Appropriate Silence

16“To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:

17“ ‘We played the pipe for you,

and you did not dance;

we sang a dirge,

and you did not mourn.’

- Matthew 11 NIV

I settled on this title because I have appropriated this saying of Jesus. I can't say that I will stick with what he meant.

As written, the generation is likened to the children, but, in context, the children are John and Jesus not being heeded by the market place crowds.

I would suggest that we re-interpret this to be appropriate for our own generation and time.

We are the children and we are the crowds in the market place. We have at times both mourning and joy. Not at the same time and not in the same manner and not about the same things. Sometimes we respond outwardly, sometimes not.

Sometimes being silent and listening to other children is the appropriate response.