Lead with your ears,
follow up with your tongue,
and let anger straggle along in the rear.
We live in a time when everyone wants to be heard. And we have the technology that facilitates the longing. Have you watched...sure you have...the video of recent protests? Most of what you see was captured by a participant using a mobile phone. And pay attention to the people in the background...how many of them are holding up a phone capturing the same thing so they can post it on their social media pages? The days of getting your news late in the day on the network broadcasts or the next morning in the local paper are long gone. Those of us who actually remember those experiences (broadcast news and local papers as the first source of information) are in the minority.
Everyone wants to be heard and everyone can be heard. But that doesn't mean the playing field is level. Because you want to and can be does not mean you are heard. Communication is the transmission of a message from a sender to a receiver. I suspect that many messages being sent are not being received. Like those NASA transmissions into outer space looking for extraterrestrial life. Messages being sent but not received.
What did your toddlers do when they said something to you but you didn't respond? They got louder. Eventually, they got angrier. Why? Because they didn't think you heard them. And it didn't matter if you heard them or not. It didn't matter if their requests or complaints were valid or not. They wanted to be heard.
People want to be heard today. Many have valid requests or complaints. Many messages are not being received. So they speak up. I would, too.
The messages piercing the silence are about injustice. They are about scary health issues. They are about uncertain economics. They are about not knowing what is going on or what will happen next. If they think their messages aren't being heard, they get louder. Some get angrier.
I would, too.
Have you noticed the amount of counter-messages that are out there? "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction" seems to be a maxim pertaining to communication, too. As I hear messages from any side of any issue, I want to respond the right way. I'm talking about both my content and my tone.
I look to the Bible for guidance in all things. Here's what I found regarding the content and tone of my messages.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Psalm 19:14 ESV
With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father,
and with it we curse people who are made in God’s likeness.
Blessing and cursing come out of the same mouth.
My brothers and sisters, these things should not be this way.
James 3:9-10 CSB
Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt,
so that you may know how to answer everyone.
Colossians 4:6 NIV
Post this at all intersections, dear friends:
Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue,
and let anger straggle along in the rear.
James 1:19 MSG
