Yes. No.

Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’ . . . 

 - From Matthew 5

I may able, soon, to go ahead and compile my top ten favorite tenets from Scripture. This is one of them.

And it is perhaps an irony. For my entire life, I have been known as a good talker. My Dad used to say he wished I would talk less, and that my brother would talk more. I always get asked to say the prayer at family meals. I have caught myself, more than a few times, engaged in a long discourse late at night, with good friends, as they would slowly drift off to sleep. I would wonder what's wrong with them! Am I not more interesting than that?

There may be a total number of words that we all are allotted in life. More and more, I feel that my quota is approaching. I am becoming less interested in hearing myself talk. At the root, I seem to have less and less, of importance, to say. I have become more aware of other epic talkers, and found myself wanting not to be like them. Why don't they stop, to let someone else get a word in, edgewise? Why don't they express more interest in topics that will bring others out? What makes them think their opinions and observations of the mundane, want to be heard by others?

Why do they seem to believe they are gifted in turn-of-phrase (in reality, their word choice is too-cute-by-half)?

One of my MBA professors gave me feedback once, in front of the entire class, following a team presentation. He said that a silver-tongued person should be given something of substance to say . . . and not just to glibly provide whimsical transitions for the others. 

I am getting it now (see my other blog, "The Boulder.")

I talk too much. The reason? To cover up other insecurities. To make myself sound smart, without having a lot of results in life, to back it up. 

George Harrison quoted a mystic in one of his songs: He that speaks doesn't know. He that knows doesn't speak. 

I would rather aspire to that now, than to be a good talker. 

Jesus loves us all equally, unconditionally. But He takes aim at a human behavior that's problematic for many of us. His practical advice always yields a more spirit-filled and humble heart. 

Don't talk so much.

If all it takes is a reply of "Yes," or "No" . . . please . . . please . . . do yourself and all of us a favor, and make that all you say.  

It's a skill that must be learned, practiced, and perfected. 

In my 1990s career at Nortel Networks, Gerry Butters, the President of our American corporation, was good at it. When taking questions at company meetings, he would think long and hard before saying anything, when replying to questions. And if a "yes" or "no" sufficed, that would be all he would say. It was nice. And it was powerful. 

Now, having said all of this . . . I do wish to retain the ability to do what my Aunt Sue once said about me, as needed:

Gordon could talk a snake out of a tree.