Love is a must.

I spoke some challenging words in my speech class Thursday: "people must love other people." Together, in that order.

The latest assignment in my speech class was to give a persuasive speech. This was the one that I had not been looking forward to. I'm not the persuading type. I actually briefly thought of telling my classmates that in my speech and devoting the bulk of my speech to telling them the reasons why I think persuasion can be dangerous, and hopefully persuade them to see my point of view. But I only thought that for a minute. That would have been ridiculous.

Pushing the ridiculous out of my mind, I then started thinking about what, if anything, would I feel strongly enough about to attempt to persuade my audience of classmates. That was important for me to figure out. Even though it was an assignment, and the point was to deliver a persuasive speech, regardless of what the content was or what I personally felt about the subject, I couldn't comfortably stand up there and talk about something I didn't agree with, or even something largely benign that I didn't feel strongly about. I'm not good at faking sincerity. And since I only persuade in extreme cases, I had to dig deep inside and find what was at the core of myself.

And thus I was inspired to say to my classmates, "people must love other people." Because I really do believe that. And according to my professor, I made my case well. I introduced my speech with the Golden Rule. I pointed out that Jesus said those words, and yet there are people of all different cultural backgrounds with varying belief systems that use them as a behavioral guide. And then I shared how that idea supported one of the beliefs that I hold most dear, which is that we as people must love other people. And to show an example of one way which I have done than in my own life, I spent the majority of the remaining time talking about World Vision.

I had so many fears going into it, and more so while I was speaking. Being vulnerable is never easy, and I was essentially placing my heart out on display. In the minutes leading up to my speech, the predominating thought running through my mind was, "What in the world are you thinking?" Most people had topics like: drink more water; eat at home more; heavy metal music does not inherently lead to anger, depression, and violence; the United States should have a universal healthcare system; premium dog food is better for your dog than value brands; and so forth. Things that (mostly) do not challenge a person's beliefs or values. But here I come to tell them something that, if they put it into practice, will rock their worlds.

I was also afraid that I would come across as being manipulative. Even insincere. Although I said earlier that I'm not good at faking sincerity, one of my biggest concerns continually is that my sincerity won't be communicated and people will think I'm not genuine. Sincerity is very important to me. I shared that in my speech, right before I played a clip from a World Vision video. I told them how so much of the time I don't like videos and things of that nature, because all they are is manipulative, trying to make people feel guilty or hoodwink them in order for some person or organization to get some kind of benefit. There's little to no substance to them, but they're making good-hearted people believe there is. But I then told them that World Vision was an exception, because they really are helping real people, and so whenever I watch a World Vision video I don't roll my eyes, like I so often feel inclined to do. Even as I shared that, I wasn't sure whether it would help me or hurt me in establishing my sincerity.

And all this was accompanied by my usual anxieties in speaking in front of an audience. I was doing a lot of praying leading into it. But from all indications, it went well. I went way over the time limit, but my professor still gave me a 99. She made a lot of comments, and amongst them was "good emotional appeal." So, whatever anyone else may have thought, at least she didn't think I was coming on too strong. And it would seem that at least one person agreed, because as I was walking back to my seat, one of my classmates said, "That was good."

I thank God for giving me words. And for giving me boldness in stating what I believe is true. My nearly 9 minutes at the front of the class was all him. Because I wouldn't have gotten up there and said what I did if I didn't believe that that's his message that he's trying to communicate to the world.


By the way, I also had to give a presentation in German that same morning. So I was that much more stressed that day. But it turned out well also. For the third time this semester, I ended up singing in front my class, and this time it was captured on video! I was out of breath, but they still seemed to think that I had right to claim that I could sing. All in all, Thursday was a great day.