Because, more often than not in these times, I don’t know what to say, my thoughts can feel like dense fog — groping for understanding.  This fog might explain  why often I am at a loss for words.  

No Wonder I Don’t Know What to Say

 Bottom line, honest to Pete: I don’t know what to say when people say the things they do. It’s not like most of us are looking for responses when we make the declarations we do. Seriously! 

Being unpleasant seems to be your only hobby. ~Livingston Welch, A Victim of Rest, 1924  [Eve to Adam —tg] 

Oh, but I, too, am smack dab in the middle of  these times of declarative sentences. Ask my kids. 

Declarative sentences rarely open a good conversation. And, assumptions often blow out flickering fellowship, cooperation and progress.  Just watch CSPan’s coverage of our Congress, or listen to the Washington Journal. (She declared.)  

It is amazing how many people think they can answer an argument by attributing bad motives to those who disagree with them. Using this kind of reasoning, you can believe or not believe any thing about anything, without having to deal with facts or logic. ~ Thomas Sowell, (quoted by David French   Where the Truth Goes to Die)

 And I remain an onlooker . . . with little power or influence, save for sharing a few edifying apples. Here’s one:

READ 

“If you don’t know history, then you don’t know anything. You are a leaf that doesn’t know it is part of a tree. ”― Michael Crichton HISTORY —

The Bible reports a lot of history, and wisdom in times of rising waters; these times when I don’t know what to say.  

. . . the way to navigate such waters is still to follow the book of Proverbs’ prescription for your words. They must be honest, few, extremely well-crafted, usually calm, always aimed to edify (even when critical) and they must be accompanied with lots of silent listening. Tim Keller

The Pandemic, etc. isn’t God’s first rodeo; nor is this crazy time the first time the church has been thrown for a loop. 

I am half-way through  Bullies and Saints: An Honest Look at the Good and Evil of Christian History, by John Dickson. (Click the link for lively discussion — she declared.)  To borrow a description from David French, the saints in church history constructed a thick skin while preserving an open heart. So far, the bullies in church history . . . well, I am seeing the more things change, some things don’t.    

It’s good then when I don’t know what to say — because I said it already —to look for new hobbies — or keep at the old ones: writing and painting — and silent listening.

Because I Sill Don’t Know What to Say