1
10
4
-
http://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pittsthurman/original/04e49286ffe0fc0c66bf7293e5cdd3af.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAI4CD764Y635IGLNA&Expires=1711672800&Signature=QQ5GSORmhRrAZBdwGe5hRN1eYbk%3D
4686021aea572277745e1cd4b2b9de41
PDF Text
Text
Pitts Theology Library
The Howard Thurman Digital Archive
Transcription
thurman.pitts.emory.edu
394-360_B.mp3
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
One of the things that we forget is that ordinarily we tend to believe that if a thing is at the
known center of our consent, if it is something to which deep within us we subscribe, as being
true, valid, urgent, mandatory for us, that if we can hold that thing at dead center in all of our
functioning, it will finally arrive-- we will finally arrive at a place that this thing will be the
ground of our motivation, the very core of our motivation.
And when it becomes a core of our motivation, then more and more, the behavior patterns of our
lives are reorganized around that new center of integration. Now that's true, that's strong, that is
valid.
But there's another aspect here to which I would call your attention, and that is, that there is also
the same kind of persistent relationship between the repetition of the outer pattern of life and the
way in which that outer pattern of life finally redefines for us the nerve center of consent. Do you
see what I-I hope, Joyce. That is so absolutely overwhelming.
I want you to say that.
Because you see, things explode in you. We are accustomed to tracking behavior patterns, in
terms of what is held at dead center in our intent, in our purpose.
So that the behavior pattern is finally brought to heel, in terms of the central intent of my spirit
and the set of my soul. I hold it until all of these things conform. And what I do becomes an
expression of this inner thing. Now that's familiar.
But what the insight is insisting upon, that it works the other way also. That I can multiply over
and over again, a particular set of behavior patterns until they then move in and define the nerves
that are my consent. The first part of that is familiar to the way, but it's this second part-Now it's interesting, in conditioning children we operate on this second part. We repeat, repeat,
repeat a certain behavior patterns, as to manners, and so forth, and so on, until this behavior
pattern begins to inform the intent of the child. We call it conditioning.
But the familiar way we go at that is, that it moves from the center to the outside bringing the
behavior into conformity with the set of the soul, you see. What the other side of that is, these
things out here may also define, finally, the set of the soul. Do you see what I'm saying?
I mean, it's so-- somewhere, where is it? Oh, excuse me.
I'm thinking of an instance last week in which I did not know what to do and finally, decided not
to do anything. I think this illustrates it. A woman from Toronto, who had moved in next door to
me, a one-year lease.
1
�Pitts Theology Library
The Howard Thurman Digital Archive
Transcription
thurman.pitts.emory.edu
And she said, she had had a love affair with California for a long time, she was finally here. She
had lost her husband two years ago, she was feeling lonely. Our relationship was pretty good for
several days. We were also resolving what to do with the two poodles of my territory, my
territory I was theirs.
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
Well just a few days ago, I sensed a difference. She was not reaching out and communicating.
And she hadn't with anyone else in the neighborhood. Things were going on which seemed to
indicate that she was moving. I couldn't understand it.
And there were a few opportunities where I could have said something, but I waited for her to
come to me. I discovered also that she is what I would call the carriage trade and I'm not. She
had joined the tennis club first thing so that she had friends there. And she did have friends in
Carmel Valley.
Well, over this last weekend, I found out she had moved. That is, she did move. She moved back
to Toronto. I felt anger from her head to her toes. I knew the owner. So I called them to see what
was wrong.
She had decided she wanted to work at taking a computer course in San Francisco-- and I was
taking care of her [INAUDIBLE] at that time-- to go with a travel agency, where she liked to
deal with a [INAUDIBLE].
Somehow or other the federal government caught up with her, for the fact she did not have an
alien green card. And she became furious. She became angry. She became bitter. And in a few
days, packed up and went back to Toronto. She had an opportunity right in front of my house to
turn around and say something. But she kept her back.
So I decided not to intervene. And I'm glad I didn't. I think it wouldn't have done any good, and I
would have come up here full of it. As it is, I feel that that changed me inside to know what I can
do in other behavior instances, that I can handle it, so that I can be helpful, and yet not have it
tear me apart.
The paradox is that there is a distinction between the outer and the inner and there is no
distinction between the outer and the inner. And we live our lives walking through that kind of
isthmus.
But the important thing, I feel, certainly in my journey, is to recognize that there is a relationship,
a two-way street. The outer influences the inner, and the inner influences the outer.
And the conditioning of the inner can be determined by the behavior of the outer, whereas in our
customary thinking, we feel that the conditioning of the outer is determined by the inner.
And I'm saying it works both ways. So that the distinction between the secular and the sacred is a
temporary distinction that the mind holds as it negotiates the journey that individual takes. But it
is not, it is not a fundamental distinction. But it is a valid one. Yes-Is there a connection between this and what Jesus said, where your treasure is, there will your
heart be?
2
�Pitts Theology Library
The Howard Thurman Digital Archive
Transcription
thurman.pitts.emory.edu
Yes. And I think he was smiling when he said it, because the treasure may not be anything
external to ourselves. [INAUDIBLE] please go on.
When you were talking, I thought of, again, all life is one. And that's what you were saying again
in the relation to the inner and the outer.
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
Yeah.
[INAUDIBLE] a little bit, but let me-[INAUDIBLE] in trouble.
We understand the first principle, that if you want to change a person, all you need do is get this
central thing-- we may say the will, but whatever it is, we need not use these extra words-- but
this intent, this intent focus, and when that is thoroughly focused, then that intent begins to
provide a new center around which his behavior takes its accent and turn.
Now I'm saying that that is true, but the other thing is true also. That I can act in a certain way,
with such persistency, over a time interval of such duration, that finally the pattern of my
behavior, becomes a new nerve center of consent.
Yeah, that's it.
So those of us who are concerned about changing our lives or changing the society, about trying
to make a decent human being of ourselves or a decent social order, must see clearly the flowing
between the outer and the inner. It is not only true then that the inner constantly and persistently
informs the outer, so as to redefine the meaning of the outer.
But it is also true that the outer can persistently and consistently inform the inner. As Lincoln
Milton makes the devil say in Paradise Lost, I look before me, there's hell. I look behind me,
there's hell. I look to the right, there's hell. To the left, there's hell. Behold, I myself am hell-- the
outer, inner.
Now therefore, in an effort to develop the inner that it may become robust, we must not cut it off
from the outer by the delusion that we can cut it off from the outer. And they can't do it.
I remember the first year that Doug Steele started teaching philosophy at Haverford as Regent
Jones' successor. I attended all of his classes in philosophy. And two or three students, other
students, and I, had a little game that we played.
You know how you mark, make four lines, and then run a line through it, making five, and
you're tallying things. Well, Doug, had a phrase that he used. The phrase was-- so to speak.
I suppose those of you who have listened to me for eight or nine years know that I have a few
phrases that like that. But every other sentence, Doug would say, so to speak, so to speak, so to
speak.
3
�Pitts Theology Library
The Howard Thurman Digital Archive
Transcription
thurman.pitts.emory.edu
So when he was done, two of us showed him our tally marks. And all they were way up, a
fabulous number. And he was shocked. He had no idea that he said so to speak over, and over,
and over, and over again.
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
And then, the next day, in class, he was working away on the critique of pure reason, just having
a wonderful time. [INAUDIBLE] he got as far as [INAUDIBLE] and then he froze. He backed
up again, and for an hour and 55 minutes of class lecture, it was the most torturous experience
I've ever seen a human being, trying to relate, you see, the inner and the outer.
He became aware of a whole pattern that had become a part of the nerve center of his consent,
but what was affected, that lived on periphery. But in his effort to become a whole human being,
he had to relate this inner and outer, and he limped for days, until finally, finally, when he said so
to speak, he meant to say it.
That's what I mean. We can develop attitudes that ignore this relationship. And when we do, we
find ourselves living as we think, constantly in two separate worlds. And I, in my heart, and in
my private spirit, and in my own personal spiritual intimacies, I am this way.
And then in the parallel of my living, in my functioning, I am this way. The tragedy is that one of
the iniquities of our society is that it presupposes that we are two function that way.
Over and over again, we find ourselves with our behavior patterns obeying laws, which deep
within us, at the center, the vital center of us, we denounce, we deny. Can you see what such a
problem is? When you applied it in various kinds of social situations?
Suppose you lived in a part of the world in which the normal thing people to do was going along
a certain like, acting the same way, going certain places. I remember when, one night at
[INAUDIBLE] Junction in central India, we were going up to Calcutta, two young Indian friends
were traveling with us.
And because the trains had no sleeping accommodations, the junction provided rooms upstairs
over the station lobby. And for 25 cents or some small amount, you could get a bed for two hours
or three hours. And then a guard would awaken you in time for you to get your train, dress, and
go downstairs, and get your train.
And we went upstairs, our party, with these two young Indian friends. And then we came up to
this great place. We saw on one side, a huge sign, which said Europeans only. And another sign
which said Indians only.
Well, we were regarded in India as European. So we could not go over on the side where the
Indians were, where our friends were going. And our friends couldn't go on the side where we
were. So we went downstairs and sat up for the rest of the right.
But now suppose you wanted a night's sleep and that was the law. What do you do? What do you
do? The outer, the inner, an attitude that says that there is a desert and a sea between these two, is
an attitude that is against life and for death, whether in the individual or society.
4
�Pitts Theology Library
The Howard Thurman Digital Archive
Transcription
thurman.pitts.emory.edu
Now there's one other attitude against the background of free and easy access. Remember, that's
the point, the free and easy access between the inner and the outer, to the words of my mouth, the
outer and the meditation of my heart, the inner, both as one acceptable in the sight of God. That
is the insistence, you see.
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
Now, when I take an attitude of withdrawal, when I take an attitude of withdrawal from the
outer, or-- I didn't say and-- or an attitude of withdrawal from the inner, I defeat both.
Now let's look at that just a minute. The principle of alternation is what I am talking about. The
first American thinker to introduce the concept of alternation in this whole matter of the flowing
between the inner and outer-Listen very carefully, please.
--in his tremendous volume on-- I don't remember the title, but it's a good book. And then you
remember that in this big work of [INAUDIBLE]
But everybody knows about the principle of withdrawing and participation, the principle of
picking up and emptying and putting down. The principle of walking and resting.
Now if I decide that I should devote all of my attitudes to withdrawing, then withdrawing
becomes the source of my arrogance and my pride. And out of the emptiness of my own inner
self, I cry to God, God, I thank Thee that I'm not as other men. I don't get my hands dirty. I keep
my space from them. I do not expose myself.
While there's something in us to which that appeals tremendously, don't you feel sometimes if
you could just shake every thing off, just go to your little mountain, hide out, and just stay there,
with some private arrangement so you can get some food, and some water. But if you could just
get away and stay away.
Well, that becomes a source of arrogance. And then religious minded men through all the ages of
every culture and every kind of religion that's ethical in character, have pointed out this great
danger, that one of the major sources of pride in the human spirit is the delusion that it can
withdraw and enjoy God forever, and ever, and ever.
Yes.
But how can I be happy in heaven if my brother is in hell? How can I? Can't do it. Now the other
source, your see, of pride and arrogance, is just the reverse, that I can-- that I have no time for the
luxury of withdrawal, of a little retreat, of taking time out. Things must be done. Action, action,
action, action.
One of the reasons why, these people say one of the reasons why the world is the way it is, now
there's so many people whose heads are in the clouds. What we need is practical people. We're
suffering from that right now.
We say that one of the reasons why our whole government is disintegrated-- I'm not preaching a
sermon on politics, but rather it is, sorry to say, our government has disintegrated, so on and so
5
�Pitts Theology Library
The Howard Thurman Digital Archive
Transcription
thurman.pitts.emory.edu
on, they have no businessmen running things. Businessmen, I mean, they're the practical people,
they know how to do.
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
And that becomes a source of pride and arrogance. Because I begin to develop contempt for the
retreater, for the president who withdraws, for the thinker is visionary. He doesn't know anything
about the facts of life. What I'm saying is, [INAUDIBLE] and that it is not one or the other of
these.
But if we want to be a whole human being, we've got to breathe in and out. In and out. In and
out. For when I withdraw, even for 15 minutes a day, I not only have a chance to restore the
waste places of my own spirit, to recapture the lost radiance of my commitment, see my own
goals clarified, bring my own life more into focus.
Whether I'm a religious man or not, even in terms of strength, humanistic considerations, it's
valid. I think it's more than that. But even on that level, it's valid.
But not only does that happen to me, but whenever I withdraw, and center down in my own
spirit, this is what I believe, my friends, I believe that in that act, I become involved in
[INAUDIBLE] ground of my talent, in which it is possible for me to make contact with other
human beings at a level that transcends all of the spoken, that I can never understand through the
formal discursive processes of mind.
I think it is at that level that a great awareness, not only of the meaning of life in general, but the
meaning and the dignity of human life. And then when I come out of that and go to work in my
functioning, I am building my house, my world, by a blueprint that is eternal.
And to know that that is possible, or even to dare to believe that that is possible, and not try it, is
to run the risk of missing out on perhaps the most tremendous thing in your life.
When we bend the words of our vows and the meditations of our heart become acceptable to
God because they are one and the same. And we are whole. And that's wonderful, wonderful.
I suppose that one of the things you discover as we move away from the simple unity that the
little organism of the child experiences is the parting of the road in which maturity means being
here and functioning over here.
When our younger daughter was first learning to read, I would come home from the campus for
lunch and I could always tell that she was busy reading, because she would be sitting in my big
chair and I could hear her struggling with these words when I opened the door. And I'd peek in
there and she was reading with her eyes, her body.
And then one day when I came home, she startled me because she was sitting in the chair reading
very quietly. Reading to herself, no movement. And I called Mrs. [INAUDIBLE], and I said,
look, the beginning of the disintegration of your daughter.
Because she is separating what she is from what she's doing. And she'll spend a lifetime trying to
get these two things back together. So that now and then you can say what you mean and
experience what you mean by what you say.
6
�Pitts Theology Library
The Howard Thurman Digital Archive
Transcription
thurman.pitts.emory.edu
And we spend a lifetime in a search for the kind of experience, the kind of encounter in which I
can mean what I say and say what I mean. And not to be involved in trying to prove that I mean
what I say.
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
And for me, it is such an enormous relief to pray. Because at least I am willing to let down my
guard and sometimes, say to God the way it is and run the risk of not being misjudged.
And I think this is why the thing that we all search for, over and over again, is the experience of
being understood and not having to interpret. And it may be that in our human adventures, this
moves in and out on the horizon like a fleeting ghost. The secret of sharing this kind of
experience is a secret that belongs to God. And it may be that is the great distinction between
him and us, I don't know.
But to encounter with any manifestation of life, with the kind of confidence that permits me to let
down my guard and run the ultimate risk of trusting some other form of life with my secret.
And there is the whispering echo that moves all through me all the time that I'm not sure that
God can be trusted with my secret. Because he may decide out of his vast sensitivity with
reference to all the nuances of me as a creature to pull a fast one on me.
I say yes, and before the sound of the yes dies, I shout no. I want my life to be my own as it must
be. But always, I'm afraid that the responsibility of me for me is more than I can manage.
I'm having trouble with all this. Because on the one hand, what you say is a magnification, I
mean that's a pejorative word in this sense, of the obvious, or it's something that's really deeply
mysterious to me, that is so far beyond anything I understand that it has no connection.
Keep talking.
Well, like for instance, that business about going out in the swamp and you're still in the swamp.
I believe that happened. And then--
7
�
AudioWithTranscription
Audio that is shown through the 3Play Media embedded interactive transcript
Audio with Transcription
<iframe width="100%" height="820" frameborder="0" src="/files/players/394-360_B.html" ></iframe>
Time Period
The decade in which the recording was produced.
1980s
Original Title
Title as transcribed from tape cassette
Conversations with Howard Thurman (parts 5 and 6), 1980 Sep 19-21, Side B
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
394-360_B
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Thurman, Howard
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/rp8k9">MSS 394</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
audio
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
<a href="http://pitts.emory.edu/">Pitts Theology Library, Emory University</a>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/"><img style="border-width:0;" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc/4.0/80x15.png" alt="80x15.png" /></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License</a>. 2019.
Title
A name given to the resource
Conversations with Howard Thurman, September 1980, Parts 5 and 6, Side B
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1980-09-20
Description
An account of the resource
This recording is a part of a wider series of conversations from September to October of 1980 where Howard Thurman met with a variety of young men and women who were discerning their calling to ministry. Thurman poses the intent of this group as an opportunity to "open up for one's self the moving, vital, creative push of God, while God is still disguised in the movement of God's self." In this recording, Thurman warns those learning with him of the dangers of setting a distinction between the outer life and the inner life, the profane and the sacred. Drawing upon his experience in India, and tales of his daughter becoming literate, Thurman explains that the outer life influences the inner, and vice-a-versa, designating one's life as synchronous rather than disintegrated.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Description by Dustin Mailman
arrogance
behavior patters
Calcutta
California
Carmel Valley
conditioning
conformity
Doug Steele
duality
dynamism
ethics
fluid area of consent
heart
hell
India
inner life
Jesus
Lincoln Milton
manifestations of life
mystery
outer life
Paradise Lost
psychology
sacred
San Francisco
secret
secular
soul
speech
spiritual intimacies
Toronto
-
http://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pittsthurman/original/52e578602916b32146e733a55aea122c.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAI4CD764Y635IGLNA&Expires=1711672800&Signature=heNOx44x7djbbKW6rQvuXgQKl6c%3D
8714d291f997a35950560c0943aadf0f
PDF Text
Text
Pitts Theology Library
The Howard Thurman Digital Archive
Transcription
thurman.pitts.emory.edu
394-294_B.mp3
He must get bearings concerning the road ahead. He must not lose sight of the way of which we
have come and how it relates to the past or the way in which we are walking and how these are
related to the road ahead. To state my meaning categorically, it would be something like this.
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
He place before his congregation and, of course himself, the vision of a great ideal for mankind,
the ideal of one community for the children of man, the vision is of a collective destiny, which
includes more and more of the entire human race. And second, he calls attention to the quality of
mind, the quality of devotion, the quality of commitment, and the kinds of skills, techniques, and
methods by which the literal truth of this ideal may become literal fact for the individual and for
society.
And in this, he becomes an agent of redemption in the hands of God. But ever has been a part of
the demonstration and his particular tradition, he must be made relevantly current. And whatever
may be learned from any other tradition made available in supreme effort of the implementation
of their ideal.
And you may not think as I think about this, but it is my profound conviction that the things that
are true in any religion are to be found in that religion because the things are true. They're not
true because they are in the religion. The things that are true in any religion are to be found in
that religion, because the things are true. And wherever you find them, they're true. It is not the
context that determines their truth.
He must expose the resources of on which he and his people may draw that can be enabling in
this process. The resources of individual testimony from the past or present of those who are part
of the tradition, the resources that are to be found in contemporary life, whether they fall
narrowly within a context regarded as religious or not, resources that layer a deeper level ground
than the deliberate intent of the individual or the impersonal direction of the social process,
resources which in my language are to be found finally, ultimately, and uniquely in God.
The assignment is not a lecture. It is not merely an academic or intellectual exercise for the
stimulation of the mind. It is not a commonplace homily that lulls into quiescence of sedation.
No. The sermon must always have the smell of a ammonia about it. It must be vital and
contagious. It is the voice of man and the voice of God.
1
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Dilemmas of the Religious Professional, Hester Lecture Series (1971, Golden Gate Seminary, Strawberry, CA)
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Howard Thurman
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1971
Description
An account of the resource
“Dilemmas of the Religious Professional” is a four-part lecture series by Howard Thurman focused on the religious professional who is distinguished by a sense of divine calling and unique challenges. The lectures address the uniqueness, duties, prayers, and words of persons elected into religious professions.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Descriptions by Dr. Tim Rainey
AudioWithTranscription
Audio that is shown through the 3Play Media embedded interactive transcript
Audio with Transcription
<iframe width="100%" height="820" frameborder="0" src="/files/players/394-294_B.html" ></iframe>
Location
The location of the interview, speech, lecture, or sermon
Golden Gate Seminary, Strawberry, California
Time Period
The decade in which the recording was produced.
1970s
Original Title
Title as transcribed from tape cassette
Dilemmas of Religious Professional (IV) (Hester Lecture) [Side B], 1971 Feb 12
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
394-294_B
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Thurman, Howard
Title
A name given to the resource
Dilemmas of Religious Professional, Part 4 (continued), 1971 February 12
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1971-02-12
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/rp8k9">MSS 394</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
audio
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
<a href="http://pitts.emory.edu/">Pitts Theology Library, Emory University</a>
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
GEOMETRYCOLLECTION(POINT(-13637365.795771 4563241.023354))
Description
An account of the resource
In the final lecture, Thurman transitions from his meditations on inwardness to a more technical discourse regarding the uses of language by the religious professional. Recognizing the limits of language, he discusses the transcendent meaning of the Gospels whose wisdom must be communicated with the least amount of interference from the speaker. The minister’s speech must then participate in what Thurman calls the “community [or “continuum”] of meaning.” As a beacon of the collective experience of God, the religious professional sees the road ahead for humanity and thus becomes an agent of redemption.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/"><img style="border-width:0;" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc/4.0/80x15.png" alt="80x15.png" /></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License</a>. 2019.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Description by Dr. Tim Rainey
experience
Hester Lecture
imagination
intimacy
minister
speech
-
http://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pittsthurman/original/84373a7ad30f7c75f7f82c1220da7060.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAI4CD764Y635IGLNA&Expires=1711672800&Signature=GRV6MVPNxwZNHpprP%2BvPaq6LGR4%3D
7aa9e1e9c98bcd8ef999123cf8e6e587
PDF Text
Text
Pitts Theology Library
The Howard Thurman Digital Archive
Transcription
thurman.pitts.emory.edu
394-294_A.mp3
How precious are Thy thoughts unto me, oh, God. How great is the sum of them. If I should
count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I awake, I am still with Thee. Search
me, oh, God, and know my heart.
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
Try me, and know my thoughts. And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the
way everlasting. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy
sight. Oh, Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.
I begin this final morning, as I began at the beginning. The new mother, when she looks at the
hairs of the baby in her arms, whispers in her heart, my child, may you seek after truth. If
anything I teach you be false, may you throw it from you and go on to richer knowledge and
deeper truths than I have ever known.
If you become a man of thought and learning, may you never fail to tear down with your right
hand what your left hand has built up through years of thought and study. If you see it at last not
to be founded on that which is, if you become a politician and know success for your party, or
love of your country, or security for yourself, ever lead you to tamper with reality and to play a
diplomatic part.
If you become an artist, may you never paint with pen or brush any picture of external life
otherwise than as you see it. In all of your circumstances, my child, fling yourselves down on the
truth, and cling to that as a drowning man on a stormy sea flings himself onto a plank and clings
to it, knowing that whether he sink or swim with it, it is the best that he has. Die poor, unknown,
unloved, a failure, perhaps, but shut your eyes to nothing that seems to them to be the truth.
I want to take just one minute to say my own personal appreciation to the administration, to the
faculty, students, friends for the experience, which has been mine during this week. In so many
little ways, you have shared simple, gratuitous expressions of kindness to which my own mind
and spirit respond with enthusiasm. And I simply want to say thank you.
We now come to the last leg of our journey. And I want to see if I can get in the compass of the
time available what my reflections are about the word and the preacher sermon. The minister's
tool is the spoken word. We've talked about his technical source, and we spent quite a bit of time
on the resources.
Now, I want to think with you about the tool. The minister's tool is the spoken word. Human
speech is perhaps the greatest single miracle in human life. Someone has very wisely suggested
that in order to kill a man or man might have been silent, but to communicate with him, bind
himself to his fellows-- child to mother, mother to a child, the sexes to each other, man to reach
man, belonging to his social organism. In order to do these things, man was obliged to blossom
into speech.
Think of what this means. Of all the welter of sounds in the world of nature, certain sounds have
been caught, trapped, quarantined, given special content, so that these sounds express or reveal
what is deep within the mind. Such sounds became the embodiment of ideas, of concepts, of
1
�Pitts Theology Library
The Howard Thurman Digital Archive
Transcription
thurman.pitts.emory.edu
dreams, of loves, of hates, of joys, of sorrows. The spoken word is the great revealer of the
secrets of the mind and the heart.
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
I hear a series of sounds coming from you. These sounds are transformed within me into
meaning inside of my mind. These meanings trigger certain responses that are at once judgments
of value, which inspire action and reactions of various kinds. This is the miracle of human
speech.
What a priceless possession is the gift of speech. To be able to make sounds, to make sounds,
think about it now. To make sounds convey special meanings and deliberate notions, to be able
to put at the disposal of another person the feelings that nestle within your life, to be able to
reveal one's self in symbols which make clear and do not betray, this is the miracle and the test
of human speech.
It is with the world that man becomes human and thus, makes possible the cycle of relationships,
which make fast his sense of self. It is the word that gives man power to hurt, where no
[INAUDIBLE] can touch, to harness the wild horses of the mind, and make them become the
burden bearers of the hearts, to give wings to earth-bound values until they lose themselves on
far horizons. It is the word that can create or destroy, splinter or make whole, redeem or damn.
It is now wonder, then, that man tends to worship the sound of his own voice and to give to this
an authority greater than anything that remains and all words have been said. If a man can put
together the words of conveyance, then he thinks that communication has fulfilled itself.
Silence often is not trusted. It is regarded as being subversive. It must be hidden. Fear of silence
is the offering that we place upon the orator of our words. This is due, in part, to the richness and
the experience of speech. And we do not wish to let it escape into the vast, empty region, where
there are no words and there is no speech.
Therefore, it is important to remember that it is out of the silence that all sound come. It is in
stillness that the word is fashioned for the meaning it conveys. Hear the sound without sounds.
The sound without sounds can be most clearly heard. And the meanings out of which all values
come can be plumbed.
Now, to illustrate what I mean by the sound without sounds, one of the most dramatic moments
of my early ministry came when, as a summer assistant, I was called to the hospital to minister to
a dying man. When the nurse took me to his bedside, she leaned over and said to him, Mr. X,
you've asked for a minister, and the minister is here. And she disappeared.
A complete and utter sense of helplessness and impotence swamped me. I took his hand in both
of mine. His eyes were closed, and his breathing was heavy and unsteady. I bowed my head,
closed my eyes, and emptied myself in private supplication to God, without uttering a single
sound.
And after a long, and what seemed to me to have been an interminable period, my spirit found
rest and quiet. I opened my eyes simultaneously with his opening his eyes. Then with great
effort, he said, thank you. I understand, and he died.
2
�Pitts Theology Library
The Howard Thurman Digital Archive
Transcription
thurman.pitts.emory.edu
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
Words are sometimes so charged with feeling, so crowded with concentrated thought that they
are shattered, smashed. And all their training content spilled to burn their way, like liquid fire
through the mind. Always, the preacher must understand that to separate words from true and
hallowed meanings, to sift words of their acquired close, to make words serve in strange lands
and far-off places of the mind, to use them as agents of deceit, as fangs to flail and abuse as
manifestations of pride and illusion. All this is to degrade a most precious gift of God, and
betrays the high calling, which is the minister's command from God.
Permit me to digress just sufficiently to point out that prior to human speech, prior to human
speech, there must have been communication between developing man and his fellows. It is for
this reason that even now, when our feelings move to their profoundest level, what happens? We
become inarticulate. We become speechless. It is as if the mind dropped back into a previous
vast feeling continuum.
Have you not observed that there comes a time in any profound relationship between two human
beings when words seem at once inadequate, too limited? Communication, then, takes place in a
dimension of relatedness which obtained to the development of human speech.
Now, this may sound far out to you. I don't know how it sounds. But what I am saying is that, in
my thought, there is a previous continuum of awareness, of the grounds of communication that
anti-dates the articulation in utterances. A lot of interesting work is being done in this field, just
to further digress. And I won't do it again, because I've got to get through today. I'm not going to
turn a lot of pages, because I worked too hard on this.
[LAUGHTER]
In the Journal of Wildlife, about six, eight months ago, you may have seen this. There's an article
written about the man who developed the lie-detecting machine, a polygraph. He was working in
his laboratory in New York. And he had made an interesting discovery. And that was that if he
attached the instruments to the polygraph, to the plants in his office that the plants reacting to the
emotional content that was his at the moment and at the time.
Well, the newspaper reporter was quite cynical about this. And he said, I'll give you a
demonstration. Now, my assistant can't stand these plants. When I go away, he won't even water
them, and I'm sure they don't like him.
So he attached the instruments, the wires to his plants. So the indicators were clearly there
operating. Then he buzzed for his assistant to come into the office. And as soon as his assistant
hit the door, the dials just-[LAUGHTER]
Under certain circumstances, we drop back into, what seems to me, to be an original continuum
of awareness, of consciousness of which the spoken word is an articulation. The word is this
symbol through which meaning from this continuum leaks. That's why words have to be
tightened, because they develop leaks. And you use the same words that you use, in particular, in
the preacher's vocabulary, words that leak. So the meaning can hold. It drips all over the place,
and he needs to take the word out and work on it.
3
�Pitts Theology Library
The Howard Thurman Digital Archive
Transcription
thurman.pitts.emory.edu
Now, the spoken word is the preacher's critical tool. He must be on friendly and intimate terms
with the private life and, in particular, history of the words he uses. He must be familiar with
their flavor, so that, in his use of them, they will be authentic carriers of the meaning which he
seeks to convey.
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
He must never betray his words. He must understand that there are words that fly and soar high
above the plains. And their dwelling place is the mountain peak. There are some words that are
like the cascade eagle in Moby Dick. When the cascade eagle is flying in the gorge, he is higher
than the highest soarer above the plains, because his gorge is in the mountain.
There are words that nestle close to the ground, then fall back quivering and helpless when
forced to breathe that is high and too rarefied. There are words that sing. And if they're not used
as a part of a chorus true to their nature, their sound will be discordant and unharmonious.
This is not to suggest that they are not hollow words, which come into their fullest glory when
they are alone and unaccompanied. They make the music of their kind. They are words of
struggle and stammer. Because they're so big with meaning, that sound and form are utterly
adequate through which their meaning can be expressed. There are words that agonize, and
groan, and shed their travail over all the landscapes of the mind.
There are gentle words, whose tenderness moves straight to the heart, bypassing all the regions
hard won by the rational and reflective process. The critical tool for the preacher is the word. It
should be clear now that he must have a sense of responsibility for the integrity of the word. If he
does, he will be very aware of the limitations of the word, in fact, the limitations of language
itself.
One of the hazards of his profession is that he himself may become language-bound. And by this,
I mean, he may be so enamored of the magic of the word that he fails to recognize that language,
in essence, is an abstraction. Even as language may convey meaning, it also restricts meaning.
We are never able to say all that we mean when we use our words.
In fact, at various stages in our lives, we may use the same words, while what we mean at these
various stages may be very different. For instance, when a baby who is just learning to talk says,
mommy, I love you, when the same baby is five years old, he says to his mother, I love you.
When he's a teenager, he may say to his mother, unless he's too self-conscious, I love you.
When he's a young adult, he says to his mother, I love you. When he's mature, with two children
of his own, he says to his mother, I love you. When he's full of years, he may say to his mother, I
love you. All the way, he uses the same three words. But each time, the meaning carries with it
something inclusive of, but more than, what was meant previously.
When in the vernacular, or in desperation, or in anger, we say, words fail me, this is apt to be a
truism. Language limits, restricts, imprisons meaning often. Are perilous, this fact is for the
preacher. It is so easy for him to become language-bound to the detriment both of
communication and his message. There are times when the preacher, under the inspiration of a
high moment, may give utterance to a transparent way through which vast meaning leaps into the
mind of the hearer.
4
�Pitts Theology Library
The Howard Thurman Digital Archive
Transcription
thurman.pitts.emory.edu
Now, when that happens, so satisfying may be such an experience to the preacher that the
phrase-- mark my words-- the phrase that was luminous continues to be a part of his working
verbal equipment, even though it is no longer transparent and symbolic of great insight.
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
My first preaching assignment at the university was out in California at Stanford in the winter of
1929. As I traveled to Palo Alta from Atlanta, Georgia, where I was living, I worked hard and
long on fashioning and refashioning, shaping and reshaping, pruning and repruning the message
until in my mind, it was a finished, artistic expression of the word.
After the ceremony, Dr. Gardener, who was a chaplain at the time, invited me to accompany him
to his home for a spot tea, as he said. He was an Englishman. Before, I would be called for to
have lunch with a group of students. We walked down the road. They had road in Palo Alto in
those days.
We walked down the road, his arm in my arm, as he, in a mood of great creative nostalgia,
described the beauty of the English countryside in the springtime. Suddenly, he stopped, released
my arms, squared my shoulders with both hands, looked me straight in the eye. And he said, too
beautiful, too beautiful. Truth comes out in hunks, dripping.
Young man, he said, God has blessed you. Now, don't show your ingratitude to Him by taking
His insights and working them over, polishing them over, until all the life is taken out of them,
so that they are beautiful but dead. And with that, we resumed our walk. And he picked up the
threads of his conversation about the beauties of the English countryside.
[LAUGHTER]
The vision which the Gospel inspires can never be contained in the spoken word, however
pregnant of meaning that word may be. Somehow, the meaning has to transcend the limitation of
language and move directly into the stream of the life of the hearer. This is the indication of
those familiar words from the road to Aeneas. Our hearts burned within us, as he talked with us
in the way.
That old minister, when asked about his sermon preparations, said to a young man, I read in the
book until I come to a place where the Master is showing His love to someone. And then I brood
on this inside and outside. And finally, I get words that are too hot for paper. Now, this is what
he's talking about.
You remember in the introduction to Bernard Shaw's Back to Methuselah? Eve is talking about
Noah. And she says that Noah spends all of his time wandering around in the hills, listening to
the voice. And he's listened to the voice until he has become the voice. But it will take many
years before Noah fully experiences the voice.
All of this is to say that the word, with all of its limitations and strictures, if it is to illumine the
mind and warm the heart with the dynamics of the Gospel, it must be a part of what I am calling
for convenience, a community of meaning. There can be no communication between people
through the medium of language if the agendas from which they're talking are not the same.
5
�Pitts Theology Library
The Howard Thurman Digital Archive
Transcription
thurman.pitts.emory.edu
It is the common agenda of meaning that gives to the word its power to communicate. If, when I
talk to you, I am talking from one agenda of meaning, which is different from your agenda of
meaning, then what I am saying cannot be heard by you. This is what is called the gap, whether
generation or theological.
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
The assumption in our religion is that religious experience is the essence of the common agenda
out of which the word is spoken and by which the listeners listen. To state it categorically and in
fine, the testimony of the spirit, of which the preacher's word is a form of witness, finds a
response in the witness of the spirit in the heart of the listener.
The common experience of the living God is the continuum of meaning out of which the
preacher preaches and with which the listener listens. A preacher may be brilliant, eloquent,
erudite, and articulate, but a sounding brass and a tinkling symbol if his words are not a witness
to the spirit.
A preacher may be slow of speech, fumbling with an aptitude, even unlettered, while the words
that he utters strikes fire to the heart. There is no substitute for the preacher's experience with the
word to which he gives utterance. Let your words, then, the Master says, be yay, yay and nay,
nay. Anything else, anything else is from the corrupting one.
Now, I turn to part 2. Yeah, I'm doing pretty well. You may recall that in previous discussions,
I've spoken somewhat of the spiritual demands that are made up of the life, character, and
commitment of the preacher. My assumption is that a necessity is laid upon him to preach the
gospel in his own life and in the special exercise of his function as a deliverer of the word, to use
the phrase.
The weighty responsibility of the word has been discussed somewhat. I turn now to another
aspect of the preacher's equipment. He must have the gift of a disciplined imagination. A word of
caution is important here, because often, there is a very thin line between imagination and
exaggeration.
The [INAUDIBLE] after this vehicle for exhibiting one's ego for the vanity of point-making and
various other forms of self-aggrandizement. A disciplined imagination is very different. Its
function is to provide windows for the mind and spirit, to look out upon the landscape and see
the mighty works of God among the children of men.
Many years ago, a brilliant young sociologist at Columbia University, who died at the beginning
of what was the most promising career, left among his notes this paragraph, half cynical and yet,
carrying a very important insight. And I quote this. "And God saw everything that He made and
behold, it was very bad. On the seventh day, therefore, God could not rest. In the morning and
the evening, He busied himself with the terrible and beautiful concoctions. And in the twilight of
the seventh day, He finished that which was of more import than the beasts of the earth, and the
fish of the sea, and the lights of the firmament. And He called it imagination, because it was
made in His own image. And those under whom it is given shall see God."
The gift of imagination, what is it? It is the peculiar quality of mind that enables a man to stand
in his own place, defined by the uniqueness of his life story, and project himself into another
person's life or situation, even as he remains himself. He makes soundings there, looking out of a
6
�Pitts Theology Library
The Howard Thurman Digital Archive
Transcription
thurman.pitts.emory.edu
life through the other person's eyes, even as he remains solidly rooted in his own context. It is to
inform one's self of the view from the other side.
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
Most children have this. And it is my suspicion that this is one of the reasons why the Master
insisted that we must become as little children if we are to enter the kingdom of heaven. I was
visiting with a friend as an overnight guest. This illustrates what I'm meaning by this aspect, this
critical and dynamic aspect of imagination. I was visiting with this friend as an overnight guest.
In the morning, I was sitting in the living room, reading the morning paper. And this little boy,
who was just learning how to ride his kiddie card, rode in, and stopped his kiddie card at my feet,
and said, Mr. Thurman will you please help me change my tire? I just had a blow out.
So I put the newspaper down. I helped him. Jacked up his car, and we went through the etiquette
of changing the tire. And then we put the jack away, and he got in his car, and stepped on the
starter. But the motor wouldn't turn over.
Then he pulled out the choke and nothing happened. So he got out and walked around, raised the
hood and tinkered on that side and the other side. Then got back on the car and stepped on the
starter. But the motor wouldn't turn on.
And I didn't want to watch him to too directly. I kept him in my side view, and I noticed that his
shoulders tightened, and a grim look came in his tender, pre-adolescent face. And out of his
mouth, I heard language that belonged to a sort of village barber shop or something.
He was using the words that he'd heard his father use under such circumstances. And still, the
motor wouldn't turn over. So he got out of the car, and came over to me, and he said, Mr.
Thurman, do you have a pencil? I said, yes. I gave him my pencil. He took the pencil, walked
around behind his car, took the top off the tank where the gas belonged, and put the pencil down
in the tank. And he held it up and said, ah, the tank is empty. No wonder.
So he went out into the kitchen, asked his mother for a glass of water. Came back, sat on his
kiddie cart, drank the water, started his motor up. And it still wouldn't start.
[LAUGHTER]
Now, this is what I'm talking about. A sensitive, self-projection that enables you to put yourself
utterly in another context, in another individual's living stuff, and make soundings from inside
there, and report these soundings back to inform the quality of your own mind and your own
understanding, and desensitize the impact of your own gospel. This is what I'm talking about.
And if you're wooden-headed, you can't do it. Our Master had this gift in its most supreme
dimension. So sensitive was He in his spirit, and the living quality of His being that he seemed
more and more to stand inside of light. When you read the Gospels, this is the thing that comes
through.
He seems to stand inside of light, looking out upon it as a man who gazes from a window in a
room out into the yard and beyond to the distant hills. He could feel the sparrowness of the
sparrow, the leprosy of the leper, the blindness of the blind, the crippleness of the crippled, and
7
�Pitts Theology Library
The Howard Thurman Digital Archive
Transcription
thurman.pitts.emory.edu
the frenzy of the mad. He could feel these. He became joy, sorrow, hope, and anguish to the
joyful, the sorrowful, the hopeful, the anguished.
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
It is the preacher's gift of imagination that enables him to make available to his heroes the
outpourings of his compassionate spirit, his tender heart, and his understanding mind. At such
moments of outpouring, the word becomes flesh. And he shares with God in the great work of
healing, redeeming, and blessing.
But the gift goes beyond the personal and the private. It provides the brooding quality to the
mind, as the mind brings into focus the conditions in the world. Conditions which make up the
social climate in which he and his people live. Here, the gift takes on a different character. The
tool in the hands of the imagination is what may be called a sense of fact. It is TS Eliot in his
essays on literary criticisms that suggest that the literary critic must have a sense of fact, with
reference to an increasingly wide area of fact.
This is what I'm suggesting. That at the core, this gift of imagination must be this sense of fact.
And I think sense of fact as contrasted at the moment with a sense of reality. In addressing
himself to the times in which he and his people are living, he must take pains to know what he's
talking about. Wherever possible, his information must be first-hand. He must not lean too
heavily upon authorities unless, in his judgment, they have won the right to be authorities.
This means steady investigation, reading, digesting. And this takes time. It is the preacher's sense
of fact that is the raw material, which his gift of imagination uses to discern the hand of God at
work in the world of men and faith. Therefore, he is not a preacher or a declaimer of rumors, of
heresays, of gossips, or fads which feed the neuroses, the fears, and the prejudices of his people.
Always, his first question has to be-- and this is particular-- what are the facts?
We must be reminded that rumors and gossips are facts also. They must be judged or interpreted
by other facts, but are never to be discarded as a part of unreality with which the minister deals.
Modern life is so complex that a sense of fact with reference to government, politics, war, peace
is very hard to come by. Therefore, a man has to settle for selected authorities, upon whom he
must depend for certain hard facts concerning contemporary science.
Once he is satisfied at this point, then he must interpret their meaning in the light of the
illumination that comes from the gospel of God. The miracle of holy insight that pervades the
brooding mind of a man who seeks to understand the will and the purpose of God as revealed in
the events in the world of man and nature is the special grief that comes to the preacher who has
put his mind and life at the disposal of God. All of this is to say that the preacher must address
himself to the problems of the day under the aspect of the eternal. In his interpretation of these
problems, he must remain true to his calling and to his dedication.
In addition to the gift of imagination, nourished always by riding sense of fact the preacher must
have another gift, the gift of intimacy. It is in the exercise of this gift that the minister's role as
teacher, guide, and reassurer finds most creative fulfillment. The worship service is the setting or
the context in which this gift may be most effectively expressed again and again. For it must
never be forgotten that the central moment of celebration of the human spirit is the worship of
God.
8
�Pitts Theology Library
The Howard Thurman Digital Archive
Transcription
thurman.pitts.emory.edu
The service of worship is a collective and binding act of shared celebration. The sermon is, at
once, then, in this context, the lung through which the worship service brings one breath. When
this is achieved, the worship will sense that in the spoken word, all the meaning that they had
been experiencing up to that point is made uniquely and available to each his own private
insight. And this is the miracle of preaching.
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
I'm not saying that the function of the sermon in the worship service is to confirm prejudices or
idiosyncrasies, and to make a sacrament of triteness, mediocrity, or bigotry. No, it is simply to
say that the sermon belongs to the worship service and must, in many ways and at many levels,
confirm the human spirit in its great quest for meaning, for significance, and for intentional
living.
I repeat, the highest act of celebration of the human spirit is the experience of the worship of
God. It is the moment of all moments when the worshipper images himself in the presence of his
god, when he has a sense of encounter with the supreme object of his devotion, and the ultimate
ground of his self-respect is now authenticated.
In such an experience and in such a moment, he is not a Unitarian, a Trinitarian, a Methodist, or
Baptist, a theist, or atheist, male, female, black or white, capitalist or communist, good or bad,
but a human spirit laid bare, in vital touch with what he recognizes as the god and creator of his
spirit. It is as if the tidal wave of communal fellowship, which he experiences in the congregation
cast him up to the surface, and he stands there alone with his god.
I bring this discussion to a close and by some reflections on the sermon itself. The sermon is the
distillation of the thinking, reading, observation, brooding, and meditation of the preacher. The
assumption is that in his privilege, it is his privilege to withdraw from the traffic of life
periodically and regularly in order that he may take the kind of long, hard look at the world, the
society, his fellows, and speak the authentic word, which will stimulate the mind and form, even
as he kindles the emotions and inspire his fellows with a sensitivity to the presence of the living
God.
He is a part of the company of his fellows, making the same journey along the same way as they,
which is their journey and their way. But he has a particular task and a particular responsibility.
He must get bearings concerning the road ahead.
9
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Dilemmas of the Religious Professional, Hester Lecture Series (1971, Golden Gate Seminary, Strawberry, CA)
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Howard Thurman
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1971
Description
An account of the resource
“Dilemmas of the Religious Professional” is a four-part lecture series by Howard Thurman focused on the religious professional who is distinguished by a sense of divine calling and unique challenges. The lectures address the uniqueness, duties, prayers, and words of persons elected into religious professions.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Descriptions by Dr. Tim Rainey
AudioWithTranscription
Audio that is shown through the 3Play Media embedded interactive transcript
Audio with Transcription
<iframe width="100%" height="820" frameborder="0" src="/files/players/394-294_A.html" ></iframe>
Location
The location of the interview, speech, lecture, or sermon
Golden Gate Seminary, Strawberry, California
Time Period
The decade in which the recording was produced.
1970s
Original Title
Title as transcribed from tape cassette
Dilemmas of Religious Professional (IV) (Hester Lecture) [Side A], 1971 Feb 12
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
394-294_A
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Thurman, Howard
Title
A name given to the resource
Dilemmas of Religious Professional, Part 4, 1971 February 12
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1971-02-12
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/rp8k9">MSS 394</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
audio
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
<a href="http://pitts.emory.edu/">Pitts Theology Library, Emory University</a>
Description
An account of the resource
In the final lecture, Thurman transitions from his meditations on inwardness to a more technical discourse regarding the uses of language by the religious professional. Recognizing the limits of language, he discusses the transcendent meaning of the Gospels whose wisdom must be communicated with the least amount of interference from the speaker. The minister’s speech must then participate in what Thurman calls the “community [or “continuum”] of meaning.” As a beacon of the collective experience of God, the religious professional sees the road ahead for humanity and thus becomes an agent of redemption.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
GEOMETRYCOLLECTION(POINT(-13637365.795771 4563241.023354))
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/"><img style="border-width:0;" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc/4.0/80x15.png" alt="80x15.png" /></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License</a>. 2019.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Description by Dr. Tim Rainey
experience
Hester Lecture
imagination
intimacy
minister
speech
-
http://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pittsthurman/original/429c8bca82ae21b82e3dd7799f68a9e2.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAI4CD764Y635IGLNA&Expires=1711672800&Signature=glf28K5ZonNDKSNlscMwijpbXBI%3D
7d275616386144637910769691f54058
PDF Text
Text
Pitts Theology Library
The Howard Thurman Digital Archive
Transcription
thurman.pitts.emory.edu
394-230_B.mp3
My words cry out to give their hearts away. Each has its story and comes from afar. Again and
again, I seek my way with them, to ring them round with well kept secrets known to me, to me
alone.
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
Sometimes, they are willing carriers of private ends, spending their strength in missions not their
own. Sometimes, they rebelled against the quality of my need, and force their way into another's
heart, betraying the secrets I would not share. Sometimes, the full sweep of urgency frightens all
speech, leaving me bruised and shaken.
My words cry out to give their hearts away. The integrity of the word. Where may it be found? Is
it meanings the word has gained from all its wanderings through the wilderness of sounds, in
many lands in far off places? Is it the self-offering of the word to the honest seeker after truth,
that it may blend its secret with the deep resolve? Is it something outside the word, some
meaning a man would share beyond the word itself? Or is there only the integrity of the man?
To domesticate the word. To save God it's character. To purge the violence from its face. To
allow no service that defiles, degrades. To make it one with truth, to fill it with the pure intent.
This is to make the word the sacrament, the [? angelos ?] of God. This is the breath of life that
makes man, man. For there is not a word in my tongue, but lo, thou knowest it all together.
There is no miracle greater than the miracle of human speech. Think of it. Out of all the various
sounds that one hears in the world, certain sounds have been limited, proscribed, given a certain
shape and form, in order to convey meaning. Something that is invisible, something that is
soundless, so that when a certain sound meets the ear, this sound conveys to the mind the intent
of the person who uses the sound, who makes the noise, so that the integrity of the maker of the
sound is at stake in the content which he gives to the words which he uses.
Words are the gifts of God to man for communication. There is the quality and a meaning and a
history that words-- all of them-- carry. And it is against the background of the use of a word that
the meaning of a word is conveyed to the hearer at the time that the word is spoken.
For instance, the word "I love you" may convey to the listener meanings that fill the heart with
wonder and beauty and reverence, that lift the whole life into a new dimension of significance,
that confers upon the individual a new sense of weight and wholeness and delight. Or, the same
words spoken under certain other circumstances may depress, may give to the individual a
feeling that he's being outraged, that his emotions are being abused.
The words "guilty" or "not guilty" to the prisoner at the bar convey a whole universe of discourse
which is piled into the one word, "guilty." When he hears it there stretches out before him years,
months of the worst kind of involvement. Of imprisonment, or perhaps even death.
But the word that is used is just a single word. But there is a content, a meaning in the word, that
transcends all of the present moment, and all of the present experience. So very true is this in the
use of words in terms of the kind of meaning that children, for instance, give to the world.
1
�Pitts Theology Library
The Howard Thurman Digital Archive
Transcription
thurman.pitts.emory.edu
Some years ago, a friend of mine in Canada sent me a poem that carried a very dramatic story
that illustrates what's in my mind. It seems that a little girl became very ill with a curious and
rather mysterious blood disease. And the only cure for this was the transfusion from someone
who had had the disease, but was now well.
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
It happened that her little brother had had this disease. So the doctor asked him if he would give
his blood for his sister. And there was a long hesitation. Quivering lips. And a tragic look in the
eye. And then it lightened, and there was a smile. And he said, yes, doctor. I will give my blood
for my sister.
The transfusion was made. And at the end, the little boy said to the doctor, Doctor, when do I
die? Because he thought that in giving his blood for his sister, that it meant giving his life. And
the quivering lip, and the look in his eyes, in that split second, he made the great decision.
Now if words are our very important vehicle for communication, it must be remembered that
perhaps long before man learned how to speak, how to use words, they communicated with each
other at a deeper level of relatedness. And this is important.
For instance, you have a friend. And in the early days of your friendship, you used many words
to communicate. You talked a great deal. As soon as you got together, you began talking. You
shared. And you shared by the medium and the use of words. And the words are created with all
kinds of overtones of meaning and significance.
But as the relationship deepened and widened, as the quality of relatedness becomes more and
more profoundly into mesh, then you discover that you don't have to use so many words. One
look conveys meaning greater than any words you can use.
Another illustration of the same idea is that when our feelings become vast, we usually become
inarticulate. Our thoughts seem to drop into a kind of continue of feeling which is greater than
the words. So that with all the time are message is something more than the word itself can
contain, even when the word is doing its best.
Now, when we use words carelessly, when we do not put integrity in words, when we use words
to cover up the thing that we are feeling, to keep the listener from finding out what is going on
inside of us, then we go profane the words, and we do not then enter into the meaning of the
words of the Psalmist.
"There is not a word in my tongue, not a word in my tongue, but lo, oh, Lord. Thou knowest it
all together."
He means there is not a word that I use that is not an honest word, for what I mean, I say. And
what I say, I do. This is what the Psalmist is talking about.
2
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Featured Thurman Recordings
Description
An account of the resource
This collection highlights individual lectures, sermons, interviews, prayers, and meditations given by Howard Thurman throughout his professional career.
AudioWithTranscription
Audio that is shown through the 3Play Media embedded interactive transcript
Audio with Transcription
<iframe width="100%" height="820" frameborder="0" src="/files/players/394-230_B.html" ></iframe>
Internal Notes
Notes for project team
Edited transcript; Angelus. (This might be similar to another transcript) - GL 5/22/19
Time Period
The decade in which the recording was produced.
1960s
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
394-230_B
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Thurman, Howard
Title
A name given to the resource
Thou Knowest it Altogether, 1960
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1960
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/rp8k9">MSS 394</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
audio
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
<a href="http://pitts.emory.edu/">Pitts Theology Library, Emory University</a>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/"><img style="border-width:0;" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc/4.0/80x15.png" alt="80x15.png" /></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License</a>. 2019.
Description
An account of the resource
In this presentation, Thurman discusses the integrity of human speech. Words embody meanings communities attribute to them and become the basis of the verbal articulation of thought. While words inadequately convey the vastness of all that a person is capable of feeling, human speech must strive for honesty so that what we say reveals rather than conceals who we are.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Description by ShaCarolyn Halyard
integrity
language
speech
words