Rhetorically Speaking Series

Rhetorically Speaking

by

Dr. Gale A. Ragan-Reid

(February 11, 2021)

“Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.”(1 Samuel 3: 9-10, King James Version [KJV]).

Greetings in the Holy Name of Jesus Yahshuah,

My brothers and sisters, I come to you today with the same thoughts that came upon me yesterday and yesteryear yet I still say speak Lord, speak to me, rhetorically speaking, for my rhetoric grows in passionate remiss begging questions that just might not ever get considered much less answered by those who feel the power and authority of the populous to speak with the respect that mere rhetoric is what it is a plea for no more or less than consideration and not a call-to-action. I love the Lord; He heard my cry. Can I get a witness? Do you love the Lord?

I know my audience is drawing to the power of the word love used in a question. That word love—-draws and weakens the defense of a person having their guard up to protect oneself from the forces of the unknown for what could possibly happen in a large gathering or small gathering when the speaker pumps up the emotions of the people to consider not to respond yet you will hear folks cry out. Quite naturally as I feel the momentum of my words touching them as they cry, I repeat myself, I love the Lord; He heard my cry. Do you love the Lord? Now, you just might hear my audience—-everyone say phonetically, Yeah! I love the Lord.

Now, in rhythm, I will say, I love the Lord! The music might start and the folks start crying out, I love the Lord! What is it that was just done? Now, you might draw closer to your audience with body movements or hand gestures to make them feel a sense of familiarity or closeness to you while you keep them at bey; not wanting them to rush upon you to tell you all the good faith news about their secret love relationship with God Yahweh and their shared passion for Christ Jesus Yahshuah. Even, their battlefield of issues that burns them up leaving them needing you for your rhetoric reached them to the point they felt you could solve their problems—-answer the begged questions of despair.

How compelling is your rhetoric? Did your rhetoric force them to go beyond mere consideration-of-action-needed to a physical-call-to-action? How do you know when the case-by-case, individual actions of the past built up in your audience only needed a spark of your rhetoric to make each person springboard into a-physical-call-to-action? Well, when it happens that is the only answer to how do you know when your audience will walk on the wild side and go beyond mere degrees or movements in action to a-physical-call-to-action. In reflection you think to yourself, they did not force their urgings, inclinations, proclivities to springboard into action when the person on the highway threw rocks down upon the people driving on the roads below; they did not spring into action in the nightclub when the shootings rang out, they did not spring into action when the high school children hid behind walls and desks to not confront the shooter; they did not spring out into action at the elementary schools; they did not spring into action as a whole audience in the chambers of the town council meeting or the big city council meeting when the shooter came in shooting; they did not spring into action as a whole audience at the church’s Bible study when the shooter came in and sat with them before shooting to kill them. Why did the audience springboard beyond mere consideration of action as role play into an actual-physical-call-to-action and use the government of the our country’s legislative chambers as a battlefield?

Most definitely this was the role play of fantasy, unorganized and spur of the moment dark thoughts, I am going to do something. Let us look at how a speakers rhetoric might be the straw that broke the camel’s back or not. Is it fair to lay such a heavy weight at the feet of the speaker’s rhetoric? [“Common Rhetoric Examples

* How did this idiot get elected? – A rhetorical question to convince others that the “idiot” does not deserve to be elected.

* Here comes the Helen of our school. ...

* I would die if you asked me to sing in front of my parents. ...

* All blonds are dumb.

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