… a time to be silent and a time to speak, - Ecclesiastes 3:7b

Today’s Scripture Reading (November 3, 2019): Ecclesiastes 3

Actor and humorist Will Rogers once commented that we should “never miss a good chance to shut up.” Maybe today, more than any time in the past, we need to heed his advice. Social media has given a voice to many, and sometimes it seems that many of us are overusing the opportunity and don’t know when to shut up. It is not that we should not give voice to our concerns. But sometimes I wonder if we have lost the balance between speaking and silence. One of the things that I clearly remember from my grade one education, a rule that was spoken several times during that year, was that “if you are speaking, then you are not listening.” There is nothing wrong with our compulsion to speak, as long as we are also willing to listen.

I met with my financial advisor a couple of weeks ago, and as often happens when we get together, our conversation moved from finances to politics and even religion. And one concern that he voiced in the security of his office that we seem to want to close ourselves off in our echo chambers, only listening to those who agree with our deeply held convictions. He pushed against that idea, stressing that we need to hear thoughts that we don’t agree with, we need to be stretched in what we believe, because it might just be that it is in the stretching that we will find the truth.

The author of Ecclesiastes writes that there is a time to be silent and a time to speak. There are times when we need to sit back and listen, absorbing what the other is saying without rebuttal. We need to hear, and those around us need to be heard. But the process can’t just stop there. The Teacher, all through this section of his writing, is teaching about balance. There is a time to listen, but there is also a time to speak. There is a time to share our most profoundly held convictions, a time to give voice to our fears, and a time to ask our questions. It is not that silence is more valuable than speaking; both are important. And we need to find time for both.

I think that each of us is wired more for one than the other. If you find it easy to speak, then maybe you need to work on being silent. And if speaking terrifies you, perhaps you need to find safe places where you can give voice to your thoughts because this world was made for both our silence and words.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Ecclesiastes 4