Dear Presidential front-runners:
It is about words!
Life is shaped, directed, given meaning -- and in some traditions, even created -- through words.
Words evoke images and emotions. Imaginations are kindled; they speak to wishes granted and wishes gone awry. Words, as well as their tones, can inspire, insult and inform.
Words created unforgettable pictures when uttered by the 8th century Biblical prophets, the gospel writers, the F.D.R. presidency and the civil rights leaders of the 1960s and '70s.
Words, crafted in the crucible of credibility and delivered with candor, challenge the listener (or reader) to ponder possibilities and potentials. If you share your deepest truth -- not your rhetoric -- I will examine and share mine. If you promise me the moon, I will quickly shift my focus to the speaker with his/her feet on the Earth.
Promise me prosperity and peace in the face of the 2008 real politic ... and I will hear pulp and pandering. Belittle your opponents -- Republican or Democrat -- and I will sense your frustration and lack of vision.
I know you can't "bring the troops home" in six months without reversing the reality that is -- or creating a scenario that is more precarious than the present. And you and I know a "plan" is only as viable as the women and men who stand up in Congress to assure its viability in our land. Experience does not trump vision; nor is the opposite true.
Show me your hunger, not only for the presidency, but for the betterment of our people and my ears will open. Show me your humanity and humility and my heart will open.
Pick your words so as to paint me a picture that is not only passion or shadows, persuasion or platitudes and you will capture the most responsible aspects of my being. Show me what is real and achievable and worthy of my commitment and the country's struggle, and I will count the days until I can cast my vote.
For almost 40 years I have labored to elevate lives while working with the power of words. I know the words that stir and motivate, and those that calm and soothe. I speak differently to the bride than I do to the widow. A lecture is crafted differently than is a sermon.
The hard-earned lesson of my years is truth and respect for the one who hears or reads my words -- and for the one before whom I must account for my choices.
With deepest respect,
Albert M. Lewis
Albert M. Lewis is rabbi of Congregation Beth El in Traverse City. He can be reached care of the Record-Eagle.
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