Blog 3455 – 04.19.2025

Speak Softly

President Theodore Roosevelt is often quoted and one of his most memorable sayings is: “Speak softly and carry a big stick…” I was privileged, my wife and I, to get to spend a couple of hours with our son Jay yesterday and with our “Awesome” granddaughter (says so right on her shirt) Emma Grace. I took a short video to capture a few special moments following her around in her big backyard. Emma loves to be outside and will often walk to the French doors in the den of their lovely home and say “Side” which is her way of requesting a walk in the backyard.

Speaking softly is a method the wisest employ to get us to listen. We are told in Scripture not to listen to the loud, brash, lying voices, but rather to trust the still small voice to guide us correctly. Or as famous cowboy star John Wayne put it so succinctly: “Listen tight, Pilgrim.”

As for the stick, I have always been one who believes that the disappointment in a loving parent’s voice is a far more severe punishment that a beating with a stick and that the highest and best reward will be to one day hear that still soft voice say, “My beloved child in whom I am well pleased.”

Your friend and fellow traveler,

David James White

♥ “Killing Me Softly with His Song” (1972) ♫ Lori Lieberman

♥ “Killing Me Softly with His Song” (1972) ♫ Lori Lieberman

Killing Me Softly With His Song