Do You Have an Accent?

I love accents. From the broad sound of the Scots to the Irish, from the eloquence of a refined Londoner to the colorful rhythm of working-class Cockney—each one is captivating. Then there’s the distinctive charm of the Australian accent and the rich, melodic tones of the American South, especially in Alabama and Louisiana. It’s amazing how many different ways there are to say the same words. It leaves me in awe of God’s creative hand. Yet, most of us don’t think we have an accent. Accents are always something that other people have.

“It’s amazing how many different ways there are to say the same words. It leaves me in awe of God’s creative hand. Yet, most of us don’t think we have an accent. Accents are always something that other people have.”

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I was speaking with a credit card company recently, and the male operator asked where my accent was from. After I said I was originally from New Zealand, he said, “If you want to pick up a lady, that’s the accent you need.” I told him I would mention that to my wife.

What’s even stranger about accents is that when I read something written by someone I’ve heard speak, I read it in their particular accent. I can hear their voice as I read.

Such is the case with a good friend named Tom Hammond. Tom’s Southern accent is as broad as a boardwalk. It is so wonderfully thick that when I talk to him on the phone, I hardly listen to a word he’s saying because I’m captivated by how he says it.

Every Sunday morning, he sends a short Bible blurb to me and my friend Todd Friel via text. Being accident-prone and having foot-in-mouth disease, I particularly appreciated one about Peter and wanted to share it with you, on the condition that you try to read it in Tom’s deep Southern accent (if you can):

“As embarrassing as it is to admit, we’ve all made fools of ourselves at one time or other. Whether it was in a relationship, a bad money decision, or even something as well-intended as trying to be witty, we’ve all said or done something at some point we’d take back a thousand times over if given the chance. Unfortunately, life usually doesn’t work that way, and the effects of our foolishness can sometimes be permanent.  But on the other hand, sometimes they’re not.

“Take the Apostle Peter. I suppose no person in the Church’s 2,000-year history has puzzled more people more often than Peter. Oh, don’t get me wrong. When Peter got it right, he got it right all over. But when he got it wrong, whew, it’s hard to imagine how he could have gotten it worse.  Simply put, Peter proved time and again what happens when you mix rash courage with a foot-shaped mouth. But he also proved something else.

“Peter was a living testimony to what God can do with a person who has the right kind of persistence fueling the right kind of passion.

“Peter was the leader of Jesus’ band of twelve—a giant among giants if you will—and it was no less than he who shouldered the biggest burden in getting the Church off and running.

“Maybe there’s a lesson in Peter’s life for all of us. Maybe God is teaching us things in our failures we couldn’t otherwise learn in our successes. After all, God has promised that those who seek Him (in truth) will find Him, but He never said we wouldn’t have to look in some pretty painful places…”