So, whaddya wanna talk about?
A quick one today. It hit me this morning that if the Bible enjoins us to refrain from gossip (and it does), and (being humble) we're also supposed to keep from talking about ourselves, then if everyone follows just those two rules:
- Don't talk about others.
- Don't talk about yourself.
...the amount of allowable conversation topics just got a lot smaller. Worse, it will be driven toward the sort of inane "small talk" that drives me crazy - the weather, sports (but not anything personal about the players, obviously), politics (but not anything personal about the politicians, obviously) and entertainment (but not anything personal about the entertainers, obviously). Actually, looking over that list, you can roll it all up into "weather and entertainment."
We are supposed to be in community. We are supposed to care about one another. But that seems real hard to do if we can't talk about each other or ourselves. All those long, awkward pauses I feel when interacting with others? The ones that occur not because I am not thinking of anything to say, but because from personal experience I know better than to say it? Those just got a lot longer and more awkward.
So...how 'bout that weather? Sure is somethin', huh?
4 comments:
The policy I try to follow is the one I read in "Dear Abby" many years ago - before you say something, ask yourself: "Is it true? Is it kind?" Of course, I am not saintly enough to follow this advice consistently.
Lynn,
My realization was that while there is a bit of hyperbole in this post (me! exaggerating! imagine! :), there is SO MUCH of conversation that is either gossip or self-advertising. Strip that all away and we would really have a lot less to talk about. Or more accurately, it would take a while to figure out what we could talk about.
I am starved for good conversation. It seems like it is hard to have interesting conversation without some controversy, though. And yet many people are put off by "emphatic" debate and discussion..
Lynn,
See my prior post about avoiding conflict. :) Because yes, I too am somewhat starved for good conversation (school helps in that regard), but I am pretty much past the point where I want to debate anyone, over anything. Life's too short.
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