Hand Signals

Sarah Palin again created quite a stir when she spoke at the National Tea Party Convention in Nashville a few weeks ago.

The part of her speech that garnered the most attention and generated the most buzz among the media and pundits, though, seems to have been her cute remark teasing President Obama about his apparent overuse of teleprompters when he speaks to groups. What made her comment so bizarre was that even as she was making it, the TV cameras and photographers could easily see jotted notes of an apparent outline of her talk and seed thoughts for responses to questions scribbled on her left hand!

It's laughable. She's been pilloried in the press for what seems like hypocrisy.

All of us certainly should guard against saying one thing and doing another. Jesus frequently warned about a hypocritical lifestyle. I suppose that politicians and educators and us preachers have to be especially careful that we don't lecture our listeners about stuff that we're not practicing ourselves. I am so keenly aware of my own sins and foibles and failures that I really try to be measured and transparent in my sermons and in my counseling. To exude grace, to speak the truth in love. To avoid setting the bar higher for you than I am reaching for myself.

Oklahoma pastor Wade Burleson wrote in his blog that the recent Palin incident should caution us to refrain from attacking people personally when we have to criticize their policies or their philosophies. I agree. We don't have to condemn someone's personality quirks and idiosyncrasys and style just because we are at odds with their perspectives on issues. Her silly little barb about Obama's speaking techniques drew attention away from the larger import of his basic views of governing. And it can be a little dangerous to assume that we know another individual's motives when we are essentially opposed to their convictions and stands.

Now, what about Obama's teleprompter use and Sarah's very hand-y cue cards? Is it so wrong to have some notes when making a talk or presentation?

I don't think so. When I was in Jr High and had a girlfriend, I'd be so nervous about calling her on the telephone, scared that I'd run out of things to say and that there'd just be silence, that I actually penciled some conversation points on paper before dialing her number! I use an outline and notes in the pulpit. Probably most preachers do. I tell young people that the key to giving a good report in class is coming up with 3 or 4 talking points or developing a short outline, which makes it a lot easier to stand up and have something to say or write that long term paper. Reflections of substance. Frankly, I'd much rather hear a professor or a politician or a minister speak with the aid of notes if he can thereby talk with intelligence and eloquence and say something thought out and worth saying and interesting to hear. This might surprise you, but I think it can even be helpful occasionally to write out our prayers. What is the Old Testament book of Psalms but a work of prepared, written prayers and praises that we can use even today to recite back to our awesome God? And incidentally, I even jotted down a few notes about ideas I wanted to stress in this article before starting to write it!

Yes, there's a place for extemporaneous speaking. For sharing right out of the heart.No manuscript or note cards. We'll not always have the luxury of time to diligently prepare for proper wording and grammer and sharp, crisp insights when we're unexpectedly called on to pray aloud or to answer a question or to comment on an issue. What that means is that we've got to be continually in a state of preparation by our reading and by our personal, private prayer life and by our attention to what's going on around us and by quality time spent in solitude and meditation. That was Paul's secret for effective witness in Athens(Acts 17). That was Peter's advice in 1 Peter 3:15. Know what's happening. Get God's mind on something.

By the way, Ms. Palin's markings- on- the- hand reminds me that God has done something similarly. In Isaiah 49:16 the Lord says, "Behold, I have enscribed you upon the palms of my hands..."Now I know that's anthropomorphic language(ascribing human form or characteristics to our invisible God, who is Spirit) but what a message it conveys. God loves us and cares for us and thinks about us in such a way that it's like He's got our individual names and situations written indelibly on His hands! Sarah may have scrubbed her hands with lots of soap to erase her memory joggers when she got back to her hotel room that night, but God delights in seeing and considering our enscribed names. Forever.

Let's leave Ms. Palin, and yes, Mr. Obama, alone when it comes to using memory tools for their speeches. Cut 'em some slack. Let's pay more attention to what they're actually saying.