She shifted her weight from one
foot to the other; she hadn’t meant to start a debate, and especially not in
church. We’ve all been there. At one point or another, our opinions once
voiced have caused problems. They can be
minor problems, like a dirty look from a stranger, or they can be more major
problems, like being shot for treason.
Once I responded casually to a
comment that a visitor made at my church.
His comment sounded as innocent as his handlebar mustache, but he was
really probing for a debate. He wasn’t
the first either. “Predestination” is a
hot topic for debates, and since I’m not a Calvinist I seem to be automatically
a target for those who are. I couldn’t
count his fallacies on two hands, yet he persisted. A wise man once said that stubbornness is
sticking with your opinion because you know you’re right, but obstinacy is
sticking with your opinion even when you suspect you’re wrong. Want another to add to the list? Insecurity is tearing down other people’s
opinions because you aren’t sure that you’re right.
Lots of people are able to avoid
conflicts by knowing when to keep their mouth shut. It’s dangerous to talk. Isn’t it dangerous to stick up for something everyone
else disagrees with? How about
disagreeing even when you’re the obvious minority? What about speaking in the silences that
people expect to stay empty?
In the end, being who we are will
always offend or madden somebody. So how
do we stay true to who we are, and yet stay safe? We pretend that we agree, or we stay silent,
or we use the anonymous setting on our computer. In the end, nobody really wears their
heart on their sleeves. So you want to know the
safest place in the world?
It's behind our masks.
Some prompts elicit strong writing, some do the opposite. If I were teaching this course again, I'd probably drop this prompt as doing too much the second thing.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, your piece is vague--you need it to be vague to protect your personal privacy. Fair enough!
But why decide to write about something you necessarily have to be vague about? Why take the prompt so literally?
"A wise man once said that stubbornness is sticking with your opinion because you know you’re right, but obstinacy is sticking with your opinion even when you suspect you’re wrong. "
ReplyDeleteGee, where did you come up with this? Nice!
;)
I don't see why you shift from third to first person here. Why not keep it in first-person throughout?
ReplyDeleteWe pretend that we agree, or we stay silent, or we use the anonymous setting on our computer. In the end, nobody really wears their heart on their sleeves. So you want to know the safest place in the world?
ReplyDeleteIt's behind our masks.
First sentence here snaps the reader to attention. The last two sentences, particularly the last one, raises the stakes even higher. No reader can escape personal consideration of that last sentence.
Thanks, you were right - I was sticking with the obvious in my first attempt. Going a little deeper is much better. I read in a writing book this week "don't write what you know, write who you are." I like that.
ReplyDelete