It wasn’t the brilliance of the Gettysburg Address but it was short. Four words. I said four words and changed the narrative. We were parents standing in line for popcorn at a road football team that we had very little chance to win. Our kids were playing their hearts out but depth, size, speed and talent are hard to overcome. The first half had gone how we should have expected it to have gone. The parents, Hayward/LCO parents, were complaining about missed tackles, missed blocks, fumbles, interceptions, etc. Finally someone said, “You’re being quiet” to me. I said, “It’s played by kids.” The complaining immediately stopped. Later that year one of the parents thanked me for what I said because it helped them appreciate and enjoy the games more. I could have said, “Not my first rodeo” but what would that have helped because it was not theirs either.
“It’s played by kids.”
How many times are we quiet when we could have changed the direction of things with just a few words. How many times have we tossed and turned wishing we had said something. We have the power, all of us, to bring peace with just a few words. I sometimes wonder if there is so much anger in the world because no one is changing the narrative.
Let Us Pray: Father in Heaven, help us repent of our unhelpful quietism and help us to speak truth plainly and simply. In Jesus Name, Amen.