Quoted....Misquoted?

I was quoted in a story in yesterday's LA Times (click here to read). Just one nanosecond toward my 15 minutes of fame.

It's kind of interesting though. I talked to the reporter for about 10 minutes about my thoughts on a research study she was trying to summarize. Although she quoted me very accurately, it was just one sentence and didn't really capture the whole of what I was thinking about and trying to communicate. I was a bit frustrated because anyone who doesn't really know what I value might get the wrong impression about what I believe based on the way my quote was presented.

Then I had a spiritual insight, which I sometimes get at unusual moments. I started wondering if God sometimes feels like this. We humans often over-focus on specific things He says that we don't capture all of what He intends. And that one little thing that we communicate to others sometimes fails to represent Him as He should be known.

One of my colleagues who appears more frequently in print than I do, mentioned that he saw the quote. He understood immediately that I was quoted slightly out of context. Apparently he's experienced this before. He told me that every time he speaks in public, he is mindful of the possibility that his words could potentially be twisted. He said that I would just need a bit of practice learning how to monitor what I am saying to filter out the possibility of being taken out of context and to speak in small soundbites that represent complete thoughts. And again I think of the fact that if I have to be careful of what I say to represent UCLA well, so should I be careful in my speech and actions to represent Jesus well.

Clarice