Saturday, March 1, 2008

Wisdom in 22 words

I recently came across a blog (http://twentytwowords.com) written by Abraham Piper at Desiring God. The interesting thing about his blog, in addition to the fact that he seems to be related to John Piper, is that every post in the blog consists of exactly 22 words. It's amazing what he can communicate in so few words. I often blather on endlessly and say much less.

I think this is especially relevant as we progress through the seemingly endless process of electing our political leaders. What if we limited every campaign speech to only 22 words?

What if you tried to craft every prayer so it was exactly 22 words long? Would your communication with God be any better?

"Father, forgive me for the ways I've failed you again today. Grant me the desire to serve and the strength to obey."

Hmm, that might actually lengthen some of my prayers!

(I've put a link to 22 Words under "Blogland")

2 comments:

Electric Monk said...

Wow, what a cool thought. One of my main jobs at work is to work on clear, concise communication. This can be especially difficult in dealing with people who don't speak English that well. But I've become convinced that saying something in a few words takes a lot more skills and practice than being able to say the whole thing in a lot.

And yes, I know it took me 63 words to say that, so let me say it in six: "Brevity is the soul of wit." (Shakespeare)

Bill Hensley said...

Even better than making it short is making sure you have something worthwhile to say, whether it is twenty-two words or not.