Sometimes the wise thing to do is to be quiet

My dad celebrated his 80th birthday in December. Growing up he had a number of sayings that I still recall today. When we asked where he was going, he would say, "Buffalo Raceway, wanna go along?" (That never sounded like too much fun so we declined -then he was free to go to the hardware store alone). When we played pass-the-buck, he'd say, "Don't be an alibi-ike". When we talked too much are said something foolish, he'd say, "It is better to be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and prove it." I was reminded again of Dad's wise words when I came across Proverbs 17:28, "Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; when he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive."
Have you ever said something that you wish you could take back? Perhaps you realized after saying it that it really sounded worse out loud than it did in your head. Now that we have email to contend with the problem has grown. More often than I care to admit, I have sent an email that I wish I could take back. It really is no better than harsh verbal words because emails exist somewhere forever. You may delete them but they lurk somewhere in cyberspace.
Harsh or inappropriate words can leave a lasting impression on the person whose ears heard them. In my 15 years of counseling I have heard many, many individuals recount the exact words spoken to them 10, 15, 30 years ago which continue to affect them today.
Brian, our computer guru, sent an email to our entire staff a few weeks ago on email etiquette and the one pointer that struck home for me and that I have tried to put into practice is to not write anything in email that you would not write on a post card. That is great advice and I think can keep us from undo offenses. If we took that same principle and applied it to our verbal words it could serve as a potent grid through which we pass our thoughts and words.
It took me years to learn that not every thing that pops into my silly, little head needs to come out of my mouth.
Sometimes we need to just keep our thoughts to ourselves.
Sometimes the wise thing to do is to be quiet.
Can you identify?

Diane