Emphasis: A particular stress of utterance, or force of voice, given in reading or speaking to one or more words whose signification the speaker intends to impress specifically upon his or her audience. A particular impression or weight of thought; vivid representation, enforcing assent; as to dwell on as subject with great emphasis.
No matter what subject is approached the emphasis must be reached. Most oftenly each individual reads into the subject what they wish for the emphasis to be. Attitudes, past references and track records all provide the path of knowledge with which to make a supposition of what the author or speaker wishes the emphasis to be. Speeches and sermons are minimalized or maximized based on the hearer's perception of what the emphasis is upon.
A particular stress of utterance upon a portion of a sentence can be analyzed profusely. Whether correct or incorrect is not the quest. It is based on "did you just hear what I heard?" The force of voice given in speaking to one or more words causes the hearer to reach a conclusion simply based upon the inflexion in the speaker's voice. We all have heard the master's of the raised voice and the master's master of the quiet voice.
My father could take a deep breath and with jaw quivering cause the hair to raise on the back of a crowd of ten thousand people or bring a holy awe to the single individual. It was an emphasis. He was resonating with the feeling of the weight of the coming words waiting to avalanche into reality with the gush of resident wisdom he possessed. When asked a question he could look down at his shoes or peer off into the horizon and say a thousand words. There was no mistake of his emphasis. A shake of the hand and the words, "Blessings," uttered from his lips in that raspy voice could make you feel as though the whole world was in support of your project. He was a master of emphasis.
My mother could call me "Greg" all day in usual circumstances and common events. The radical change occurred when she cried with a loud voice saying, "Gregory Lee!" This statement had oceans of meaning and its waves crashed into the beach of the young mind. It was time to react. She had put the emphasis on the calling.
My sister could say " Gregory Lee" all day long. It meant nothing. She couldn't scare a fly with the mimicing of my mother's proclamation. She had no emphasis with which to bring about the conviction of reaction.
So what fuels 'emphasis?' What causes a reaction of a particular stress of importance to be reached? What vivid representation or enforcing assent of voice or writing causes an arrest of the human mind bringing about movement? How is that mother's can listen to the whimpering of a child and know when it is a cry that is to be attended to? What fuels 'emphasis?'
I must say that I believe it to be authority. The reaction to the voice or writing of a thing emphasized is fueled by the belief of the reader or hearer in the authority of the one speaking or writing. If there is no belief in the authority of speaker or writer all the 'emphasis' in the world will not move the situation into the realm of that which is emphasized. Herein lies the dilemna.
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Where is the 'emphasis?' Do you believe in John's authority to write this saying? Are you perishing or living in, headed toward everlasting life? It's all in the emphasis!
