Wright Words: Stage actress defies odds, wins high praise for high standards

Cluff wiped tears from her eyes, looked across the table at me and added, “God is good!”

I think it’s the first time I’d felt the Spirit over ham and turkey.

Our conversation turned to her family and Cluff attributed her strength to her parents. “They are wonderful,” she gushed. Cluff says she works with people everyday that spend so much time pretending to be other people that they don’t know who they are anymore. “But not me. My parents helped me know who I am.”

The praise doesn't end with her parents, she also credits her professors at SVU for preparing her for the rigors of the theater and to stand brightly for righteousness in the middle of the stage. It's telling that four years after her graduation, they continue to serve as indispensable mentors.

I'm thankful to have met this inspiring actress, but not for her talent. I'm grateful to know there are young people like Amaree Cluff taking courageous stands when it would be easy not to and using God-given gifts righteously when the world wouldn't care otherwise.

Her tearfully delivered words will not be forgotten: “I simply cannot say what I so deeply believe through any other medium.”

Can I find the courage to do the same?

Can you?

Jason F. Wright is a New York Times best-selling author of eight books, including "Christmas Jars," "The Wednesday Letters" and "The Wedding Letters." He can be reached at feedback@jasonfwright.com or www.jasonfwright.com.