seminar recap
I was at a cultural awareness seminar today and the speaker shared a quote by Elbert Hubbard. It is this: "If you don't understand someone's silence you cannot understand their words."
I find this to be a weighty concept for some reason. Profound, even. If I cannot understand someone's silence......I cannot understand their words. The silence is even more powerful and challenging than the words. I love silence. Love it. Crave it, even. In my car, it is often silent. No music, no talking. At home if everyone is elsewhere, I love to sit and just breathe in the silence. Silence is healing and restoring to me. It fills me up.
I also love words. I love language and culture and the nuances of diversity and similarity and how much God is present in it all. I love written words and spoken words and words in songs and words in prayer......but if I did not understand my own silence, I couldn't appreciate the words, I think.
Consider those we all encounter every day. Family, friends, co-workers, church folks, the people next to us on the baseball bleachers.......consider their silence and what it could mean. Then hear their words.....and maybe understand even more.
I learned alot in the 3 hours I spent listening to Mark Grey today. He is an expert in the state of Iowa and spends his career understanding and teaching about the many cultures and immigrants and the meaning for Iowa......I could quote and quote and quote from him, but I think I'll just give this one more. He said this today and I will not soon forget it. "Global events have local consequences." I will challenge myself to pay better attention to global news because it will matter where I live. Gauranteed.
I find this to be a weighty concept for some reason. Profound, even. If I cannot understand someone's silence......I cannot understand their words. The silence is even more powerful and challenging than the words. I love silence. Love it. Crave it, even. In my car, it is often silent. No music, no talking. At home if everyone is elsewhere, I love to sit and just breathe in the silence. Silence is healing and restoring to me. It fills me up.
I also love words. I love language and culture and the nuances of diversity and similarity and how much God is present in it all. I love written words and spoken words and words in songs and words in prayer......but if I did not understand my own silence, I couldn't appreciate the words, I think.
Consider those we all encounter every day. Family, friends, co-workers, church folks, the people next to us on the baseball bleachers.......consider their silence and what it could mean. Then hear their words.....and maybe understand even more.
I learned alot in the 3 hours I spent listening to Mark Grey today. He is an expert in the state of Iowa and spends his career understanding and teaching about the many cultures and immigrants and the meaning for Iowa......I could quote and quote and quote from him, but I think I'll just give this one more. He said this today and I will not soon forget it. "Global events have local consequences." I will challenge myself to pay better attention to global news because it will matter where I live. Gauranteed.
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