Preaching and Hypocrisy

No, this is not a post about the church or religion. It’s a statement about this post. I’m going to get on my soapbox about something I believe in. Then write about why you should not do it. It may be a long post.

Here is the preaching.

The meeting was held at a ladies home. She ran the meeting very effectively and was a good hostess. We wrapped up the meeting and people were starting to leave when our hostess asked if I’d like another cup of coffee. While she was refilling our coffee cups, I walked over to a photo hanging on the wall. It was a family portrait taken many, many years ago. You could tell it was an old photograph – no one was smiling. I guess back then they didn’t ‘smile for the camera’. There were sixteen people in the picture but one man in the back row intrigued me.

When the lady returned with our coffee, I asked her about the picture and the man in the back row. She had found the picture years ago while cleaning out her father’s house. The man in the back row was her great grandfather. I asked what she knew about him. She turned and studied the picture. She then looked at me and relied, “All I know about him is what he looked like.” She smiled but it was one of those smiles that had sadness behind it.

I immediately thought of my father in law, Vic, and others who had some great stories but never wrote them down or recorded them. I tried to get Vic to record some of his stories on a tape recorder but he wouldn’t do it. I can still hear his words, “Nobody is interested in an old man’s stories.” Over the years, Vic had given me a lot of good advice. Some I took, some I didn’t, this is the only statement I never even considered.

I want to encourage you to write your story. Better put - your stories. Everyone has hundreds and hundreds of stories that make up their live. We need to get them written down.

Whether they are kept in a loose-leaf three-ring bind or turned into a book by a published on demand company like cafepress it doesn’t matter just have them PRINTED someway. According to the Discover Channel, we know more about people who lived during Abraham Lincoln’s time than we do about people alive in the last twenty to thirty years ago. The reason is technology. While we all like this blogging thing and using our computers, technology is changing so fast that a lot of information is lost. Back in Lincoln’s day, everything was recorded on paper and a lot of the information about their life and times is still around.

I broke my life into segments. When I leave this old world, I hope to have a number of books done telling my stories. There will be the whole Homespun Headline series which if you think about it are today’s events but tomorrow’s history and stories. There will be other books as well. Growing up Ralph – about my younger years. Raising Ralph – about getting married and raising a family. Alone with Ralph – about the empty nest. Ralph on Retirement – haven’t got there yet, hope to soon. Ralph on Fire – stories about fire fighting. Plus a few more, but you get the idea.

Some of these story are suitable for blog material, some aren't. You don’t have to post everything you write on your blog. Some of my stories will be carefully slipped into the appropriate book.

Okay now the hypocrisy.

Do not do this unless YOU want to. Don’t do it for your spouse, don’t do it for it your kids, and don’t do it for your friends. This has to be something you want to do. And the reason is simple – writing is hard work and it’s a time consuming task. If you do it for any reason besides the fact you want to – it will be become just another chore to scratch off the list. It has to be something you want to do. If it isn’t it won’t matter that much to you or anyone else.

If you think no one is interested in your stories – you might want to rethink that. Most likely there will be people, some whom may not even been born yet, that will be interested in knowing more about your life and times and hearing your stories.

Awhile back Marla put up a post about the dash. You can watch it here. Marla wrote, “I wonder what people will say about me when I am gone.” To modify that a little – I wonder what people will know about me when I am gone?

Don’t end up being a picture on the wall.