The Language of Silence

"Silence is a source of Great Strength." -Lao Tzu

I’ve been told that I have a tendency to be long-winded. In fact, I have actually been banned from ALL joke-telling, including my all-time favorite joke (the Potato Joke). My biggest problem is that I can’t always remember the logistics of most jokes, and I always begin laughing somewhere in the middle and give away the punch line. (not to mention that fact that each joke literally lasts 15 minutes!) See Exhibit A:

ACT 1

Wailana Coffee House

[Cue lights. A lone karaoke singer belts out Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come” in the background and a police car can be heard racing by the old picture windows]

Narrator: The story unfolds as our characters sit down for a midnight meal at their favorite coffee shop. Kanani begins what appears to be a terrible attempt at joke-telling while her horrified friends look on helplessly, unable to escape.

Begin Scene 1

Kanani: “Okay, so there were these three guys and they were all escaped convicts.” Long pause. “Oh wait, they are just regular convicts because they haven’t escaped yet.” Expectant pause. “Okay, so there were these three guys who were convicts and then one day there was an explosion outside that caused a big commotion and they escaped from jail and made a mad dash for the woods.” Scratches head in bewilderment. “Oh wait, I think the explosion actually blew up their jail cell and the guys escaped while everyone was trying to get away from the blast.” Yet another pause. “Darn it. Was it a blast? I think so.” Shrugs shoulders. “Oh nevermind. All the guys escaped and they were running towards the woods.” Laughs uproariously. “Oh shoot. Was it the woods or did they hide in the corn fields first? Urm, that part actually happens later… Should I start again?”

[15 min later]

Kanani: “Isn’t that the best joke you’ve ever heard?”

K: “Okay Kanan, whatever you say.”

M: “Wait, that was a joke?”

D: “You have got to be kidding me.”

Kanani: “So… should I tell it again??”

K/M/D: “NO!!! You are never allowed to tell anymore jokes.”

As you can see, long-winded is somewhat of an understatement. I’ve made a career for myself out of talking, and I used to take great pride in the beauty of carefully crafted words and the shaping of sentences.

No longer.

I don’t want to be known as the girl-who-can’t-keep-her-mouth-shut or the girl-whose-jokes-go-on-forever-and-ever! I’ve been told that it takes at least 21 days to break a habit. Therefore, I am adopting a new mentality. For the next three weeks I am striving to learn the language of silence.

Its been a while since I’ve thought about my favorite all time ‘olelo no’eau, “I ka ‘olelo no ke ola, I ka ‘olelo no ka make.” (In the word there is life, and in the word there is death). With just a single word we have the power to destroy someone’s world, but we also have the power to save someone’s life. In this case I am saving myself.

Despite my best intentions, recently my spoken words seem to have done more harm then good. The only way I can see to rectify this is to choose to speak less words and focus more on THE WORD.

In the book of Exodus the Israelites are pursued by Pharaoh, and it is Moses who encourages the people not to be afraid. His words of wisdom? “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be silent” (Ex 14:14). Right now, I am ready to let the Lord step forward, while I take a step back and spend a little more time listening. I think there is great wisdom in silence, but it is not a language of familiarity for me. The next three weeks will be an adventure… I’ll let you know how it goes!

                                                                 

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“Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips.” (Psalm 141:3)