I AM the Witness
From the Spoken to the Printed Word
Beloved Mother,
In preparation for a forthcoming seminar my local study group is holding, it was necessary for me to listen to a dictation and simultaneously follow the text in a published Pearl of Wisdom. It had been some time since I had listened to and read a dictation simultaneously, and it was a revelation! I recommend that other students try it to see what I mean.
I know from my work in editing and transcribing that the wording which may be absolutely perfect for a speech given verbally often does not look right in printed form. They are two different forms of communication; and the verbal speech usually needs “translating” or transforming by means of editing (which sometimes may be quite extensive) in order to be perfect for the written form. There are many reasons for this, one being that what is perceived perfectly in the spoken message as an emphasis or pause or mannerism or subtle style of delivery is not apparent in printed form. Therefore greater clarification may be needed, or a total rearranging of the sentence structure.
We your students know of the dictations you deliver year by year, of your counseling, of the calls you make daily, and of the books you have yourself written. But my recent “listen and read” experience reminded me that one of your very, very greatest callings in this life is the regular publication of the Pearls of Wisdom in order that the Masters’ words may be preserved in perfect form, solidly in print.
I am now so reminded that this is hardly just a matter of your staff transcribing the dictations and you then okaying them! While the dictation I just reviewed was superb and perfect in spoken form, it is evident that under the Master’s guidance so much extra work has gone into rearranging the grammar and clarifying the message to make it more suitable for communicating in print.
I was prompted to write this evening just to thank you so much for what may often be an unsung or unrecognized mission, which you fulfill for us so regularly week after week, year after year unto the decades. Today through my study I witnessed just how much time and work you personally, with the Masters and the assistance of your staff, put into each and every printed Pearl.
Thank you—on my behalf, on behalf of all chelas, and on behalf of all posterity!
A chela
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