Ask your silence
Silence is a particularly interesting form of deception.
Sometimes we keep silence when we should speak. In his 1969 speech “Silence and Speech,” Martin Luther King Jr. spoke out against the war in Vietnam and reminded us that “we are responsible not only for the lies we speak, but for the truth we fail to speak.”
When fear keeps our tongue still, it’s hardly silent. There are plenty of voices screaming loud and clear within us. Perhaps keeping our mouth shut is the best, most skillful action to take, perhaps it isn’t. How are we to know? There is no formula. There is no manual for speaking Just This. When I find myself in this type of dilemma, I like to ask myself, Why am I not speaking? What is my intention?
How will my words help or worsen the situation?