Th-Th-Th-That's All Folks!

harbarger theory: stuttering stinks, I don't care if you are a king.

What do Porky Pig, Max Headroom, Michael Palin, Mel Tillis, King George VI and Joel Harbarger have in common? We all have ears. Oh yeah! And we all stutter.

I'm a stutterer. Like all these famous folks, I'm a stutterer. I can't remember NOT being a stutterer. So is my oldest brother. Maybe I should blame it all on him!!!

I hesitated for a long time about going to see "The King's Speech." Actually, BECAUSE I'm a stutterer, I didn't want to watch another stutterer struggle through his stuttering in public and vicariously share in his humiliation. I like Colin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter and I REALLY like Geoffrey Rush, but I find it painful to watch another person stutter. Really, really painful.

But, everybody (except Sue) told me that it was wonderful, so I felt like I had to go. We did. It was wonderful. And it was painful. But, it's a great way for stutterers to share with other people how it feels to stutter. The shame, the anxiety, the stares and the averted glances, the cajoling "Just spit it out!" We experience all of it. It's not fun.

Colin Firth did a great job in playing the part. He evidenced the inner anxiety and the physical tension in simply trying to get the words out. Actually, the way Firth played King George VI, I stutter the same way. Some call it stammering, but we get blocked and just can't get the @#$%^& words out. My brother sort of bounces the sounds (like Porky Pig or Max Headroom), but I get stuck and can't get it out.

I thought the movie was excellent and I hope it wins Best Picture and Colin Firth gets Best Actor. But, more than that, I hope that more people learn a bit about us stutterers and learn that we are not stupid because we cannot speak fluently; that we are not "damaged goods" because we get stuck on some word; that we are not "handicapped" because our fluency is compromised.

As a Pastor, I have an obvious flaw. I am an imperfect vessel. But, aren't we all? Every single one of us have our problems. Mine just shows a bit more than other people's do. When I was a Youth Pastor (for 17 years!), I had more than one teenager tell me that my stuttering made me seem more real, more approachable. I appreciated that. I wonder what I would be like if I didn't stutter?

But, I'd give up my stuttering in a minute if I could. It would be gone, gone, gone. But, this is not my lot. Like the Apostle Paul who prayed for his "thorn in the flesh" to be removed, but God chose not to grant that prayer, I have learned that this is a part of me.

So, I embrace it. I stutter. I shuffle words around to ones I can say. I carefully choose my words. Although attracted to it, I chose not to even TRY to be a disc jockey ... or an auctioneer ... or a band announcer. But, I do choose to honor my calling to preach most every week, to speak in public when it's appropriate, to counsel, to chat, to be with people. Athough it IS embarassing at the moment when I stutter, I'm not ashamed of being a stutter any more than I am ashamed of being 6 feet tall. It's who I am.

So, go see The King's Speech. Watch the painful process that King George VI went through to fulfill his calling, his destiny. Then, appreciate the giftedness of those around you who stumble through their speech and who still stand up and do what needs done.

But ... stuttering still stinks.

harbarger theory: stuttering stinks, I don't care if you are a king.