Shut up.

I was in a first aid class a few weeks ago when the instructor dropped a line that was worth writing down.

Sometimes you need to shut up and let wisdom show up.

The context has left me, but the quote has not. It seems to apply in most of life. Rarely do we discover wisdom through talking. The archetypical wise man is never chatty. Talking and thinking rarely go together.

What about "thinking out-loud," though? I know that sometimes I can get clearer in my thinking through talking. Does that not contradict the wisdom of shutting up? I don't think so. The benefit I get from thinking out loud usually comes from hearing how foolish I sound. It turns out to be a good idea to do most of my out-loud thinking by myself.

Like much of my life, I find the application with my kids. Too often, if I speak quickly, I am bound to say something foolish. Even at 18 and 30 months, my kids can often figure out for themselves when they are misbehaving and what to do about it. My talking, particularly before giving wisdom enough time to show up, rarely helps.

So the challenge to us today is clear. Shut up. Hard to do, but rarely a bad idea.

(Photo credit to kandath)

Francois Fenelon on Time

In response to a recent post on time, a friend sent me a quote from Francois Fenelon. Never heard of him? Neither had I. The quote reminds us that human nature hasn't changed much in the last few hundred years. Our lack of time and tendency to waste it is not a digital phenomenon. This is what this French theologian said in the 1600s:

Time is precious, but we do not know yet how precious it really is.  We will only know when we are no longer able to take advantage of it.  Our friends ask for our time as if it were nothing, and we give it as if it were nothing.  Often, our time is our own responsibility; we do not know what to do with it, and we become overwhelmed as a result.  The day will come when a quarter-hour will seem more valuable and desirable than all the fortunes in the universe. 

Liberal and generous in every way, God in the wise economy of his providence teaches us how we should be prudent about the proper use of time.  He never gives us two moments at the same time.  He never gives us a second moment without taking away the first.  And he never grants us that second moment without holding the third one in his hand, leaving us completely uncertain as to whether we will have it.  Time is given to us to prepare for eternity.  Eternity will not be long enough for us to ever stop regretting it if on this earth we have wasted time.

He seems to have taken things more seriously than I tend to. We will regret wasting time for all eternity? Seriously? Sobering.