A picture is worth a thousand words. This saying was invented by an advertising executive, Fred R. Barnard. He took out an ad in Printer’s Ink in 1921 with the headline “One Look Is Worth a Thousand Words” and attributed it to an ancient Japanese philosopher. He was promoting his agency’s ads.
I would not argue with anyone who fosters Mr. Barnard’s claim. My wife is an artist and, even if I tried, I could not describe one of her paintings with a thousand words.
Yet, I would never diminish the power of words. As a preacher and a writer, I have learned first-hand how powerful words are.
When I was pastor of Christ United Methodist Church, I had a one minute daily radio/tv message called Perceptions. One newspaper writer described it as slipping “60 seconds of sanity, warmth, common sense and love into the insanity of drive-time radio.” Believe it or not, in 60 seconds, I talked about such things as alienation, helplessness, failure and alcoholism, ending simply with “These are my perceptions. I’m Maxie Dunnam at Christ United Methodist Church.”
I didn’t use religious or biblical language, nothing hard sell or “preachery”, just a good word for persons seeking to make it in their everyday world. Perceptions brought more people to our church than any other thing we sought to do.
One Evening, I was picking up some symphony tickets at the “will call” counter. I said to the clerk, “I’m Maxie Dunnam, and my wife reserved two tickets.” Two young women in their late teens or early twenties who were standing at the next ticket window turned and said, “Maxie Dunnam! I want to meet you.”
The two gave me their names and told me they listened to Perceptions on Rock 103, one of the popular youth/young adult radio stations in Memphis. We had a little visit, and as I turned to go a distinguished gentleman said, “And I want to meet you too. If you would have told me two years ago that I, a Jewish doctor, would be listening every day to a Christian minister on television, I would have said you are crazy. But I begin every day by listening to Perceptions.
Words, printed or spoken, are powerful. I have found that they reach people were they are, and can be a source of hope and the inspiration for change. One word–kind, loving, accepting, forgiving, challenging—can change someone’s day; sometimes, even their life. Be mindful when it comes to your words.