Column: When my faith is a quart low
By Dwain Walden [email protected] Jan 12, 2018
MOULTRIE, Ga. — There are a couple of commercials on television where they use the “faith fall” to make their point. Well actually I don’t think they make a point with this gimmick, but it does get one’s attention for a few seconds.
If you don’t know, a “faith fall” is where someone stands on a table with his back to a group of people, hopefully his friends. He crosses his hands over his chest and falls backwards. And they are supposed to catch him.
Well, being a long time in the newspaper business, I would not do that. I’ve stepped on too many toes along the way, and I don’t have the kind of faith that would convince me to do this. Now I do have faith, but not in this regard.
For instance, I have faith that we have enough sane minds in Washington that we won’t push a button on North Korea in pre-emptive posturing. I also have faith in our defense systems that if the little man with the big ego should fire one of his Roman candles in our direction, our devices would intercept it, hopefully just off the coast of North Korea. Now in some instances, I just “hope.” I think there’s a difference between “hope” and “faith.”
Now the “faith fall” has been around for quite some time. I remember as a kid this thing was used at church youth revivals to illustrate Christian faith. I never volunteered. I guess my faith was a quart low at that point. And besides, I saw too many times where someone tied a slip knot in the Tarzan vine down at the swimming hole.
I’ve seen this device and others used in workshops and seminars through the years. I detest workshops and seminars where professional “motivators” are brought in to apply a bunch of kids’ games. Mostly their aim is to promote “teamwork.” Look, I’m an adult. Just give me the information I need in plain English, and I can go with it. Wine and dine me if you want to, but hold the “role playing.”
Once I was at a weeklong workshop in Phoenix, Ariz. This troupe of professional “motivators” had us doing all sorts of silly stuff. At one point we were to stand up from our tables and try to step on each others’ feet. More than a hundred of us were stomping around in that meeting hall. A stranger would have thought he was at an exterminators’ convention, and we were exploring the best ways to kill a roach. I’m so glad a video of that moment never went public. And apparently no one had an ingrown toenail.
I’ve just never been impressed with gimmickry. I prefer life straight up and to the point.
Now don’t get me wrong, I like to have a good time. Like I said, wine me and dine me if you want to, but save the antics.
Now back to that “faith fall” thing. I’ve seen performers at concerts do a similar gimmick. They would do a swan dive off the stage into the arms of their fans. Now my guess is, they had a couple of strong stage hands in that mix, just in case. If I were standing near the stage and a body came flying “spread eagle” at me, I’m not really sure I would try to catch it or just run out of the way. And if I feel that way, I’m sure there are others with those same mixed feelings. Better pay those stage hands really well!
I’m not sure why a performer would do this in the first place. Maybe it’s a distraction from the fact that he was singing in the key of “G” and the band was playing in the key of “C”. I dunno.
While some people have a bucket list of things they want to do before their journey’s end. I have a list of things I won’t do. They include the “faith fall,” being in a male beauty pageant and never again being in a dunking booth. (Though I did make that event a lot of money.)
Dwain Walden is editor/publisher of The Moultrie Observer
By Dwain Walden [email protected] Jan 12, 2018
MOULTRIE, Ga. — There are a couple of commercials on television where they use the “faith fall” to make their point. Well actually I don’t think they make a point with this gimmick, but it does get one’s attention for a few seconds.
If you don’t know, a “faith fall” is where someone stands on a table with his back to a group of people, hopefully his friends. He crosses his hands over his chest and falls backwards. And they are supposed to catch him.
Well, being a long time in the newspaper business, I would not do that. I’ve stepped on too many toes along the way, and I don’t have the kind of faith that would convince me to do this. Now I do have faith, but not in this regard.
For instance, I have faith that we have enough sane minds in Washington that we won’t push a button on North Korea in pre-emptive posturing. I also have faith in our defense systems that if the little man with the big ego should fire one of his Roman candles in our direction, our devices would intercept it, hopefully just off the coast of North Korea. Now in some instances, I just “hope.” I think there’s a difference between “hope” and “faith.”
Now the “faith fall” has been around for quite some time. I remember as a kid this thing was used at church youth revivals to illustrate Christian faith. I never volunteered. I guess my faith was a quart low at that point. And besides, I saw too many times where someone tied a slip knot in the Tarzan vine down at the swimming hole.
I’ve seen this device and others used in workshops and seminars through the years. I detest workshops and seminars where professional “motivators” are brought in to apply a bunch of kids’ games. Mostly their aim is to promote “teamwork.” Look, I’m an adult. Just give me the information I need in plain English, and I can go with it. Wine and dine me if you want to, but hold the “role playing.”
Once I was at a weeklong workshop in Phoenix, Ariz. This troupe of professional “motivators” had us doing all sorts of silly stuff. At one point we were to stand up from our tables and try to step on each others’ feet. More than a hundred of us were stomping around in that meeting hall. A stranger would have thought he was at an exterminators’ convention, and we were exploring the best ways to kill a roach. I’m so glad a video of that moment never went public. And apparently no one had an ingrown toenail.
I’ve just never been impressed with gimmickry. I prefer life straight up and to the point.
Now don’t get me wrong, I like to have a good time. Like I said, wine me and dine me if you want to, but save the antics.
Now back to that “faith fall” thing. I’ve seen performers at concerts do a similar gimmick. They would do a swan dive off the stage into the arms of their fans. Now my guess is, they had a couple of strong stage hands in that mix, just in case. If I were standing near the stage and a body came flying “spread eagle” at me, I’m not really sure I would try to catch it or just run out of the way. And if I feel that way, I’m sure there are others with those same mixed feelings. Better pay those stage hands really well!
I’m not sure why a performer would do this in the first place. Maybe it’s a distraction from the fact that he was singing in the key of “G” and the band was playing in the key of “C”. I dunno.
While some people have a bucket list of things they want to do before their journey’s end. I have a list of things I won’t do. They include the “faith fall,” being in a male beauty pageant and never again being in a dunking booth. (Though I did make that event a lot of money.)
Dwain Walden is editor/publisher of The Moultrie Observer
