The Safety of Counsel

Young people sometimes decide to go it alone in life. They learn a little and feel they have learned much more, and often fail to ask for counsel because they think they already know the answer⎯or at least the one they want. But none of us⎯at any age⎯is ever so old or so young, or so wise that he know all the answers. When a person of much experience and much responsibility fails to seek or accept counsel, he has arrived at a precarious place. And when a person of inexperience feels he doesn’t need to listen, doesn’t need to learn, he, too, has arrived at a precarious place. “They that will not be counseled,” said Benjamin Franklin, “cannot be helped. If you do not hear reason she will rap you on the knuckles.” No one is knowledgeable enough, or has experience enough to think of everything at once, to see all possible meanings in a contract or commitment, or be aware of all the hazards, or see all sides of a subject. No one should write a letter of serious commitment or put anything into print or make a decision of consequence in matters of marriage or money or career, or be enticed to sign or say yes to any plausible proposition, or make any quick or substantial decision of any kind without considering, reconsidering, and seeking adequate counsel. Successful people need counsel. Unsuccessful people need counsel. The hasty impulse, the know-it-all attitude, the pride or stubbornness that keeps us from asking⎯these are dangerous approaches to any problem. From the youngest in years to the oldest of age, there is no one who can be always sure he is right, no one who has learned so much of life that he doesn’t need the counsel of others, and a prayerful approach to all problems. There is safety in counsel, no safety without it. “They that will not be counseled, cannot be helped.”