Quick to listen, Slow to speak

Lord, when we're asked to speak, give us wisdom in what we say - and when we hear things we don't understand, help us to be quiet and listen.

There is an important balance to listening and speaking. People who speak and people who listen each participate, but, when it comes to teaching or public speaking, the speaker is judged more strictly - it's a big responsibility.

Almighty God, you proclaim your truth in every age by many voices: Direct, in our time, we pray, those who speak where many listen and write what many read; that they may do their part in making the heart of this people wise, its mind sound, and its will righteous; to the honor of Jesus Christ our Lord.

This prayer comes from the BCP; its title is "For those who influence public opinion" and it's one of my favorites. I found it not long after I started attending the Episcopal church, while I was working as a reporter. I was touched and encouraged by the thought that, at any given time, someone with a Book of Common Prayer might conceivably be praying those words - which would mean they were praying for me, even though they wouldn't know it. I wrote the prayer out on a post-it note and stuck it about eye level on the wall above my desk; it was also an excellent standard to measure my work by and goal to shoot for.

Words can be powerfully influential, and our technology allows us to distribute, broadcast, and upload our words to hundreds, thousands, even billions of people all over the world. There's no guarantee that any of them will notice or care, but the possibility of impact is definitely real. With much power comes much responsibility. My message today: use words sparingly - and for good purposes.

Isaiah started us off today with this motivation for speaking:
"The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word.

What is one good use of the ability to teach? Sustaining the weary.

A word or two of encouragement at the right time can give an exhausted person new energy to keep going.
One of my friends ran in the Boston Marathon, and she talked about the boost she received from people cheering her on as she started up a hill near the end. I know that, in the middle of a soccer game, I've been able to hear my parents, my coach or my friends yell something, and it did give me a burst of energy. In the hospital, whether you're the caregiver or the patient, or even the doctor, a word, a prayer, can lift your spirits and even provide measurable physical improvement.
Has anyone been on the receiving end of a sustaining word like this?

The opposite can also be true. I can just as easily discourage, hurt, or anger someone with a word.
If you've been following international news this week, you've seen this demonstrated. Some folks in the United States, claiming to represent Christianity, created a video insulting Islam and posted it on YouTube. Their film so incensed people in the Muslim world that, for the last several days, angry people in Egypt, Tunisia and other countries in the middle east have been attacking various places and people representing America; early on, some of them killed a man named Chris Stephens, the US Ambassador to Libya.

As James says, "How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire...a restless evil, full of deadly poison."

Your tongue, depending on what you say with it, is a powerful tool for healing or for hurting, for calming people or provoking them.

Bishop Ohl was talking on Thursday about being mindful in how we discuss the upcoming hearings; careless words could easily provoke anger, but careful words have the potential to offer reconciliation.

A while back, I suggested that you imagine Jesus like water, necessary to us for life. It's a good image for this topic too, especially as the court case involving our diocese moves into the spotlight again. You know that you may hear or read things that push your buttons; someone may say something that sets you off. If you open your mouth to answer back and feel your tongue on fire, reach for some water and douse it.

As James also said - "let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger, for your anger does not produce God's righteousness."

Isaiah seems to have the same idea about listening and speaking.
Right after noting that "the Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher" he says, "Morning by morning he wakens - wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught."

Listening comes first. Cover your ears. See how that makes it hard to listen? It also leaves your mouth free to say any ridiculous thing. Now cover your mouth. How many hands do you need to cover your ears? How many to cover your mouth? That's a good ratio. Listen at least twice as much as you speak. Kind of like "measure twice, cut once" - I often regret it when I don't.

The presidential election coming up in November may also provide some great opportunities to practice this technique. Civil discourse at these times is often... not. As the image of Christ, we need to be countercultural in this regard.

But James also knows that people don't always hold their tongues, and we often say things we shouldn't. "All of us make many mistakes," he says. "Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect..."

We're not perfect. But the gift of speech is a responsibility