My first rhetoric declamation paper

“Please. . . please… please… Get up off your knees.” Booyah! You need to stop praying. This is from the chorus of U2’s song “Please.” It’s from their album “Pop”; if you haven’t heard of it it’s probably because (ironically) it’s not one of their more popular albums. In this album, Bono took the strategy of addressing his listeners in the second person. This is the musical equivalent of preaching. It’s one thing to be criticized for swearing, drinking too much, or not tithing. I can understand that. It’s another to be hammered for praying. So, is Bono being fair? We can say with certainty that praying to the Father (in general) is a good thing. In this case, I don’t think Bono is really saying that we should stop praying. His point is a very good one. He is in effect pleading that it is not enough to say, in the language of the Book of James, “Go in Peace, be warmed and filled.” It’s easy for us to get on our knees and pray that someone else would help those poor starving children in Africa. But if we really want to see a change in the world we must first become the arms and legs of Christ in the world. As arms and legs we must feel the needs and pains of the body and respond with both sympathy and action. This is hard, but it is our Christian calling. Let’s get off our knees, and do some good.

So, this was my first original composition for my freshman rhetoric declamations for NSA. My delivery wasn't quite as good as I had hoped that it would be; probably because I had only gotten 3 hrs. of sleep the night before and by that time I was exhausted. It wasn't terrible, but I apparently was stiff and did something weird with my knee (probably my left, not quite sure).

Man, was that ever a long afternoon.