Do you answer fully?

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sudy

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Do any of you ever look back on the comments you’ve made in the forums and question whether what you wrote was adequate? I have on a couple of occasions now… and I’ve not been on the forums very long. It’s not that what I’ve written contains error, but rather that the answers aren’t as full as they perhaps should be.

For example, on one topic about marriage and homosexuality, I made what I believe are valid points which ‘added’ to the overall topic… but in hindsight I just don’t think that my explanation of what marriage is was a full enough answer… I mean, luckily others added to what I wrote to explain marriage more fully so there was no harm done. And again, another example is where I mentioned Jesus washing His disciples feet… what I wrote was true, but again not a full answer.

It’s not intentional omission of details, it’s just something I’m noticing if I look back on my comments later… you know? Just wondering whether the rest of you experience this 🙂
Then again, I suppose that this is the whole point of forums, in that we can add our comments when we feel that an answer is deficient somehow.
 
I try not to be comprehensive so there will be something left over for others to say 😉
 
I don’t see how someone could not experience this. Unless they completely lack humility. 😛

Part of it is the nature of the forum. We are limited to a certain number of characters per post. Even without that limitation, though, if we went on too long people would probably lose interest part way through reading our post.

When you combine that with the fact that we are often speaking about truths that touch upon eternity, it is often rather difficult to give a completely comprehensive picture in one simple post. That’s what books are for. 😉 And even books aren’t always enough for some things.

And, of course, fallen, finite human nature being what it is, we forget things now and then.

If I really feel I missed the boat, I may add an additional post for clarification. But, as you said, there are often many other helpful posters who come by and round out the picture without us.

I actually count that as one of the forum’s strong points. I know a fair bit about the faith. But I know that – with all my knowledge – it doesn’t even really scratch the surface of the depth of our Catholic faith. I’m also generally pretty good at articulating my thoughts on paper. But I know that I am very far from perfect in this regard. Thankfully, with all these other forum members, I don’t need to be perfectly articulate with encyclopedic Catholic knowledge at all times. If I miss something or say something the wrong way, someone usually comes by and helps to clarify. I thank God that this is the case.

There is strength in numbers. 🙂
 
Yes, of course. I try to be concise but often that is too concise for adequate explanation.

At the same time, people often become impatient with details. I myself tend to skip over extremely lengthy posts, particularly if they are written as a single block of text!
 
I see what you both mean about losing interest as I’ll admit that often when it’s a long post, or series of posts, I sometimes sort of skim read or miss parts entirely 🙂 depending on the topic of course.

The part you [Joe] wrote about touching upon eternity… this is why it gets difficult as none of us want to be false teachers, or to misguide others. And then again, I suppose if we don’t comment at all, a valid point may be missed.

So, I guess the conclusion is be concise, don’t write in one solid block of text, but try to get the main points over and rely on others to fill in the blanks 🙂

Thank you for replying.
 
sudy said:
I see what you both mean about losing interest as I’ll admit that often when it’s a long post, or series of posts, I sometimes sort of skim read or miss parts entirely 🙂 depending on the topic of course.

The part you [Joe] wrote about touching upon eternity… this is why it gets difficult as none of us want to be false teachers, or to misguide others. And then again, I suppose if we don’t comment at all, a valid point may be missed.

So, I guess the conclusion is be concise, don’t write in one solid block of text, but try to get the main points over and rely on others to fill in the blanks 🙂

Thank you for replying.
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I’ve been thinking more and more about the necessity of relying on the Holy Spirit, and also relying on God’s mercy when it comes to communicating the truths of the faith. I think about Jesus saying it would be better for us to have a millstone wrapped around our neck and for us to be thrown in the sea than to lead a little one astray. Here’s what a millstone looks like:



That’s enough to make anyone nervous! :o But, at the same time, I recall the parable of the talents. The one who got into trouble was the one who buried his talents in the sand and did nothing. So that is not an option.

Not too long ago, I was reflecting on this parable and it occurred to me that there is no character who is given 20 talents and tries to invest them but then manages to lose them all and returns to his master completely empty-handed. There are only those who bear fruit and those who do nothing.

To me, this is encouraging. If we step out in faith and do something, God will be with us. He will see to it that we don’t go bankrupt. The Holy Spirit will show up and the fruit will come. The only way we can be barren is by burying out talents in the sand and doing nothing at all.

This has made me less afraid about stepping out in faith. Yes, I may mess up. But the Holy Spirit is there to fill in the cracks from my shortcomings.
 
I agree with what you wrote about the parable of the talents and I’ve been thinking along the same lines too… yes, really! 🙂 I think I may even have referenced it in one of the topics. The millstone bit didn’t occur to me, thankfully… but I’m sure it will now I’ve seen the pic 😉 so thanks for that.

I really like what you wrote about the 20 talents part though… and it’s funny how it never occurred to me before, but either way it makes me feel better because I’ve been trying not to write any errors or to lead anybody astray as that really matters to me, but I would like to advise/encourage people in the right way, so relying on the Holy Spirit is the best idea, as well as trusting God to be merciful if I make errors 🙂

Thank you again.
 
sudy said:
I agree with what you wrote about the parable of the talents and I’ve been thinking along the same lines too… yes, really! 🙂 I think I may even have referenced it in one of the topics. The millstone bit didn’t occur to me, thankfully… but I’m sure it will now I’ve seen the pic 😉 so thanks for that.

I really like what you wrote about the 20 talents part though… and it’s funny how it never occurred to me before, but either way it makes me feel better because I’ve been trying not to write any errors or to lead anybody astray as that really matters to me, but I would like to advise/encourage people in the right way, so relying on the Holy Spirit is the best idea, as well as trusting God to be merciful if I make errors 🙂

Thank you again.
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Great thanks to both Joe & Sudy, for what you have both said.
Sudy, your thread is i guess along the lines of a Thread I started yesterday.
kind of the same but different. are we doing enough,are we doing it right ?
the story about the talents I guess is what I should have said.
if we hide our soul in the sand, are we better off in the end ?
if we invest in our soul and in a sense gamble with it, could we loose it all together or perhaps double our money ? how pleased would be the master if we had invested it and doubled our money ?
And Joe. did you find that thing by accident by mowing the lawn and taking a chunk out of it…:o
 
sudy said:
Do any of you ever look back on the comments you’ve made in the forums and question whether what you wrote was adequate? I have on a couple of occasions now… and I’ve not been on the forums very long. It’s not that what I’ve written contains error, but rather that the answers aren’t as full as they perhaps should be.

For example, on one topic about marriage and homosexuality, I made what I believe are valid points which ‘added’ to the overall topic… but in hindsight I just don’t think that my explanation of what marriage is was a full enough answer… I mean, luckily others added to what I wrote to explain marriage more fully so there was no harm done. And again, another example is where I mentioned Jesus washing His disciples feet… what I wrote was true, but again not a full answer.

It’s not intentional omission of details, it’s just something I’m noticing if I look back on my comments later… you know? Just wondering whether the rest of you experience this 🙂
Then again, I suppose that this is the whole point of forums, in that we can add our comments when we feel that an answer is deficient somehow.
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Yes indeed I do, sometimes I delete because who am I to give an opinion on something i know little about… I just did that very thing before reading this thread.
and like you I sometimes think that an explanation is not long enough…
these forums are where we can voice an opinion .weather good or not so good.
 
I have discovered firstly on this forum and when speaking to people, that sometimes, not answering fully is the best option. It saves a lot of time scrupulously researching for a OP who may:

a. Need to rephrase the question e.g. it wasn’t what they meant (happens to us all).
b. Need to add some further detail.
c. Wish to consider and discuss in bite sized chunks.
d. Is not really genuinely open to consider different views (not necessarily out of malice).

Plus, I know that there is a great hardcore of moderates with far more knowledge who can fill the gap. This is very comforting when you are simply trying to let someone know that you have read their post by offering a crumb or two (holding the fort) until the person or people called to answer log on.
 
phil_at_dayboro said:
Yes indeed I do, sometimes I delete because who am I to give an opinion on something i know little about… I just did that very thing before reading this thread.
and like you I sometimes think that an explanation is not long enough…
these forums are where we can voice an opinion .weather good or not so good.
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I’ve deleted a few potential comments as well… it’s not so much length that seems missing as content for me though. I want to share what I have but sometimes I don’t feel I do a great job of it 🙂 I do think the talents parable is the guide though… give freely of what we have and don’t bury it, and to trust in God to help us.
Avila123 said:
I have discovered firstly on this forum and when speaking to people, that sometimes, not answering fully is the best option. It saves a lot of time scrupulously researching for a OP who may:

a. Need to rephrase the question e.g. it wasn’t what they meant (happens to us all).
b. Need to add some further detail.
c. Wish to consider and discuss in bite sized chunks.
d. Is not really genuinely open to consider different views (not necessarily out of malice).

Plus, I know that there is a great hardcore of moderates with far more knowledge who can fill the gap. This is very comforting when you are simply trying to let someone know that you have read their post by offering a crumb or two (holding the fort) until the person or people called to answer log on.
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I know what you mean about that. I’ve answered a question on here when tbh I could already see that the guy had merely come to express his point of view with determination and wasn’t really open to other view points, with the way he had already bypassed the other comments, but I got drawn into the heavy debate anyway, feeling that I had something to add. Luckily I see that the more astute members have taken over… though tbh I still feel I have plenty more to offer 🙂 and I probably still will. It’s just a matter of watching now and seeing how it all pans out, I guess.
 
sudy said:
I’ve deleted a few potential comments as well… it’s not so much length that seems missing as content for me though. I want to share what I have but sometimes I don’t feel I do a great job of it 🙂 I do think the talents parable is the guide though… give freely of what we have and don’t bury it, and to trust in God to help us.

I know what you mean about that. I’ve answered a question on here when tbh I could already see that the guy had merely come to express his point of view with determination and wasn’t really open to other view points, with the way he had already bypassed the other comments, but I got drawn into the heavy debate anyway, feeling that I had something to add. Luckily I see that the more astute members have taken over… though tbh I still feel I have plenty more to offer 🙂 and I probably still will. It’s just a matter of watching now and seeing how it all pans out, I guess.
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It seems to me that prayer is the key, praying for guidance or prayerfully responding. Although CAF is where I post generally, I do belong to another project (very different to CAF) and have an admin role. Taking all my online activities into account I find that if I focus on God and the soul/s, He offers what I need, including the wisdom to walk away. Any focus on self just fails. I cannot count the hours spent preparing responses and deleting them, with no regrets because nothing is ever really wasted.

Now I am out of my comfort zone and am discussing the faith face to face in a Bible Study. It is hard to balance being supportive, not dumping knowledge on people who may not want or need it and trying to anticipate the questions not covered in the study material.
 
kkollwitz said:
I type badly so rarely say more than a little bit.
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Every little helps 🙂 we’re all aiming for the same goals and it’s a team job.
Avila123 said:
It seems to me that prayer is the key, praying for guidance or prayerfully responding. Although CAF is where I post generally, I do belong to another project (very different to CAF) and have an admin role. Taking all my online activities into account I find that if I focus on God and the soul/s, He offers what I need, including the wisdom to walk away. Any focus on self just fails. I cannot count the hours spent preparing responses and deleting them, with no regrets because nothing is ever really wasted.

Now I am out of my comfort zone and am discussing the faith face to face in a Bible Study. It is hard to balance being supportive, not dumping knowledge on people who may not want or need it and trying to anticipate the questions not covered in the study material.
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You’re so right about that. And when you wrote about ‘focus on self’, I just realised how much I spoke about me and I on here sigh …it’s not that I don’t realise that all goodness comes from God, but I think I really do need to reflect that more with what I’m writing.
 
It can be frustrating. You can labour over your post for ages, have a thesis and supporting arguments, and make a perfect point, but when you post your 1500-word opus most people will either not read it at all, or “skim” and miss your point entirely.

I blame twitter, but I really try nowadays to keep my posts short. Even if it’s not my entire point wrapped up with a tidy bow, it’s still better to throw the new idea out there in some form or another, even if it is only 140 characters. 👍
 
CanadianNewbie said:
It can be frustrating. You can labour over your post for ages, have a thesis and supporting arguments, and make a perfect point, but when you post your 1500-word opus most people will either not read it at all, or “skim” and miss your point entirely.

I blame twitter, but I really try nowadays to keep my posts short. Even if it’s not my entire point wrapped up with a tidy bow, it’s still better to throw the new idea out there in some form or another, even if it is only 140 characters. 👍
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I’d really like to write the valid point in a clear and concise way while avoiding getting drawn into a heavy debate, yet I’m left feeling uncertain about how to proceed now. I’ve started feeling discouraged, too… only intermittently… sort of like, who am I to imagine that I know better than others, you know? And at other times, I see that a vital aspect of the topic appears to be missing and that’s when I’ve been getting involved.

You know, I’ve decided to go ahead as I was doing before. The parable of the talents seems pretty clear cut. I’m praying daily and feel I’m moving closer to God so I’m just going to trust that He’ll guide me in the right way. I can over-analyze this to death and I’ll be no better off. As Jesus said, worrying won’t add a single hour to our lives. I thought about deleting my first paragraph but I’ve decided to leave it in as it’s all relevant 🙂 However, I will try to be more concise and hopefully a little more humble.
 
And what was yesterday’s Gospel reading? The Parable of the Talents. 😛 It reminded me of this thread. 🙂
 
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