I started to write this piece to explain why I write.

“Why do I write?” I asked myself.

Good question, I thought, and immediately sermons came to mind.

A good sermon-giver often has numbered points and those numbered points often start with the same letter – to help you remember what the preacher said when you rush out afterwards for Sunday brunch (we know you were thinking about lunch at church). At the restaurant, someone is going to ask: “What did Brother John say?” If Brother John ordered his points and used the same starting letter to alliterate and reinforce your memory, you may remember the words and quite impress the table company with your theological acumen.

The “FIVE E’s” are: 1. Express, 2. Entire, 3. Entertain, 4. Encourage and 5. Excite.

That’s why I write. I think it’s why anyone does what they love to do.

#1, Express: I, like you, want to express myself. I want to let others know how I feel about things, life, the news, colors, numbers, the cold I had last week, and what my Grandmother told me all those years ago that just popped into my head. The first “e” is Express, because we all need to do it, and we should. We need to express who we are and what we’re about.

#2, Entire: The second “e” is Entire, because, quite simply, we do what we do to be complete. We each have a nudging feeling of incompleteness, like when the TV show stops and the commercials start, we know there is something more, and we feel compelled to wait and see. The wait-and-see is our need to be completed, to be finished, to be entire. That’s why we never stop looking for stuff to do, things to be better at — that rainbow just over the hill and around the bend that will answer all our dreams and make us perfect. Of course, we never find perfection, but we never stop seeking. And, when we find something we love to do and we know we want to do it, we go head-and-sinker overboard to get better at it, to make-or-break, to sink-or-swim, to be-the-best and show-the-world. That’s why I write. To some extent, I think it’s why we all do what we do – to be Entire.

#3, Entertain: Selfishness will only get you so far. The first two “e’s,” necessary though they be, are I-centered e’s: I want to Express myself; I want to be Entire. Self-based motivation is absolutely necessary for a good jump off the line, but it will never carry you through to the finish. Now, we turn to the U-based e’s. I may not look altruistic, but I do know I can never do for myself if I don’t do for others. So, I write to Entertain you. I want to Entertain you. Without someone else involved and appreciating what I’ve done, there’s really no point in me doing anything – and certainly not what I love to do. We are social creatures. We must interact. Entertain is also the secret of the second “e,” Entire. Try as we might, we will never feel complete until someone else smiles back at us and says, “Well done.” We entertain because the buck does not stop here, it goes from me to you and back again. I must Entertain you to be Entire; I must Entertain to Express myself; and I must Entertain so that we together can be more than me.

#4, Encourage: Every once in a while, you learn a Secret of the Universe. This is a big one: Encourage. There is no greater motivator in the history of man and woman, and no greater return for your efforts. I write to encourage you, to bring a smile to your face, a quick step to your walk and a word to share with others. It’s a snowball effect. When you do something you love to do, those around you see it, they feel it, it brightens their lives, they are encouraged, and they share that warmth and energy with others, where it starts to roll, to gather mass and momentum, and pretty soon, you turn a corner, and SMACK – it hits you right in the face, knocking you down with a laugh and a smile and the realization: “I started that.” Yes, you did. Encouragement never returns empty-handed. It’s the gift we get by the Encourage we gave that comes back to Encourage us even more.

#5, Excite: As you lie there, knocked down by the snowball of Encourage-ment on the rebound, you feel it. I’m excited, you pinch yourself. Others are excited, your eyes widen. I feel great; I’ve got energy, you jump out, dazed and a bit light-headed. What happened? The Five E’s are what happened. You practice the first four (Express, Entire, Entertain and Encourage), and the fifth (Excite) is the bonus ribbon on the package for you and others. It’s not that you do what you do to obtain excitement. It’s that when you do what you do to Express yourself, to be Entire, to Entertain and Encourage others, the Excite just happens, and the energy will flow. There is no guarantee of good health, but if you practice the E’s, you will have done everything you can do. You will Excite and you will be Excited. Some might say it doesn’t get any better than that.

So, what was the sermon about?

Swallow, before you answer,

Grandpa Jim