If you are a long-time reader of the Illinois Baptist, you probably remember reading something by my father, Tom Adams. Through columns like “Problem Corner,” “Speaking Out,” and simply “Tom Adams,” Dad for 34 years shared practical, biblical perspectives and sometimes personal opinions on a number of contemporary issues. Former IB editor Dennis Dawson once told me that his research had convinced him that Tom Adams had the longest continuously running column series in the history of Baptist papers.
Dad’s columns were so practical and insightful in their content, and yet so down-to-earth in their style, that many readers probably assumed they were effortless on his part. Yet when I visited my mother recently, she showed me two large boxes of books on writing from Dad’s library. In addition to dictionaries, thesauruses, and grammar guides, there were titles like Success with Words, Writing A to Z, and Writing Like the Pros.
Dad worked hard on his writing craft because he knew it gave him his largest audience and most lasting influence. It’s not uncommon for me today to walk into a church and have someone pull one of his columns out of their Bible, and tell me how much his writing meant to them, and still does.
But you don’t need a published column for your words to have reach, or lasting influence. For one thing, blogs and social media can give almost anyone a public platform for their words. Local newspapers or community or church newsletters often welcome local writers, and a simple family Christmas letter can touch most the people closest to us. I’ve even seen thoughtfully written birthday, sympathy, or thank-you cards move people to tears.
Thoughtful words, carefully chosen and delivered with sincerity and love, can have a wonderful, powerful, lasting effect, whether on one person or thousands. I receive at least a hundred e-mails a day, but recently someone wrote me one that stopped me in my tracks and made me think about a very important situation very differently. It has begun a very positive understanding and change in my relationship with that person. That’s the power of thoughtful words, carefully chosen, and delivered with sincerity and love.
So as summer approaches this year, let me encourage you to take some of your quiet time, perhaps some early morning or late evening time on the front porch or the back deck, or even some of your vacation time, and sit down with a pen and pad of paper. What are the most important things you have to say, things that matter, and that are closest to your heart? Who are the most important people in your life, or the people with whom you have the most influence, or who most need to hear your thoughts?
Could you call them on the phone, or even wait until the next time you see them? Maybe. But spoken words are not always heard clearly, and do not always survive the test of time.
Written words, carefully chosen, can have a special clarity, power, and endurance. I think that’s why God has so miraculously assembled, preserved, and inspired his written Word for us, and why John 1 describes Jesus as the Word made flesh to dwell among us.
Maybe you don’t see yourself as a writer. As my dad’s stack of books reminds me, we can all improve our writing. But what’s most important is that your words come from the deepest and best parts of who you are, and that they are conveyed in sincerity and love to those who need them most. That’s how God writes. That’s how Tom Adams wrote. Your best thoughts matter too. Write them down.
Nate Adams is executive director of the Illinois Baptist State Association.