Giving Credit Where Credit is Due

When most people go to the movies, they leave during the ending credits. That is, unless there’s an after-show preview (for lack of knowing the name of those things, let’s just call it “an after-show preview”). I’ve always known this to be true; mainly, because I’ve done it. Yes, I am one of the many people who leave during the credits, too. [ or… I used to…]

Yesterday, this thought was refreshed in my mind because I showed a short video clip to my students. And guess what? They did the same thing. No, they didn’t get up, leave, and retire their educational-careers at the ripe old age of discovering-double-digits. But their responses were starkly similar to people in a movie theatre. All was quiet-and-attentive on the homefront during the video. Immediately after the movie was over and the credits began to roll, it was like a talking-levee broke through in the classroom. Silence, in that moment, was no longer an option. ADD was present, and no amount of training or Ritalin was going to calm down the chatter.

As small-and-insignificant things oftentimes do, this incident made me think. Why don’t we stop and watch the credits? Why couldn’t my students maintain 30 more seconds of respectable decency while the credits rolled? Without the people’s names on that screen, what we just enjoyed would not have been created. None of us would have been entertained, excited, intrigued, or inspired. In that moment, none of “us” seemed to care.

Sadly, I’m afraid this mentality seamlessly transfers, slowly leaks, and heavily spills into many other portions of our lives as well. It’ human nature not to give credit where credit is due. See a cute idea on Pinterest? We re-pin it and say, “Oh, I found it on Pinterest” (with no acknowledgement for whose idea it originally was and whose name all-the-creativity-credit belongs to). There are plenty of other examples of this going around, too. I’m not going to take the time and give credit to each example. [enter: the definition of irony, credit: Webster] You get the idea….I feel like it's a fairly simple concept.

With all said, who in your life do you need to give credit to? Does someone you know need to receive the credit and honor for the hard work they’ve done – whatever it may be? Phone calls, letters in the mail, and face-to-face-encouragement-chats work wonders for these kind of things.

Do you need time to sit and thank God for all the things He’s done even-just-oh-so-recently for you? There’s a lot of His names in His Book that explain the kind of work and business He’s into. Start looking at those "credits," and I'm certain you'll want to see/hear/know more.

Don’t let the credits in your life go unnoticed or skipped altogether. You’ve experienced many stories and adventures that make you laugh, cry, and connect with you on so many levels in between.

It’s time to give credit where credit is due.