"Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is considered prudent." Proverbs 17: 28
The American people are one step closer to Election Day. Thank God! After the debates are over, I vote for a day of silence.
As if the debates themselves are not draining enough, the spin doctors from each camp have to race to the first available microphone or camera and start the suffocating replay of each verbal assault, word for word, blow by blow. Instead of stopping the bleeding, they suffocate the patient. Give me a break!
The typical response of those who did not agree with what was said, by either their champion or their opponent, sounds something like this, "Why I oughta..." or "Well, I woulda"...or "Well, he coulda..."or "Well, he shoulda..." Second guessing is the favorite pastime of both the slow witted, and the back seat driver. In both cases, it is either an exercise in futility or a flight of fantasy.
It is always easier to be eloquent in a war of words, after the other person has left the room. I can't tell you how many times, I have replayed in my mind's eye, the scene of a confrontation, and then hit with a sudden burst of insight. A have often burst out with genuine dismay, "I should have said...!" It was a PERFECT comeback. Just late!
A good argument and a good joke have at least two things in common. Each loses something in the translation. If it has to be explained, it wasn't a good joke or a good fight. Another common trait is shared by fighters and comedians. They both know, missing your punch line or you opponent makes you look weak. As they say, timing....................... is.....................everything. But is it?
Proverbs states that even a fool that keeps silent is considered prudent. Giving another person more air time to reveal their own ignorance is often a wise way to prove a person wrong, with their own words. Cowboys of the old west would say, "Give that man enough rope and he will hang himself." Wise words.
After a recent debate, Twitter world was aflame, at the injustice of one candidate being allowed four minutes longer to make his case than his challenger. The angst and outrage of those who took up the offense of the short-changed participant was eloquently pronounced and at times, equally profane. They were right, of course, ...but were they?
A great deal can happen in four minutes. A man can fall a long way in a short period time. When a man jumps from a balloon from 23 miles in the air, we know it takes him about four minutes to come down to earth. It does not have to end in death and disaster. He just comes back to earth, lands on his feet, and goes back to his family.
On Election Day, the American people will decide if the POTUS used his four minutes wisely. They will determine if he deserves four more years, in the highest office of the land, or if it is time for him to come back to earth, return to his family, and live out the dreams of his father, in his house, not theirs.
This may be small comfort. Great confidence in the free people of this nation would not be well placed, in light of their recent track record of foolish decisions. Still, desperate times are never a time to panic. They are always a time to pray. "Discernment is given for intercession, never faultfinding." Oswald Chambers. Before you give into panic or Tweet your brains out..
TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!