Anyone can hammer a nail.
Given enough time, anyone who has the strength to pick up a hammer can eventually apply the hammer to the nail with enough frequency to get the nail to embed into the wood.
But not everyone can consistently hammer a nail straight and smooth into the wood, and fewer people yet can build a house.
Craftsmanship matters.
It's similar with words. Anyone can sling around an opinion, and use strong words to persuade the listener, but few can stop a person in their committed beliefs and make them reconsider those beliefs.
A skilled carpenter can drive a nail in a single swing of the hammer. Likewise, a person skilled with language can use a single, concise sentence to change the minds of many.
Everyone comes into politics with the ambition of greater influence. We want policy to go in the right direction to protect all that we love and cherish.
When a person gets angry, it's always because something didn't go as they expected. Anger is either their surprised reaction to the unexpected or their attempt to assert their will as a last bargain to push things in the direction they expected.
In moments where we are caught off-guard, we have the opportunity to continue methodically building or to tear down the framework we'd started. Emotional reactions are seldom productive.
A craftsman would pause, study what went wrong, and then work to correct and then continue. Or he could drive a bunch of nails badly because he stopped caring about quality in his fit of anger.
In my training seminars, I have one slide that I repeat. It's near the beginning of my presentation and also near the end.
"This is a war of words, won by reputations."
In the moment that a carpenter stops caring and is angry, any person who sees the nails driven crooked into the wood would have a poor opinion of the carpenter's skill.
Likewise, in the moment of a political activist who is angry and stops caring about how words are being used.
"This is a war of words, won by reputations."
There's a reason I repeat that in my presentation. Always be the careful craftsman, no matter the outcome of the moment.
8 Comments
Perfectly said
Good article, Brett.
You hit the nail on the head…. Seriously, that one hit home. Great article.
Excellent summation and word picture.
Oops! I may have let my anger get the best of me! These days it’s easy to do. My goal will be to listen, reflect and respond, if necessary! Thank you again for providing the mirror.
So wise. If there is one thing a could change in myself it would be the ability to not speak when I'm angry. I've improved from my younger days, but at 66, I have a ways to go
The wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God (Jam 1:20).
Controlling the tongue is a mountainous task. May God grant us wisdom to harness the passions and guide our speech.
It amazes me how many officials in our party (and we, ourselves, including this one) proclaim our Christianity (when it’s convenient) and yet treat each other as mortal enemies with our words. Hypocrisy. May God have mercy on us.
Politics can drive me mad and sometimes I vent before I think it through. And yes , it does come across as being hypocritical when we do let anger rule our speech. I have come to walking away from the keyboard when something makes my anger rise up.