the author of several books of Norfolk humour (available at Green Pastures, Jarrolds of Norwich and Cromer) and is an award-winning speaker.