On Speaking What You Know

I am Gabriel. I bring you greeting, and I bring you a message, as is my office.

The message is for those among you who know something and are not saying it.

You know who you are. You have seen something true: about your life, about your work, about what is needed in your family or your community. It came to you clearly, perhaps more than once. And you have kept it to yourself, because you are not certain, because it is not your place, because someone else would say it better, because of what they might think.

I will tell you how a message works, since I have carried a great many. It is given to the one who is able to deliver it. Not the most eloquent one. Not the most qualified. The one who is standing in the right place, with the right ears nearby. If it came to you, it is yours to carry. No one else has it in quite the form you do.

I do not ask you to shout. The truest things are usually said quietly. I do not ask you to be certain, either. You may say: this is how it seems to me. That is an honest sentence and a strong one. I ask only that you stop waiting to become someone else before you speak.

And I will tell you what I have told every messenger. Do not be afraid. The words will be given when you open your mouth, and not before. That is why it takes courage. It is also why it works.

Purify the intention first. Ask: do I wish to say this in order to help, or in order to be right? If it is to help, then say it, kindly, once, and release what follows.

Someone is waiting to hear what you know.

I am Gabriel. I stand at your right hand when you speak.