'Be anxious for nothing..." ~Philippians 4:6

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

TMI

A line in one of my favorite hymns says, "Oh what peace we often forfeit; Oh what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer." It's good to talk some things out. It can be downright therapeutic to get things off of one's chest, but it's better to be able to trust the person to whom you are talking. There's an urgent need for information these days--detailed information. We seem to want to know everything, and news is traveling faster now than it ever has. Are we losing a sense of discretion to our own detriment? In our eagerness to tell all, express all, are we delighting in lacking wisdom?

When the resolution of a matter in the life of someone else has spared one from having to reveal one's own embarrassing part IN the matter, one SHOULD be relieved, grateful, ecstatic even. Sadly, many just don't know when to shut up. You can listen to a person going on and on about a situation for hours, and come away with just one question: "How do you know?" It's ironic when one is so busy bringing attention to a matter that they don't realize when the attention has shifted to them, and their motives.
Bitterness and an unforgiving spirit will cause a person to talk way too much about a thing--so can the need to cover one's indiscreet tracks. People who feel wronged and demand justice certainly need support. They want to be heard. They want someone- anyone to see their point; be on their side. However, it is so important to know that you're actually on the side of right in a matter, AND have clean hands before you set out to expose it, or offer your commentary about it. In an attempt to righteously judge someone else, many do nothing more than implicate and indict themselves.
Light has an uncanny way of not staying in one place, and revealing things on which you are not focused. If you're going to shine the light, you have to know that you are not in TOTAL control of where it goes.
Constantly harping on a situation; purposely slipping it into every conversation, in spite of its relevancy, will eventually raise suspicion about your actual role or interest in it.
Either settle it, or let it go, but talking incessantly about it, to any and everyone within earshot, is unwise. Some listeners are empathetic, while others are reading between the lines, confirming their suspicions, and building a case.
Your own words can trip you and cause you to fall faster than an enemy's strategically placed foot ever can.

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