I do a lot of public speaking. It is something I love and is also a part of my job. Just as I love communicating through writing, I also love communicating messages through speaking. I love the entire process – the preparation, the process of telling a story, crafting and delivering a message, and responding and connecting to an audience.
Before I speak, no matter what the venue, I pray that it will not be about me. But no matter how often I offer up this prayer, there are too many times when it is about me. It’s about my stories. It’s about how I connect – or don’t connect. And it’s about the evaluations – that moment of truth where I read through anonymous handwritten forms and see how I have been rated and where there is room for improvement; where I read the comments that affirm or those that hurt.
There is only one exception and that is when I am speaking to a deaf audience. With a hearing impaired audience it is never about me. My words, my message, my intonation is all communicated to the audience through an interpreter. Rarely are the eyes of the audience on me. Rather, they are watching the moves, sign language, and expressions of the interpreter. It is the interpreter who is important, the interpreter who is key to the entire presentation.
With this realization, I am completely free. I am free to communicate without fear, knowing that I must trust the interpreter entirely with my message. It is in this setting that I do some of my best communicating.
And that is what I want for 2012. I want God to be the interpreter of my messages. I don’t want it to be about me. Not the stories or the intonation; not the outfit or the hair; especially not the evaluation. I want my life, my entire life, whether speaking, writing or living to be interpreted by God Himself. Just as with a deaf audience, I want to be completely free to communicate without fear, totally trusting the Great Interpreter to interpret the message, because it isn’t about me.
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Marilyn R. Gardner 
This post is…..perfect. I am going to print it out and read it over & over this year! Praying too that God will be my interpreter. Thanks Marilyn!
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Beth – thank you so much for this lovely comment. Great to know someone else is also praying that the Interpreter will be heard loud and clear!
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You’ve mastered the art of public speaking? Good for you! Most people would be green with envy, myself included!
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I think I said I do a lot of it and like it as opposed to having mastered it!! – I think you’re right, I don’t know that any of us master it, but maybe get progressively more comfortable with it. Thanks much for reading and commenting
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In Exodus 20:18-20, Jesus relied on Moses as the interpreter. Furthermore, God relied on Jesus to become flesh; thus, he could be the interpreter. Jesus reveals God to us. Not only does he interpret God, he interprets who we are in Christ. All will be well as long as we rely on his interpretion.
Petra
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Oh well said Petra. “All will be well as long as we rely on his interpretation” Good end to the blog post! Thank you.
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Thank you Marilyn…I am really struggling with this new year…and I needed this. Thanks.
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Judi – thinking of you as you move forward in this new year. Thanks for reading.
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What a meaningful illustration. Like you, I also am always aware that too much of what I say or write is about me. On the other hand “I” am the only lense through which I see my world and my Lord. With John I pray, “He must increase; I must decrease.”
Thanks again for your faithful writing messages worth reading–and I do so regularly! Uncle Russ
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Love this comment – and a huge part of faithful living is communicating the lens through which we see the world to a hurting world. Thank you for reading! and Thank you for the book! It was waiting for me when I got back from Cairo. I look forward to reading it.
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On the other hand I go to hear a speaker to learn something I don’t know, or something they can communicate in a way I can’t. In a way it has to be about you. :-)
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Really good point Bruce – thanks for bringing that up. It’s a bit like an actor – it is all about them. So it comes down to giving thanks for a gift and asking God to use it for his glory. And that is asking to be seen through the Great Interpreter.
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