I wonder if you have ever heard this line: "Decisions are taken by those who show up." The underlying implication of that line is that if you don't show up, then your voice is not included in a debate or in a decision that has been made.
I started thinking about how being able to voice one's opinion is so needed in today's world. Each one of us, must use the voice that is given to us. If your voice is not heard, then some of the things that you are good at will never get put on the canvas. You will never get heard, and what may ultimately come out could be less than what is the best for the situation or for the company or for the process that is being worked on.
I remember the famous lines from 'The Passing of King Arthur' by Lord Tennyson:
The old order changeth yielding place to new,
And God fulfills himself in many ways
Lest one good custom should corrupt the world.
Comfort thyself.
I like that! All he was saying is that good customs can be there, but they have a lifespan. After that, it's possible that they can corrupt the very process they have enhanced. Sometimes we just accept some things because it's been there for many years without really questioning it, without wondering if it is still relevant, effective or still an efficient way of doing things.
That's why I think a debate is good. Your voice is important to a debate. Maybe the voice that is missing in the debate today is your own voice. You have an opinion but you have not voiced it. You've been sitting back and thinking, "This could have been better if I had said this," but for some reason you've not been confident of doing it.
I want to challenge you today. You are not there by chance. You're there because God has given you the right to be there. That's your space. It's a sacred space and your voice must be heard. You must be able to challenge existing norms and try to make them conducive to the times, to what's going on in your office, Institution or community. You must bring your intelligence to bear. You must continue to look at some of the old systems that you've inherited and tweak them if necessary or dispense with them if needed. You need to deal with what's not working. You need to speak up about issues that you know about.
Somebody once said (and I've always said an 'Ouch!' when I quote this), "Silence isn't always golden; sometimes it's just plain yellow." So true! It's an arrow to the heart. Sometimes it can be fear or cowardice that can prevent us from getting our voice heard in a particular situation. But the importance of our voice cannot be stressed enough. I truly think that in today's world, wherever we are, it's good for us to speak out. I understand that personality differences could mean that introverts speak less than extroverts, so maybe in discussion time, you don't have the freedom to speak. Yet, I think that there are other ways that introverts can make their voices known – write an email or a blog, or something like that. But, your thoughts need to be heard.
Our Scriptures give us a beautiful line: "The right word at the right time is like a custom-made piece of jewelry." There is a right time to speak.
Many years ago, I was on a trip to Singapore for a conference. By the time I got off at Singapore, I had a raging fever. I remember going to the hotel and crashing. I didn't know what to do, it being a new place and no known doctors. I was supposed to speak the next day. So, I called the organizers and they took me to a doctor and I told him, "I'm speaking tomorrow. You've got to do something to help me get up there and do what I came here to do." He told me that he would give me something for the day but that I would have to see my doctor when I returned home. He took out a syringe, filled it with some medicine and started to inject it into my arm. During the process, he casually asked me, "Are you allergic to anything?" I replied, "Yes, to Sulpha." One eyebrow went up and he asked, "Do you have any relevant history?" I said, "Well, I'm diabetic and I've had angioplasty." All of a sudden, his hands stopped with the plunger halfway in and he said, "These are things that you should have told me right at the beginning." I'll never forget that moment. There is need for us to speak when we need to speak. We have a voice and it must be heard especially in the cacophony today that surrounds us. Sane, noble voices need to be heard, ideas need to be put forth, challenges need to be met with new ideas that may pose a challenge to existing situations and circumstances.
I read this blog by Kim Galgano, and she says,
"I met Ben Malcolmson the other day. Who's Ben Malcolmson? Watch Pete Carroll (Seahawks Head coach) and you'll find Ben nearby. Ben is Pete's personal assistant, right-hand man, guardian, and decision-making deputy. The two are inseparable during the football season.
The day that we met was in June, however, and Ben was alone. Granted, it was a short exchange, my husband introducing us because they had met on other occasions, but the significance of this timely meet-up was that he had just come out of a bookstore with a Christian book in his hand, while I had one of my own books in my purse. I wanted to offer my book, pull it out, ask him to accept it as a gift, and respectfully suggest that the read would be worthy of his time.
But I remained silent, while I secretly screamed inside. I thought The Teacher (my husband) should be the one to suggest his wife's book. Wouldn't that be more natural? Who was I to speak up? I just met the man and it would be arrogant to self-promote my own work.
But after thinking about that three minute meet-up (three thousand times), I believe I made the wrong decision to remain silent. I had an opportunity and I failed to take it."
How many times have we ended up thinking that we missed it. "I should have spoken up. The things that I said could have made a difference. But I didn't." Then we replay that scenario thousands of times in our minds. And each time we play it, we diminish ourselves and belittle ourselves. The antidote to that is: to speak up. The right word at the right time is like custom-made jewelry. Let's get the right word out at the right time so that there's an adornment that happens to conversations around us.
May I pray with you. Almighty God, sometimes we are just fearful of speaking up, fearful of what other people would think, or whether it is a valid reason to speak up. Lord, take away these fears and replace it with confidence that you have given us. You have given us thoughts, intelligence and intellect. You have given us the ability to formulate ideas that need to see the light of day. Help those ideas to be spoken out by each one who reads this post. I pray that You would empower us to be able to speak the right word at the right time. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
· Alfred Tennyson, "The Passing of Arthur," https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/404311-the-old-order-changeth-yielding-place-to-new-and-go
· Kim Galgano, "In What Way Should You Speak Up?" http://chickswithchoices.com/in-what-way-should-you-speak-u
· Bible reference: Prov. 25:11 MSG
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