TALK DOES NOT COOK RICE

Proverbs 14.23
TALK DOES NOT COOK RICE
"All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty." (v23)

THE LOGISTICS OF AN INTERNATIONAL conference can be staggering. I attended one where 4,000 participants converged from a hundred or so nations. We sat through up to six sessions a day for ten days. We had the choice of some 400 workshops. We listened to hours of lectures and papers, and leafed through thousands of pages of reading material. I simply marvelled at the deluge of words that flooded our minds at such a gathering. Yet we knew that unless we followed up with work, all that talk would be in vain.

As a pithy Chinese proverb puts it, "Talk does not cook rice." Talk alone does not feed hungry stomachs. Work does. So the contrast is between what we say and what we do. We talk more than we work because one is obviously easier than the other. In fact, talking is more pleasurable too. I remember once in Calcutta a few of us engaged in a stimulating discussion on "What I would do for the pavement dwellers if I were the Prime Minister of India." All sorts of ingenious ideas were thrown up. I am afraid it had done no good for the poor in the city, simply because it was talk without work.

Not only is it easy to talk, man lives with the strange illusion that when he has talked about something, he has discharged his duty towards it. Perhaps it is because we find security in words. We take pride in neat ideas, carefully drafted proposals and impressive presentations. However, the uncomfortable truth is that no plan on paper will spring to life without work. Nothing will be done if we are not ready for the burning of midnight oil, the grind and sweat of anguished minds and tired bones.

So Proverbs speaks of the folly of one who "chases fantasies" (28.19). He daydreams of grandeur, but does not wake up to work out his dreams. A vision is good, but without work, it remains only a mirage. Nothing can substitute hard work. We often see the results and forget the efforts behind the endeavours, so effortless they sometimes appear to be. (For the information of the reader, it takes about two hours to write one page of these readings, which is read in a few minutes.)

On the other hand, this does not mean that words are therefore useless. On the contrary, some of the most powerful movements in world history were born of fiery words — spoken and written. Work alone becomes a chore if there is no dream to fire it. Talking about a task helps us clarify our vision, and plow straight. In that sense, talk and work go together.

Do I match my talk with my work?