The Sound of Silence

First they came for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up, because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up, because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up, because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me,
and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me.
-- Rev. Martin Niemoller

Have been thinking about advocacy vs. silence for a few days now & figured it was time to post something to discuss.

Things have been all over the place in my life of late. Work has been crazy & things have been difficult in my faith community & circle of friends due to a number of circumstances.

In my job, I often find myself taking on an advocacy role for the young people I work with & trying to stand up for them/ argue their point of view or for their rights with other professionals. As a friend commented to me last week it seems to be about me taking a stand against 'injustice'.

Over the past few weeks within my faith community I've found myself trying to come to terms with what i believe to be 'injustice' and how I begin to make my voice heard. I'll admit for several weeks I kept my head down & steered clear of everyone. But now I find myself questionning my actions - does my silence mean that people perceive that I agree with their actions ? Someone once said -

"Silence is often misinterpreted but never misquoted."

But maybe in some cases silence being misquoted is not a good thing as it may mean it is interpreted as agreement (when it's not). I guess it comes down to how we express our views opinions etc etc - we must take time to think about what & how we say things - everyone has a right to a voice - but when we speak we need to be careful how we phrase our viewpoint so as not to cause more hurt/ misunderstanding. I guess it's important not just to be heard, but to be understood.

In good conversation, people can hear each other, understand & come away with an opportunity for more conversation (thanks Davey !!)

So when is silence a good thing ? When is it not ? I'm not quite sure. But I know that standing up for the rights of the marginalised & speaking out against injustice is important to me. Maybe it's time I should start speaking up more.