Bundle Information

Bundle:  “a collection of things, or a quantity of material, tied or wrapped up together.”

Dr. Soaries does this by using a list of related items, then using a repeated similar phraseology, and then piling them one upon another.

I have tried to visually depict how Soaries uses this repetitive pattern which bundles the related information packets.  As you actually listen to it (or watch it..see link at bottom), you will pick up this pattern quickly and easily.

(link to audio — full video link at botto —  DeForest Soaries — go to @8:24m mark)

but before she allowed me to get up and leave she said to me

“But things won’t always be that way.”

And she said that because

she knew that a thousand miles from where we lived there was a Baptist preacher named Martin Luther King Jr.

she remembered that in 1955 there was a seamstress named Rosa Parks

she understood that in 1960 the students in North Carolina would sit down at lunch counters until they could be served

she anticipated the march like the March on Washington with King would declare that in spite of all of the oppression that he was facing he still had a dream

and so my grandmother believed that there was somebody named King who would make life so much better –  that by the time our grandson became secretary of state, he could travel all over the world and never pack is lunch in a shoe box. – Never

and I – and I – and I’ve wondered I wondered all of my life.

How do you describe a person like that?

How do you describe a person who has a Ph D. By the time he’s twenty-five years old and instead of getting a lucrative job in a prestigious university he decides to go to jail fighting for other people’s rights.

How do you describe a person like that – who when he wins a Nobel Peace Prize -rather than taking all of the cash that comes with the prize and buying a nice big shiny car – he donates all of the money to the movement to help other people live better lives.

How do you describe a man like that

who – whose bombs – who house was bombed

and whose phone was tapped.

whose body was stabbed by what he called a demented woman in New York City

How do you describe a man whose life is dedicated to making a life so much better that although he only worked professionally for thirteen years but between 1955 and 1968 he turned this country upside down.

How do you describe a man like that – some describe him as a great orator, and he was. Even today when I listen to King’s voice, my goosebumps rise on my arms because it’s so inspiring and so compelling he just makes you want to do something for somebody but he was just an orator

Some described him as a great scholar, and he was a great scholar a graduate from high school at fifteen.  Graduated from college at nineteen. Which is why you have to listen to what he says and take him seriously because by the time he was twenty-five he was steeped in academia

I remember once – young folk –  when I was about your religion you know size Dr. King came to my hometown I didn’t know who he was – all I knew was that I was missing T.V. that night because my parents drag me he had his preacher.

And we were talking to each other

we were wondering how long we’d be there

we were making plans for having fun after a while

but then King stopped his speech and looked at us.

And he’s a young people let me tell you what my grandmother told me and he told us this poem I never forgot it

If you can’t be a highway, just be a trail.

If you can’t be the sun, be a star.

It isn’t about size that you win or you fail

Be the best of whatever you are.

And when you told us that poem it is endorsed the idea that a mind is a terrible thing to waste . . .

and although he never had

a blackberry

or an i Phone

or computer

or an iPad

although he never had video games

Dr. King could see the day when we would have to be

so intelligent

and so articulate

and so proficient

that not only

was he an activist

but he was a role model for intellectual excellence

but he was more than that.

He was a pastor of a church

and he had to baptize converts

he had to marry engaged couples

he had to bury those who had died

he had to preach sermons and teach the Bible

he was a great pastor

but he was more than that.

And if you really want to know

what it is – you can say about Dr. King and

what it is we can embrace from Dr. King and

what it is we can emulate about King –

You have to go into the introduction of King at the March on Washington.  It was on a Wednesday, April twenty-eighth, 1963 and there was some debate about who would speak when at the March on Washington  — you remember that march.

It was at that march that marked the king would declare that he had a dream

despite all of the sweltering heat of oppression in Mississippi

despite all of the inconveniences of segregation

despite all of the heartache and heartbreak that it caused to his people one hundred years after the Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation and black people was still treated like second-class people

Dr. King dare to ask I still have a dream.

But before he spoke A. Philip Randolph – the leader of that movement – the organizer at that march stood up to introduce Martin Luther King.

And he did not introduce him as a great activist although he was

he did not introduce him as a great orator which he certainly was

he did not introduce him as a great pastor

he did not introduce him as a great political leader

WHAT A Philip Randolph said — next speaker – will be the moral leader of this nation – Martin Luther King Jr.

And now in 2013

The question that each of us must answer is

who might qualify to be described as the moral leader of this nation —

No, let’s not even go that far –  Let’s ask the question who might qualify as being described as the moral leader of our state

No, let’s not even go that far – Let’s ask the question who might qualify being the moral leader of Hamilton Township.

Let’s not go that far who might qualify as being described as the moral leader of your . . .

school

or your ward

or your block

.

Bundle for . . . .

• variety
• historical review
• impact
• supplying contextual details

This same rhetorical technique can be used when it comes to biblical preaching.  Let’s give it a try — Here goes – off the cuff.

David . . . .  How would you define him

Would you define him as the youngest member of his family?  Indeed he was.  David was the youngest of seven sons.  While it may be part of what made him who he was, that is not what defines him.

Would you define him as a shepherd?  He was a shepherd and learned about shepherding on the hills of Bethlehem.  While that may be part of what him the person he was, that is not what defines him.

Would you define him as a skillful musician?  He learned to play the harp so effectively that he caught the attention of a palace servant.  He was so talented that he was summoned to the palace of Saul as a harpist.  While that was part of what made David a Psalmist, that is not what defined him.

Was he a “Giant Killer?”  Indeed, David could not understand why no one willingly faced down Goliath, and he himself stepped up and offered to be that man who fought Goliath with a sling and five smooth stones.  But that is not what defined David.

“One of the best of friends” — some would define David by the friendship and loyalty of David to Jonathan.  But he was more than that.

Would you define David as a great military leader? – the killer of 10’s of thousands Philistines – a servant of Saul with no ambitions for power or position over Saul . . . .

Here is how God defines David — “A man after my own heart!”

Once you have “the template” . . . .

1. a list (within a select portion of the speech)
2. related items (“David” is the related element)
3. repeated  / similar phraseology (“would you define David as”)
4. piling them one upon another

. . . . you can use this technique (along with all kinds of variations) with all kinds of biblical characters and/or passages. This rhetorical technique does not need to be reserved for a person or only a narrative portion of Scripture.  Let’s try it with a biblical concept — “God’s love.”

Where do you find God’s love . . . .

Would it be found in the incarnation — the coming of God into this world.  Surely when God moved from glory to our neighborhood into this world – that was an act of love – but it is not where you see His love in the boldest of reliefs.

Some would say it can be seen over and over during the 33 years of ministry where he was faced with the actions and words of men who disdained Him and His words.  The love of Jesus towards even His detractors and avowed enemies can be seen in His meekness towards them.   God’s love can be found there — in all kinds of situations of life — facing all kinds of people — walking with such a variety of disciples — loving even His betrayer — over years of ministry . . .

His love could be found at the grave of Lazarus – whom He loved and wept over.

You find His love in His compassion on those who were suffering physically, emotionally, socially, spiritually.

His love could be found in the closing days of His ministry – He loved His own until the end.

However, the Bible says that the greatest expression of His love can be found in His death — but in more than His death – but in the voluntary nature of His sacrifice — but more than that – in His voluntary sacrifice for His enemies . . . .

**Full video link