Speechless

I’d love to say something brilliant for Truth and Reconciliation Day here in Canada.

I believe in the power of words. I'm good at making speeches and a reasonably good writer. Both are skills that I practice regularly, and I'm always working towards the goal of being someone who can help others with the power of words. I believe words are powerful, but their mileage is limited. I'm keenly aware that the value of my words decreases in direct relation to my increased word count. Less is more. 

I'm reminded of this scene from the Bible. 

 "O Lord, I'm not very good with words. I never have been, and I'm not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled."

In this moment from the book of Exodus, Moses is telling God that he feels inadequate for the task of liberating an entire people from slavery because he's not great at making grand, persuasive speeches. Like most people today, Moses may have been nervous with a microphone. We all want to be able to say something when we're in the spotlight.  

Maybe the takeaway is this. Those who change the world are the ones who are better at listening than talking.

It's important also that I think we recognize that Moses didn't listen to everyone. If you know the story, you'll know he did not listen to Pharoah. Moses was not instructed to consider Pharoah's point of view. I can imagine Pharoah saying something along the lines of, “Moses, I mean c’mon. Can we have a bit more balance here, just look at what a great country we have here! Why can’t the Hebrew people just move on and work like the rest of us.”

 In my view, Indigenous people do not bear any obligation to listen to settler Canadians’ supposed “balanced perspective” on our colonial history. It should be the other way around. We need to be the ones who listen.

There is something undeniably powerful about someone whose ears are tuned to hear the cry of someone in pain. It's not easy, but if you want to be someone who makes a difference, you need to listen to the cry of those in our world who are in pain. You and I probably don't have to look far before we recognize a need. The response to that cry shouldn't be a speech; it should be action that leads to change. 

My friends in Canada, many of you will be granted a day off on September 30th. I encourage you to be intentional about how you spend the day. Take some time to listen to indigenous voices and go the extra step of supporting an indigenous organization financially. That’s how I will spend some of the day, and I hope you will too. Truth and Reconciliation day deserves more than 280 characters on Twitter or a blog post.

Thanks for reading friend. Make the time today to listen.