Wait a minute ... Say What?

I recently picked up a little hymnal at church; you know the supplemental ones we “make” ourselves from other song books or borrow with credit from others?! Well, some of you know what I mean! LOL. As I casually flipped through the pages, a very old but familiar song caught my attention. Not so much the song, but a phrase from the song. The song was “It’s gonna rain”. I’ve heard sung by church choirs, on the radio, on TV, even preached in sermons. The phrase is “It’s gonna rain, it’s gonna rain, you’d better get ready and bear this in mind …” Wait a minute “bear this in mind”? Who put that in there!? That’s not right! It should be “better send mind”! Right?! I asked a few people, their response was yes “bear this in mind” (however I think they googled itJ). I asked a few more and they like myself said yeah … better ... send mind … (I could visualize the perplexed looks on their faces when they wrote it out). Sure enough though, those are the words “bear this in mind”. Hmmmm. I guess when you think of it, there are several words and phrases that are commonly mispronounced such as:

Acrossed instead of Across

Affidavid instead of Affidavit

Antartic instead of Antarctic

Bidness instead of Business

Blessing in the skies instead of Blessing in disguise

Card shark instead of Cardsharp

Doggy dog world instead of Dog-eat-dog world

And one of my favorites … Forte instead of Fort (look it up J)

So I asked myself, “how did it come to happen that after all these years of hearing and in some cases singing something, did I have it all wrong (or most of it anyway)? Let’s get a CLUE …

One thing that I’ve learned as a leader is that all too often, people will listen to and follow your instructions and directions, not so much because they are correct, but because they believe you to be correct. They believe that you have done your homework; put the necessary think time in; used the best resources at your disposal to come to the heavy conclusions you come to, etc. For the most part I agree that leaders should be given credit for their knowledge, expertise, and competence in their specialty. But it is also up to followers to really do what followers do … follow. I mean, follow the example of the leader. If he or she studies profusely, take the initiative to develop good study habits as well. If the leader is steeped in research and analysis, show your due diligence as well. The leader’s job is to “feed and lead” but it is the follower’s job to take in and digest it properly. Too often however, the followers knowledge base begins and ends with and only with, the dominate thought of the leader and very few times does he seek out for the meaning himself. Like with the song, he just listens, takes in, and assumes that is what it says even if it doesn’t make sense. Do you think “better send mind” makes sense … really? One person commented that they thought that it was something the old folks said that had some meaning that they were too young to understand. One thing that God has blessed each of us with is a mind with a billion or brain cells floating around in there. Let’s not be afraid to aks – ask - J some questions from time to time to see if what is said is really what is said. As leaders it is always our tasks to be clear, lucid, unambiguous, and explanatory. Make sure your people hear, read, and understand! And followers, before you repeat anything, sing anything, or teach anything, make sure you know what’s what.

You’ve been CLUEd