Blog 1665 – 04.13.2020

Almost Persuaded

There is no denying that some language can be quite persuasive, religious speech, political speech, sales and so forth. But there are a couple of truths behind the art of persuasive speech that I have, I think, discovered. I recently read that to be really persuasive, speaking and writing, that one should concentrate only on one subject at a time, but I do not think that is always true. So here goes two.

First, for many years I have spent watching companies make the same old mistakes over and over again, naming managers that hinder rather than help and stunt rather than grow their employees and respective companies. I used to advise fellow employees that many bosses only think an idea is good when they hear it coming out of their own mouth. And that therefore, the way to get them to do their job correctly so you can better do yours is to gently whisper in their ear in as many different ways and from as many different angles as possible till you get good ideas through to their subconscious self and they begin saying them believing they are their own original ideas. How much harder we support and will fight for an idea when we believe it is our own and will work harder for and expect others to as well to help us make it, our dream child, come true. All dreams and ideas come from but One source really for there is only One, our higher self.

Secondly, regarding being “almost persuaded” or “almost persuading” we too often stop just short of making the sell or being ourselves completely sold adding but one more member to that famous tribe of ne’r do wells, the Semi-holes or half-assed Indians. And that is no joke or offense meant to Indians neither the natives of India, North America, nor neither native nor immigrant peoples anywhere. We can and all do behave half-assed when we are not fully persuaded.

For a guy who quite sometime ago out grew an early childhood into middle adulthood belief that the Bible was true in whole and in part and is the only true and holy divine word, I still think the men who wrote it had some real insights and surprisingly quite often. The writer of the Book of Acts, the sequel to the Gospels, four stories from different view points regarding the life of Jesus called the Christ, wrote in one account of the an important leader of the then new religious sect of the Jews (called by a name meant to make fun, Christians), having been arrested for stirring up trouble and insurrection, charges similar to what Jesus was crucified for. The Romans occupiers had little patience with disturbers of the Pax Romana. Paul was trying to convince the area authority, one King Agrippa, that he was not guilty and that the cause he preached was peace loving and not war-mongering.

After listening a while the king said to Paul, the defendant, and I paraphrase, “Hey Buddy, do you think with such a paltry argument that you can convince me to become a Christian? I have heard literally hundreds of sermons where the out dated language of the King James Version of the Bible gets that quite wrong from what Agrippa meant. The KJV has King Agrippa saying to Paul, “Almost, thou persuadeth me to be a Christian” when he was really saying that Paul had not closed the deal, made the sale. Paul himself, formerly called Saul, and a persecutor himself of this new sect of believers had not been convinced either by their simple minded arguments till he heard the words of one Stephen more than willing to give his life and not just word service for his Christian cause. Does dying for something make it real or true, not necessarily, look at all the foolish wars that men have fought and died in. But, Stephen was a true salesman and kept selling right to the end, and that meant something to Paul who knew what true believers and true salesmen all do, that in the dark of the night when you are all alone, the doubts always come and even our highest and best, most well thought out beliefs, are challenged, and rightfully so.

The writer of the last book in the Christian canon, the book of the Revelation, has the infinite omnipotent One saying, “I would rather your were hot or cold but being lukewarm I will spit you out of my mouth.” If we think about it, most of us would agree that it is better to be completely sold on an idea than to keep going at it half-cocked, half convinced, half heartedly, and that other half way thing. One never knows what they really believe till they hear their own voice saying and believing, “I would be willing to die for this. I am not almost persuaded but completely convinced.” Is there anything you feel that dead sure about? To hear some people talk you would think that they were about everything they say they believe. But that, thank heaven, is never true.

Your friend and fellow traveler,

David White