Write a short essay titled, “This I Believe”. Here are its roots:
Edward R. Murrow was a famous radio and television journalist and commentator. His career blossomed during World War II when millions of people listened to his show. With the advent of television, he was a featured speaker on CBS news and was influential in the downfall of Joseph P. McCarthy, events that were reenacted in the 2005 film, with George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck.
In 1951 Murrow hosted a radio show, This I Believe, which broadcast the short statements of a whole range of people, famous and unknown, all of whom spoke about their most important beliefs.
The website, www.thisibelieve.org, describes the rebirth of this endeavor: “This I Believe, Inc., was founded in 2004 as a not-for-profit organization that engages youth and adults from all walks of life in writing, sharing, and discussing brief essays about the core values that guide their daily lives.” The new organization has published several books and has archived, on their website, over 90,000 of these essays.
Check the website to see what these statements are like. A few that I found quite interesting were written by Sarah Adams, Benjamin Carson, Isabel Allende, and Phyllis Allen. But you can search any number of essays on the site.
Some recommendations as you write them, as noted by the organization’s leaders:
- Frame your beliefs in positive terms
- Refrain from dwelling on what you do not believe
- Avoid restatement of doctrine
- Focus on the “I” of the title, i.e., you and your own personal beliefs
- Although you hold many beliefs, try to focus on one
- Aim for truth without accusation, patriotism without political cant, and faith beyond religious dogma
- Feel free to tell a story
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