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 One
time I was in a meeting where the local preacher either thought very
highly of my work, or had read too many “Win Friends And Influence
People” books. (I like to think it was the former.) For several
nights he spent much time praising me, until I asked him to cease
and desist, saying, “I just can’t stand praise.”
The
next night he made a few reserved remarks, explaining, “Brother
Turner tells me "he has an intense dislike for praise.” That
was not so! He had misunderstood me because he was an outlander, and
did not know the American translation of my Kentucky speech. I had
said, being interpreted, “My system can’t take it. It swells my
head, I get to believing it, and then make a mess out of my sermon,
I can’t stand it.”
After
having a heat-stroke a fellow “can’t stand” much sun. A person
with a diabetic condition (sugar-diabetes, for those of that faith)
can’t “stand” molasses. (Poor soul!) Lots of folk “can’t
stand” prosperity-… they let it make a fool out of them—or
show them up for the fool they had kept hidden— but this doesn’t
mean they dislike prosperity. Oh no!
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Just
about everyone likes praise, although some may have learned from
bitter experience to distrust it and become a bit wary when it is
poured on thickly. And, genuine encouragement, expressions of
confidence, etc. help to build one’s self-respect and
self-confidence, without which we may fail to measure up to our
potential. Because we need some of this, and enjoy getting more than
we need, praise becomes a commodity that must be accepted with a
great deal of control. (Weight-watcher, do not look on pie!)
Some
Australians call Americans great “palaverers!”-- and they
dislike this trait. I agree with them. I think we could do with a
lot less back-slapping, syrup-pouring, compliment-as-a-policy
talking, and get our words of encouragement into a better “yea and
nay” frame, Of course, not everyone has a tender head like mine.
The
preacher was real thoughty. He said he understood what I meant now,
and would do better in the future.
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