Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Something that occurs to me is this. Yes, it is important to be truthful in everything I say. But it is also important to know when to speak and when not to speak. That kind of discernment seems to me to be harder than simply telling the truth. If I am committed to saying only truths, then there is no judgment needed in that respect on my part. Judging WHETHER to speak sometimes is very difficult. Another difficulty is in deciding HOW to speak, what words to choose. An artist can paint a picture in many different styles, and it still portrays the same scene - but some styles are more easily looked upon than others. The same applies to the spoken word and the written word.

Those are my ponderous words to guide me for the new year :)

1 comment:

tiedyefarmer said...

We learn as we become adults when to hold the truth in our hearts and heads. It doesn't always stay where it belongs but we know we should hold it to spare feelings. Children are naturally truthful beings and don't know or understand why harmful/hurtful truths should be kept as private thoughts. I believe that is one of the major differences in adults and children. It may be one of the hardest parts of growing up. It's hard to teach a child to be truthful when we also try to stifle obvious truths...like "fat grandma" etc. May we all approach honesty with honor and respect for our fellow man.