In our journey through Ecclesiastes 3, we’ve considered a lot of seeming opposites. We’ve looked at planting and harvesting; killing and healing; tearing down and building; weeping and laughing; mourning and dancing; throwing and gathering stones; embracing and not; seeking and loosing; keeping and throwing. There is a lot packed into this short passage.
The second half of verse 7 says there’s a time to keep
silence, and a time to speak. Following on the tearing and mending of last
week, it would seem to imply that healing of relationships might involve being
careful of how and when you say something.
The Pulpit Commentary notes that there are times of grief
when you sit in silence with the grief-stricken, such as Job’s friends (Job
2:13), while at other times it is important to acknowledge your grief as when
David laments when he hears of Saul’s death (2 Samuel 1:17). The authors also note
that silence is golden as in Proverbs 17:28, but that a word in due season
is good (Proverbs 15:23 and Proverbs 25:11).
In this time of much political speaking, including negative
ads and bombastic pronouncements from all sides, we might simply wish that ALL
politicians would take note of keeping silent! On the other hand, we may feel
called to say there has been too much silence and acquiescence about injustices
and inequalities. As we have seen, many believe now is the time to speak and
speak loudly about systemic racism and the years of silence. Some even suggest that
this pandemic is offering a chance to re-set and re-new.
There is grief behind the protests and anger in this country
and around the world. Grief that the ‘norm’ we knew so recently has so
dramatically changed. Grief that lives and livelihoods are lost. Grief over too
many black lives cut short unnecessarily. Grief over being considered less for
too long and not being seen as equal children of God. Grief over living in fear
of physical and verbal attacks. And so much more grief than I could possibly,
as a white woman, understand. Those who think they know all the answers might
do well to sit in silence and listen to the grief being expressed. It is time
to allow those who have been silent and silenced for too long to speak.
A couple of weeks ago, we considered what we need to
keep and what should be cast off. Some of the ideas that must be thrown away
are the hidden messages of white privilege and superiority that we barely
recognize. Until we can truly listen to one another and remember to love
your neighbor as yourself we will be trapped in forever seeing someone as “other”
or “less” based on race, creed, skin color, or any other superficial
identifier. We must re-learn that we are all God’s children. As the song says, “red
and yellow, black and white, all are precious in his sight”. When we really
listen to each other, we can start to understand and heal the divisions created
by finger pointing and rhetoric.
Where are you called to be silent?
What do you feel you need to speak up about?
