Making an Impression or Making an Impact

“It is no use walking anywhere to preach

unless our walking is our preaching.”

~ Francis of Assisi ~

Actions do speak louder than words.  Not only louder, but clearer and truer.  Our behavior is more keenly who we are, while our words may simply be what we say we are.

The old axiom goes, "Say what you mean, and mean what you say."

Words are about making an impression.  Actions are about making an impact. 

In today's society, image is everything, or so we are constantly being told.  Dress for success.  Make an entrance.  Own the room.  Work it, work it, work it... but the "it" being worked isn't real.  It is just an impression, an image, a chimera.

I learned a little poem in Vacation Bible School many years ago, that I have never been able to forget, even during those times in my life when I would have liked to be able to ignore its plaintive message.  It went like this ....

What you are, speaks so loud

That the world can't hear what you say.

They're looking at your walk,

Not listening to your talk,

They're judging by your actions everyday.

Don't believe, you'll deceive

By claiming what you never knew.

They'll accept what they see,
And know you to be.

They'll judge by your life alone.

     (author unknown)

Sociologists tell us that we each have 17 people watching our lives.  I don't know who my seventeen folks are, but I truly do not want to lead them astray, or let them down.  Let us, then, be careful to walk our talk, rather than simply talking about the walk, or thinking about the walk, but never bothering to actually do the walking.
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Footnote:
A few years ago, while in Italy, we visited the village of Assisi where St. Francis lived and preached.  It is a beautiful hilltop village, but the terrain is steep.  I mean, makes-you-out-of-breath-to-climb-to-the-top, steep.  You would need to be a very disciplined and physically fit person to do any "walking and preaching" in that town.  But the view was worth the climb!