Words

July 9, 2020

My keyboard died last night as I was writing, which is probably a good thing. Sometimes it is best to keep one’s counsel. I think it was Abraham Lincoln who quipped, “Better to be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.” We live in a crazy age, and I’m not talking COVID or the rioting or tearing down of statues. The craziness predated all that. It’s the craziness of thinking that every thought or impulse we have should be posted on social media. 

How did our lives get so vain and vacuous that we think everyone in the world should know what we had for dinner, or that people would even be interested in the plate of food before us? When did “selfie” become a word, much less an activity? How is it we went from taking pictures of the grandeur of the world around us to the glorification of ourselves?

Having had a night’s rest, I reviewed what I had started, and decided that putting forth my thoughts would have not beneficial effect on anyone. They were words I needed to write, words that help me sort out my beliefs and feelings about life, but they will remain my words alone. Restraint is in order here, as it is in much of our public conversation. Sadly, we have come to believe that every feeling or thought that flits across our consciousness should actually be spoken—and as loudly and angrily as possible. We are not better for it.

The failure of my keyboard came to my rescue last night, and the Word of God comes this morning. Not any specific text, but the body of it that has been the foundation of my life for nearly sixty years. Over and over, I’ve read and soaked up its wisdom, and that wisdom speaks often to how we use words. The consensus is, “Don’t tear down; build up.” Sometimes that’s best done in silence.