How Well You Show

It’s not how much you know, but how well you show what you know. So what do I know, and what qualifies me to tell you what I know? Well, I know well what I know; and coming from prison may not qualify me to tell you what I know, but it certainly should intrigue you to consider what I know. I know peace from a chaotic place. I know joy in misery’s company. I know liberty, though confined.
How many people know so much in principle, yet show so little in action? So for me personally, how can I know more and then give less? I’m committed to give what I know by living what I know. Example always trumps precept. Some may call that babel; I call it Bible!
Throughout my growing-up years, my mother often repeated this admonition: “Matthew, you may be the only Bible somebody reads today.” She knew more and just wanted me to be more. I cared less and that is why I gave less than my best. But what I know now isn’t because I know it all—it’s because I know well what it is my mom told me after all. I am the only Bible that many of my peers will ever read; and that’s not knowing it all, that’s giving my all to let others know.
How well do I know what I know? Well enough to show and tell without saying a word. It’s not easier said than done from this incarcerated position. The more done and less said becomes easier when acted out from a liberated position. And the only way to do more is to know more to show more. Knowing is showing.
It may be a challenge to get my peers to read their Bibles, but I can make it easier for them by challenging them to read me. My mother was right with what she told me long ago. She knew that if I lived to show what I know, then others would care how much I knew because my knowing would show them how much I cared.
I have learned that our example is the essence of how well we know what we know.
Consider my words for now for what they say about what I know or wait until my release to see how I show what I know. Like my mother told me: I may be the only Bible somebody reads, and I am committed to be a good read.
(ED. NOTE: The author and professional athlete of Court House is serving five-and-a-half years in state prison after pleading guilty in October 2009 to manslaughter and driving while intoxicated. His blogs have been read by over 500,000 people in every state, 121 countries, and in 67 different languages. You can learn more at .)