- a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; -
80 million photos are posted on Instagram every day.
500 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute.
6,000 tweets are sent on Twitter every second.
How in the world did you ever find time to read this blog?
I had a conversation with a family member a long time ago about this phenomenon and how it relates to ads on Google.
He shared a sentiment I’ve heard from others. “If Google is giving me more videos and products that I probably want, what’s wrong with that?”
Fair enough. It’s a noisy world. How are you realistically supposed to sort through it?
My response? Your attention is important, and there are those who would rob it for a minor increase in your benefit to realize larger rewards for themselves.
Then it seems everyone has more to say than they’ve earned the right to.
Why are they so confident in their opinions? How come everyone decided to become a carpenter? Is all there is to being an influencer one of those hats?
Right, I get it.
I’m doing something similar by asking you to read this. I’m vying for your attention like those ads. I’m telling you I have something worth your time.
Well, I suppose I’m trying to two things to counteract that. One, this blog post is hopefully 3-4 minutes of your day. I don’t want more than that.
Two, I’m trying my hardest not to speak off the cuff. This was a one-and-a-half-year study I did on this book.
Even then, I still find the need to be transparent, noting when I don’t know something or highlighting passages that confuse me.
Is that good enough? Am I fixing the problem? I suppose that’s in your hands.
Now, what about you.
This passage indicates there are times in our life where it’s Holy for us to be silent and to speak.
Silence is required to learn, to listen, to reflect. How can you hope to receive instruction if you interrupt everyone else?
I believe in this idea a lot, so much that I pray it every day. I ask God for the strength to listen to the wisdom in others.
Many days I don’t. I’m so lost in my own message and my own ideas, regardless if I voice them or not, that I can’t hear what others are saying.
Perhaps I could learn via their failures or perhaps I could learn something about humanity, hidden to me before. All of it could come my way by prayer and silence.
This has taught me something wonderful. Even those I don’t want to listen to can instruct me.
Now, when do you speak? When not doing so is a lie.
Did someone just lie? Does something you know, not invented, conflict with the conversation around you? Does your soul demand dialectic?
“But Hunter, I don’t want to make people feel bad! I want others to like me!”
Ah, the dividing line between pride and fear can be difficult to find. Do so, even poorly, and ask for forgiveness when you misstep.
But when you silence yourself in fear, know you strangle your own courage and show those around you contempt, rather than love.