The Power of Positive Words: What You Say Makes a Difference by Stan Toler

Author:Stan Toler [Toler, Stan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Religion, Christian Living, General, Inspirational
ISBN: 9780736975018
Google: oCyJDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers
Published: 2019-03-12T00:16:01.306523+00:00

Chapter Seven

THE POWER OF SILENCE

An ancient proverb holds that even a fool is thought to be wise if he keeps silent. In this chapter, you will learn to identify occasions when saying nothing is the wisest form of speech.

“Silence fertilizes the deep place where personality grows. A life with a peaceful center can weather all storms.”

NORMAN VINCENT PEALE1

The ability to speak is a gift. We take it for granted, of course, because it’s something we learn at a young age and keep doing until we die. Occasionally, something interferes with our ability to speak. We are “at a loss for words.” Or we are choked with emotion and cannot speak. Or sometimes a physical condition affects the voice box and causes a person to lose his or her voice.

A friend told me about an acquaintance who underwent surgery on the carotid artery. In the process the surgeon had to move the vagus nerve aside. It apparently did not like this stimulation, and when the patient awoke from surgery, he could only speak in a whisper. The situation, said my friend, may resolve itself over time, but the surgeon made no promises. He comforted the patient with the fact that he did not suffer a stroke.

The ability to speak is precious to us. Even though we take it for granted, we cherish the ability to speak. We even talk about the right to free speech being part of the first amendment to the United States Constitution. Specifically, it says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

So, with free speech being one of our guaranteed rights and such a cherished blessing, why a chapter on silence? Because silence is golden.

SILENCE IS GOLDEN

At least that’s what Thomas Carlyle, the English poet, said. But that thought was not original with him. He translated it from the Swiss inscription: “Sprecfien ist silbern, Schweigen ist golden” (Speech is silver, silence is golden).2

Epictetus, the Greek Stoic philosopher, is credited with saying, “We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.”3 Does it disconcert you, as it does many people, when participants on television talk shows speak over one another until we cannot understand either party? It seems many of us have a difficult time keeping silent while waiting for the other person to finish his or her thought.

Maybe it has something to do with our attention span. Microsoft has conducted research showing people on average lose focus after only eight seconds. Gary D. Foster says, “This means people now have shorter attention spans than goldfish.”4 He thinks this phenomenon matches our desire for instant everything. With shorter attention spans also comes shorter patience. We want what we want when we want it.

But engaging in intentional silence is also worth considering. At one extreme end of the talk-silence continuum are those who take a vow of silence.

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