An Awkward Silence

We don't always have the right words. But showing our intentions helps.

The Silence by Stefano Bersani (Flickr - CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

“You have a grand gift of silence, Watson,” said he. “It makes you quite invaluable as a companion.” — Arthur Conan Doyle, 1891

“I really don’t know what to say.”

That’s how I opened a conversation with a friend in the last couple of days — a friend who has family in Israel right now.

“I just don’t have the words,” I continued.

Having read and seen enough of the news coverage of the horrific massacre over the weekend, I was simply at a loss.

Bewildered.

Bereft.

Benumbed.

But my friend understood my intentions. He knew that by simply expressing my shock and sadness, I was in solidarity with him.

Had I chosen not to mention it, he might have thought differently. That is, if I had chosen the path of silence, it would have communicated something else entirely.

Silence, in that case, would have been deafening.

The challenge, I think, is that too often, we try to fill the silence by yammering away — filling …