Sunday, March 17, 2002
                                           

                   "You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working; in just the same way, you learn to love by loving." - St. Francis De Sales

                When I first began the weekly radio show, "The Way To A Wonderful Life," I didn't have much time to think about it before I went on the air.  I was approached to do the show and within three days I was on the air.  Since it was a call-in show, I developed material that would provoke comments and questions from the audience.  KRLA projected an audience of 20,000 plus for the show in Southern California.  The station didn't have any statistics for the "Live" Internet broadcast audience, but I knew that since RevBates.tv was already reaching a global audience, the Internet broadcast would automatically attract listeners from around the world.

               I have never had any training in either the radio or television fields, but I was confident in that I had been trained by Dr. O. C. Smith to know that a minister's voice is his/her most important tool.  Under Dr. O. C. Smith's instruction I had learned to use my voice effectively.  Initially I was "on the air" at 2:00 a.m. - now a good voice at 2:00 p.m. isn't necessarily a good voice at 2:00 a.m. - lots of times I went on the air tired and my voice was strained prior to going "live."  But, there was something within me that urged me on and I got used to the 2:00 a.m. early Monday morning routine.  I began to be very comfortable with it and I learned to take a nap late Sunday afternoon in preparation for it.  So it worked out pretty well.  But then, the station switched me to late, late Wednesday night/early Thursday morning at 1:00 a.m.  - I am in my office usually between 8 and 8:30 a.m. each day and I go to church on Wednesday nights and so there was not an opportunity for a nap.  So I began to be blessed with a 13-hour work day on Wednesdays.  I am writing "blessed" because if I look at it any other way, I may lose the blessing.  Still, there continued to be that something within me that persistently urged me on to be awake and alive after 12 hours of work and go on the air at 1:00 a.m.

            Most of the time the show receives very few calls.  I have had a few challenging ones, but by and large, the audience seems to be listening.  At first I began to question if anyone was listening since there were so few calls.  Then I began to meet people who told me they listen to me every week, setting their alarm clocks to get up for the show.  Then I heard from people who couldn't get on KRLA's newstalk870 web site because the server was too busy.  After each show, my prayer requests almost doubled and the traffic on my web site increased considerably, especially outside of Southern California.  Then KRLA started simultaneously broadcasting the show on KRLH 590 which expanded the Southern California audience considerably.  If you look at a map of Southern California the coverage area is Ventura to San Diego to Indio, which covers the Inland Empire and Palm Springs and other Desert communities.  This doubled the audience and then some.  However, the number of call-ins diminished and some shows did not receive any calls at all.  So I began to take a look at what I was doing differently than what I was doing at the 2:00 a.m. time slot.  We all must do this when we are not sure of what our demonstration is.  Remember, as we keep our mind "stayed on the Good," it's all Good, so we need not worry, and we can know the answer will be revealed to us.

           As I sat in the Silence and contemplated the show, I realized that since I couldn't take a nap prior to the show, I instead, spent my time in contemplation and prayer.  From the time I first began the show my confidence and self-assurance had increased considerably.  I now have my own way of doing the show.  I don't sit in the radio studio, instead I stand and hold the microphone as if I am speaking to an audience.  As I sat contemplating this difference, I realized that even William, my engineer, had started listening to my show and making comments afterwards although he had not shown any real interest in this teaching before.  So I learned to speak by speaking and out of this activity evolved the method that became natural to me.  From my meditations and prayer work prior to the show, I began to feel a sense of love for the audience, not in the usual sense, but a sense of Divine Love, a desire to give to the audience what I have learned and what I have personally experienced from studying spiritual principles and applying them in my life.  

         I began to love the show.  I began to love doing the work and preparing myself for the show.  I began to go deeper in my meditations and prayer work in order to "listen" to the "still small voice" that is leading me and guiding me to give (love) of myself to the audience.  When I walk out of the studio, even though it is 2:00 a.m., I feel alive and awake to life.  I feel exhilarated and blessed that I have been given this work to do.  It has truly become my weekly "love offering" to an audience that I cannot see, but love, to an audience that I cannot number, but know that each and every one of them are a blessing to me.  The answer that was revealed to me is that "I began listening" and that has made all the difference.

 And So It Is! 
                                                            
Letting Love use me in Its own Good Way,
Henry Lee Bates