The Wisdom of others 1

"La bouche garde le silence pour écouter parler le coeur."  Alfred de Musset
"The mouth keeps silent in order to hear the heart speak."

French poet who started with the Romantics but was part of a literary group that didn't want to be categorized.
He became a member of the famous, prestigious Académie Française. Died youngish having led an increasingly dissolute life which sapped his creative energy.

I don't know the context of this saying, so I will just explain why I like this phrase.

I am a talker. I always seem to have something to say. And I love knowing things and finding things out. However, I have realized that it doesn't really matter if others don't know what I know. I don't have to inflict all my fascinating thoughts on others!

From a psychological/emotional point of view, my need to talk and to share comes from a need to be recognized and appreciated. But also comes from an innate desire to share with others and to bond through common experience and knowledge. So if I stop talking long enough, I can hear what my heart (our way of describing the seat of our emotions) is really saying.

Having heard, and defined my real need, I can tailor my response so as to be more considerate of the people around me.

But, more importantly, I can let my silence be an invitation to the Holy Spirit to minister to me and to help me in my need. In this way I can develop my dependance on God the Father instead of being yet another needy person others have to deal with.

In Christian Counselling, in any form of therapy in fact, we aim to help the client/patient understand what his/her psyche is really expressing in order to find a way to be more balanced and to find a certain freedom in well-being. So silence and reflection are vital to the process of listening to one's heart. Yet after that, we encourage words because they are therapeutic.

"Be still and know that I am God" is one of the most healing phrases I know.

(Psalm 46:10)