Assertive Listening?
Ecclesiastes 9:17 says, "The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of a ruler of fools." Maybe fools who don't have anything to say are quiet too!
Sitting around after studying German with a group of fellow "Philosophy of Religion and Theology" majors, the conversation turns to the relation of religion to politics, the responsibility of the state verses that of people of faith, the impact of third world poverty to our lives as individuals, and other intriguing subjects.
I didn't say a word.
It wasn't as if I didn't have a viewpoint. Everyone else was doing a thorough job of filling the place with words. A well-balanced discussion was happening without me. People who knew a lot more about political science and religion were discussing theorists I only knew the names of, and telling moving personal stories of their interpretation of the poverty of Mexico.
I had nothing to add. Sure, I could have asserted myself and tried to add something that might be acknowledged as insightful, but it would have been purely for the sake of self-assertion, so that others may think I actually had something wise to say. I don't want to be the kind of person who has to assert myself, but do people who have worthwhile things to say just naturally find themselves asserting? Will I eventually become one of those people who others run their mouths off around only to sheepishly stop and ask my opinion? Not that all I want is to be recognized for my potentially brilliant thoughts, but I want to be the type of person who really has something, close to the vicinity of wisdom, to say. One can't be wise on every topic.
Perhaps wisdom is a pervasive quality that often keeps one from opening ones mouth.
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