Christian Living

---

Larry Lilly's Letter Thursday October 11, 2007

This is the third program this week where the practice of criticism is the focus of the article. I have never met a person who thrives on criticism. I did read just this morning about a man who went to work at a new job. His superior was not aware of his background but was impressed with the quality and quantity of his work. One thing was unacceptable; the new whizbang was habitually late, not much, but late. The boss called him in and stated, "Mr. Smith you are doing an outstanding job, your ability to see the real problem and fix it is tremendous, the other workers look up to you. But, you must get over this habit of coming in a little late. I see that according to your resume you are a former Air Force man and certainly you know the importance of all team members being on time. While you were in the Air Force, what did they say when you came to work late?" Mr. Smith answered, "They simply said, 'Good morning General.'"

Unless your fellow workers greet you with "Good morning General" I recommend that you form the character habit of punctuality.

And did you notice the near sublime language of the former general's boss? Toastmasters calls it the "Sandwich Critique" because the first part is praise, the second criticism and the close complimentary or an appeal to character. The former general handled the critique well.

I never cease to be amazed at the childish tactics some folks use to criticize others and I am even more surprised at the infantile response of the one who is criticized.

When I was younger I went through a time of withering criticism. Much of it was grounded in truth and that hurts worse than a lie. I went whimpering to my Pastor at the time, Dr. Tom Wallace, and he listened as I went through my entire life story being sure to include every slight and nasty remark hurled at me up to that point in my life. He was wise enough to cut me off at the pass or we would still be sitting in his office. At just the right moment he looked me straight in the eye and said, "Larry, dogs do not bark at parked cars." He bowed his head, said a prayer and sent me on my weary way.

It took me about a week to decipher the meaning, and then one night when I should have been asleep the Lord took pity on my ignorance and sent the explanation to my puppy sized brain.

Dogs do not bark at parked cars, because the parked car presents no threat to the dog, and dogs as most animals are attracted by movement. Most of my critics, while not dogs, were in fact parked cars. They were not going anywhere then nor are they on any particular journey after all these years, they are just there, afraid that someone with far less natural ability is going somewhere. I do not recall ever hearing the good Doc's statement again until the other day as I worked on an article dealing with criticism I heard a voice drifting in from the TV in the other room stating, "Here in Wyoming we have a saying that has helped me over some real humps:



'Dogs do not bark at parked cars.'"



Larry Lilly Copyright (c) 2007 Use with credit

---

PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE