Jack's Words of Wisdom

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On Praying

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The following reflects Jack's feelings about praying. So strongly did he feel that he started each day's filming with a prayer. He said,

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At the beginning of each session I ask everyone to join me in a minute of silent prayer. Personally I’ve never prayed for anything material in my life – these prayers are to bring us together for that episode, that’s all. Each man can say whatever is in his own heart, privately, to himself.

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I have been severely criticized for this . . . I happen to believe in the power of prayer. I pray every morning. It opens up all kinds of doors, I promise you. But mostly it’s a prayer for inspiration, not a prayer for supplication.

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I don’t think anything’s in this Universe or this life by accident. It’s all design. There’s a purpose to everything. When I pray, I believe in communion with God. He’s the Director! I want to keep my mind open for guidance and inspiration.

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Sometimes I have physical problems – fatigue, maybe, or insomnia. Or I need a problem solved. Then I pray. I literally ask for help. And it works – you bet it works. I believe totally in the power of prayer, and I have an absolute faith that all things are possible of God. I’m a Christian, and I try to practice Christianity. I believe that people can be healed of diseases, and I believe in the power of the mind over anything.(1) 

 

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Do Not Force Things to Happen.

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Jack offered a wonderful piece of advice: we should take our time and let things come together as they are meant to, rather than struggle to put pieces together. He said,

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Both my father and mother instilled it into us: "The place you seek is seeking you; the place you need, needs you." Let it unfold rather than try to make it happen. Don’t try to force events, for forcing things never seems to work out. I never try to fight against the signs that are there to guide me or against the inner voice. When I’m in a terrible quandary, I go alone and say, "Not my will but Thine," and then it’s very clear. Very clear.

 

I could spend hours telling you how I arrived at this conviction, but I’ll give you just one example: My wife, Marie, and I had been living in an apartment for four years when we decided to look for a home in Los Angeles. So, Sunday after Sunday, week after week, we went out with real estate people, looking. We searched and searched, my poor wife and I, until we were desperate – and we still didn’t find the home we wanted.

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Since we can’t find the house we want, perhaps we should build one. That seemed a good idea, so we went up to Trousdale Estates one day with a broker, who showed us a beautiful lot with the exact number of feet we needed, and at a price we could afford. It seemed to be ideal. In fact, Marie and I were so pleased, we made an offer on the lot, gave the realtor a check, and then began to plan our home.

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The next morning, after we’d made the offer, we naturally expected to get a call from the real estate agent, saying it had been accepted and that the lot was as good as ours. But nothing happened. So by that afternoon we were rather anxious and called him. 

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He told us, that just before he’d brought our check in, another agent had come in with an offer that had been accepted. And then only two months later, this show [Hawaii Five-O] came along and took us to Hawaii. My reaction was, "My God, we’ve been protected!"(2)

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Stand up and make a difference.

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It has been written that Jack gave this advice for young people, inspiring them to break away from the crowd and to discover themselves as individuals. He said,

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There is a terrible tendency to conform today. It’s choking this country. It’s particularly sad because all great men and women have had one quality in common – they have dared to be different, dared to speak their minds, dared to espouse the unpopular cause.

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Does it take any courage or express any individuality to dress exactly like “the crowd” – the group of friends around whom most of your social activities revolve? To tease your hair or get a flat-top cut because the majority of kids at school do it? Does it take any creativity to like the same kind of music, or art, or dance as the pack?

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"No!” Jack vehemently exclaims. “Being a silly, weak-minded follower can’t satisfy any real human being. And besides, it’s a very unhealthy atmosphere to grow up in. It’s stifling. No red-blooded American wants to be a carbon copy. What you have, what you are – your looks, your personality, your way of thinking – is unique. No one in the world is like you. So capitalize on it – don’t submerge it and come on like a mass-produced auto part.(3)

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(1) Judge, Philip. A Different Drummer, Girl Talk. (Publication data unknown).

(2) Anderson, Nancy. Jack Lord: My Life is Filled with Miracles, Photoplay. March 1974.

(3) Originally published in Movie Life (1963, publication data unknown) and included in Good Bye!: The Journal of Contemporary Obituaries (January 1998).

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