Connecting with the people

THIS is a big challenge to public speakers, especially to

preachers who are charged to transmit nothing less than the living

word of God. Given the way people are now—with all their differences

and complexities—the task of effectively communicating with them

without compromising the integrity of the message is indeed a

tremendous job.

          Offhand, what I can say is that first of all we have to

appeal to God, asking for his grace, because no matter how good we are

rated as public speakers and preachers, we can never tell whether we

have truly communicated with our audience with the message integrally

received, appreciated and sparking the audience’s desire to live it

out.

          It’s only God’s grace that does wonders and can accomplish

what we cannot, given our limitations and the complications around. We

should always feel the need for grace in our task of preaching and

communicating.

          Of course, asking for God’s grace does not and should not

exempt us from doing what is humanly possible to connect with the

people effectively. Grace does not supplant our human effort. In fact,

grace requires the utmost cooperation of our effort.

          Yes, we have to study the message well to see to it that we

know what we are communicating and why. As much as possible the

message should be so assimilated with us that the people who see and

listen to us can readily get the message without much effort.

          We should not forget that for preachers, for example, the

challenge to transmit the living word of God is an overwhelming task,

what with all the mysteries and other supernatural things that it

contains. Yes, only God’s grace can connect the preacher and the

preached effectively.

          But as public speakers and preachers, we have to learn to

dress the message according to how the people are. Thus, they have to

be ready to use all the means for effective communication.

          They have to prepare things, making outlines and talking

points, etc. They have to use the appropriate rhetorical tools—logic

should be clear and easy to follow, language should be pleasant and

uplifting.

          They should have a good command of the appropriate

vocabulary and figures of speech. They should have the judicious use

of anecdotes, stories, examples, even jokes and memes or the so-called

‘hugot lines.’

          But for all of these to be effective and for us to know what

to use and how, we need to know the audience very well. Thus, doing

previous research about the expected audience would always be helpful.

          In fact, the ideal is to have a previous contact with them

so the speakers and preachers would have a first-hand knowledge of

their audience and can, in a manner of speaking, customize and even

personalize their message to them.

          We have to be wary of the tendency to talk above the heads

of the audience, which is now a common occurrence, sad to say. But

neither should we go down to frivolity and inane talk to grab the

instant attention of the audience. Yes, there may be initial jokes to

catch attention, but effort should be made that the main message is

not lost.

          Indeed, to connect with the people is no easy thing. There

is a lot of trial-and-error involved here, and let’s hope that we can

derive precious lessons from the errors. The important thing to

remember also is that the delivery of the message should be uplifting

and edifying even if serious and negative comments have to be made.

          Public speakers and preachers should aim to do their job in

such a way that the audience should not only feel good, but also

should learn something important. They should constantly monitor the

facial reactions of their audience to see if they are still connecting

with them or are already in some disconnect mode.

Time a transit to eternity

WE need to be clear about this point. Our time here on earth

is a time of transit toward eternity, from where we came and to where

we are heading. That’s because we are creatures of God who is in

eternity. We came from him, and since we have been made in his image

and likeness, we are meant to be with him in all eternity.

          Our definitive state of life is to be with God in eternity.

We therefore need to be eternity-ready in our time here on earth. And

we can approximate that state of life and prepare ourselves for it by

trying to be with God always, following his will and ways as we go

through the drama of our earthly life.

          We should know how to flow with the times without getting

lost along the way. While there are changing things as we flow with

the times, we also have to know that there are things that are not

supposed to change, that will always have permanent value and

relevance to us.

          While time is a continuum of the past, the present and the

future, we have to see to it that it is meant to catapult us to

eternity when everything will be in the present. Eternity is a

mysterious state of life when there is no more past or future, no more

change, no more transition.

          In eternity, everything would be in the present, not in a

stationary way but rather in a dynamic way. There is motion and

dynamism as is characteristic of life, but there is no more change.

Its stability is not a matter of idleness and non-activity.

          To the extent that we manage to be with God and go along his

will and ways, we would be relating our time here on earth to the

eternity meant for us. We therefore should avoid being carried away

and swallowed by the technicalities of our earthly life, no matter

important they are. They should serve only as means and occasion to be

with God in love.

          It does not mean that we should not take our worldly and

temporal affairs seriously. On the contrary, we have to put all our

mind and heart into them since the way we handle them determines the

kind of eternal destiny that we will have. They are no joking matter

at all. We are asked to be fruitful and productive in this life, but

with the proper motive and intention.

          For this, we have to continually check if our spiritual and

supernatural bearing is still functioning. When driven by faith, hope

and charity, we can manage to convert our worldly and temporal affairs

as occasions and means to love and serve God and others.

          This may require a certain discipline that we have to learn

as early as possible and to polish it frequently, given our condition

that is vulnerable to the allurements of the world and of the flesh.

          We have to remember that time is short. (cfr. 1 Cor 7,29) We

cannot afford to waste time which is a most precious resource we have

in fulfilling the ultimate goal of our life.

          We need to manage our time well, seeing to it that whatever

we do or whatever situation and condition we find ourselves in, we

have to be sure that our time is spent in such a way it would bring us

to our eternal destiny.

          Time management is not only for some engineering projects.

We need time management in our personal lives as well, and especially

in our spiritual lives, that is, in our life of love with God and with

everybody else.

          For this, we have to be clear about the real purpose of our

life and of how each event, condition and circumstance in our life can

be related to that ultimate goal of ours. This is an indispensable

skill we have to develop and help everybody else to also acquire for

themselves.

Let’s plan and strategize

WE cannot overemphasize this basic need of ours to make

plans and strategies. If we have to develop ourselves as we should, if

we have to be truly productive and fruitful, if we have to take

advantage of everything in life, whether good or bad, to attain our

ultimate goal, then we have to plan and strategize our moves.

            Especially for the youth of today, this skill is very

necessary. We have to help them in developing this skill. We have to

rescue them from the state of being just at the mercy of

circumstances. They have to be taught how to shape their life by

having a clear vision of their goals and means, and instilling in them

a sense of direction and purpose.

            Sad to say, many times we allow ourselves to drift away

and to be carried away by external forces in our environment, leaving

us completely at their mercy. We obviously are conditioned by certain

elements, both inside and outside us, but we are meant to direct our

own lives too, since we are the captains of our own ships.

            Of course, it is God who is the main shaper of our life.

But we have to do our part. So we have to make sure that God’s

directions are adequately corresponded to not only with the

appropriate attitudes and virtues, but also with the appropriate

structures, plans and strategies that vary according to changing

circumstances.

            We should have some clear vision of our goals and means

and timetables involved. That way, we would have a better grasp of how

to identify and handle issues, problems and challenges. That way, we

would have a good sense of priority, especially nowadays when we are

faced with many competing options.

            Making plans and strategies may require some time and

effort, but it’s an investment that is all worth it. The little time

and effort required can actually multiply our time and make our

efforts more productive at the end of the day. It’s like the little

rudder that St. James talked about in his letter. (cfr. 3,4) Our plans

and strategies can have the power to accomplish great things, like a

rudder giving direction to a big boat.

            In these complicated times of ours with so many issues,

problems and challenges spewing out, the need for plans and strategies

have become more indispensable so that we can study them better and

know exactly what to do with them. The way things are now, these

issues, problems and challenges really need to be studied well, making

due consultations when necessary.

            What can help in this regard is to cultivate the practice

of making daily examinations of conscience so we can make a review of

what happened during the day and come up with the appropriate plan and

strategies for the following day.

            Since these examinations of conscience are usually done at

the end of the day when we most likely would already be tired and

exhausted, we really would need to motivate ourselves to give due

attention to this practice. That little investment of effort and

sacrifice will surely give back a tremendous return.

            We have to be wary of our tendency to simply fall into

routine, not making the appropriate offense-and-defense moves so

necessary in our life. These plans and strategies will greatly help us

to stay on the right track toward our true ultimate goal in life with

as little a distraction and deviation as possible.

            We need to have the proper plans and strategies to cope

with our need to grow in the virtues and to handle our weaknesses and

the temptations and sins that are proliferating around.

            To be sure, with plans and strategies, we would have a

greater chance not only to be clear with our goals but also and more

importantly with God himself. And that is the only thing necessary in

life in the end.