Week 28: Shut Up! - There's a Time for Everything.

"Smart people keep quiet about what they know, but stupid people advertise their ignorance." (Proverbs 12:23)

One night after watching movie we went to a restaurant for a cup of coffee (okay, I'm the only creature who ordered coffee that night) and have some Kolo Mee, which may or may not equivalence to Chilly Pan Mee at SS2, Petaling Jaya. While our drinks reached to half-full level and mee shifting from a plate to our stomach with a help of reddish chop sticks... someone started a conversation about how cinema industry works.

Now I have to tell you that I had work as Assistant Cinema Manager for one and a half years at Golden Screen Cinemas (not for boosting but for validation) and this man was a friend of friend… and he was talking too much. He talked about how the ticketing system, how the projector works and bla bla. He did mention on some elements in the cinema, which come to my amazement that it was told half-truth and most of it was totally 'heretic'. He seems to know-it-all! From cinema to human psychology, economy, politic and the worst of all- about the Scriptures! When all had been said and done, I'm glad that I speak only few words.

Have you met someone who seems to know-it-all? Who can name every star in the sky and every cell in our body? or someone who is called ‘Living Encyclopedia'? Well, maybe it's time for us to examine ourselves and take a deep thought that; we don't have to know everything or appear to be so. In her book, 30 days to Taming your Tongue, Deborah Smith Pegeus writes;

"Even if you have knowledge of insight into a certain situation, sometimes it's prudent to keep silent and give another the joy of fulfillment of explaining to you... Assuming the role of the arrogant expert on almost every topic is a sure indication of pride, which is repulsive behavior to God and man."

She continues that if we want to let go of that know-it-all tongue, you can start by letting someone share information with you that you already know without letting him know that you know it. This can be a great training in humility and emotional maturity.

I love what the ancient writer of wisdom, Joshua, son of Sirach writes, "Some people keep quiet because they don't have anything to say; others keep quiet because they know the right time to speak. A wise person will not speak until the right moment, but a bragging fool doesn't know when that time is. No one can stand a person who talks too long and will not give others a chance to speak."

There are time when I'm tempted to write about everything and trying to impress you with how smart I am which totally fake and you know well: - I don't. Because God had provide us with two ears and one mouth, it's intelligently enough if we can be 'quick to listen and slow to speak' as James in the Bible advised us to do. When we are in a group or with people, try to actively listen to others, ask for ideas and limit our input to only two or three points.

Did I just told you to be silent and don't speak at all? No! The philosopher in the book of Ecclesiastes writes, "There's a time for everything... a time to keep silence, and a time to speak."