Page:Psychology and preaching.djvu/145

Rh qualities or features of an object, and the mental image never reproduces these in full. If this be true of the single object, how much more true is it of situations and occurrences which involve several or many objects in their relations to one another? How mistaken it is, then, for a speaker in describing an object or a scene, or in relating an occurrence, to over-load his description or narration with a mass of details which even the attention of an observer would neglect as unimportant! He must select. He has use for only a few significant or "telling" details; and it is in the selection that the narrator shows his skill, or lack of it. He should first form a definite conception of the whole incident or history, its general meaning, and the particular meaning or lesson he purposes to draw from it; and then select the details with respect to that. It is an art of high order, and might almost as well be called the art of omission. And if the incident has been witnessed by the narrator, it involves the art of observation, in which men have very unequal skill.

It is possible for the narrator of an event to stir in a hearer who witnessed it a more definite, if not a more intense, emotion than the sight of it aroused; for the mind of the witness may have been confused or for some reason may have overlooked significant details, which the narrator brings to his attention. This leads us to consider a second qualification of the rule. The description of an object or the narration of an event is also its interpretation. Much depends upon the relative emphasis upon the details. Any occurrence may be related in such ways as to give very various impressions of its meaning and evoke quite different or opposite emotions. An artful narrator may emphasize really insignificant aspects of an occurrence and thus distort its real significance. Or, if stressing only significant aspects, he may over-emphasize some and under-emphasize others, and arouse a corresponding feeling. Therefore, conscientious speakers—and in this class all preachers certainly ought to be included—will, in seeking to arouse