VERSION|0.5.1|SUBJECT|Rev Rob Marshall, Team Rector of East Ham   |CONTENT|[b]Rating[/b] 3 out of 5 (Fairly platitudinous)

[url=http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap130216.html][img=images/2013/02/pic130216.jpg popup=false float=right][/url][url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21483103]Whistle blowing in the NHS[/url] is in the news. This brings up the important subject of when to speak and when to remain silent. The question arises whether in the home or at work, in the public or private sectors, whether it is about fraud or nepotism, theft or injustice, hypocrisy or selfishness, or any other list of alternatives that might pad this talk out and make it sound as if I'm actually saying something.

Sometimes it is better to speak out but sometimes it is better to remain silent. C.S. Lewis said it can hurt to speak out but it can also hurt to remain silent. Churchill said it took courage to speak out but it also took courage to remain silent. It is a matter of knowing when to speak out and when to remain silent.

Ecclesiastes says there is a time to speak out and a time to remain silent. By this, it means that sometimes it is better to speak out but sometimes it is better to remain silent.  It also says there is a [url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ecclesiastes+3&version=NIV]time to tear and a time to mend[/url]. This means that sometimes it is time to throw something away and start afresh but sometimes it is better to make do and mend.

But how do we know when it is time to speak and when it is time to remain silent? We must look at the implications. If the implications of speaking out are better than the implications of remaining silent then it is better to speak out. However if the implications of remaining silent are better than the implications of speaking out then it is better to remain silent.

That is how you know when to speak out and when to remain silent, which just goes to show how gobsmackingly intelligent C.S. Lewis was.

[url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0157pjb]Listen/Read[/url]|CATEGORIES|53|IP-ADDRESS|94.168.119.214|CREATEDBY|admin|DATE|1361005613
