Watch that tongue!

YES, we have to be watchful with our tongue. It many times

can be like a loose cannon, spewing all of kinds of inconsiderate and

reckless comments. We have to have a good grip on it because it tends

to be simply guided by emotions and passions and to be largely

beholden to external factors and conditionings with hardly any

consideration to the real score of things. In other words, we can be

very tactless!

  

            Christ somehow referred to this when he lamented over the

misjudgments of some people of his time: “John the Baptist came

neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’

The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at this

glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and of sinners.’” (Lk

7,33-34)

  

            This is, of course, a common phenomenon, now getting very

serious in some places where the means of communication are well

developed but the commentators are not as developed. There is so much

bashing, slamming and bullying, fault-finding and inane, frivolous

talk. 

  

            Especially in the area of politics, a lot of negativity is

created and we cannot deny that we now have a thick smog of

contaminating views and opinions that are so biased and subjective

that even the basic requirement of fact-checking is thrown out of the

window. Sometimes, commentators are caught merely inventing things,

and they do not seem to mind even if they are caught with their pants

down.

  

            Perhaps, it is not so much in our country, thank God, as

in other countries, like the more developed ones like the US and

Europe where the media is powerful and the people are getting more and

more articulate and expressive, albeit very biased, creating a perfect

formula for toxic contentiousness.

  

            We really have to be watchful with our tongue. Let’s

remember what St. James said about it:

  

            “A small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot

chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. In the same way, the

tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark

can set a great forest on fire. And among all the parts of the body,

the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness,

corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for

it is set on fire by hell itself.” (3,4-6)

  

            We should be very concerned about disciplining and taming

our tongue, putting it strictly at the service of prudent reasoning

that is inspired by faith, hope and charity. There is no other way to

tame our tongue. Otherwise, it would just be at the mercy of

instincts, emotions, passions, biases, and all sorts of conditionings.

  

            With such discipline, we would know when and how to talk

and when to keep quiet. We would know that in spite of our unavoidable

differences and conflicts, we are all brothers and sisters, children

of God, bound to love one another.

   

            We should therefore be very delicate in our speech. This

does not take away the forcefulness we would like to have in

expressing our views. Forcefulness should not be seen as an excuse for

bad manners.

   

            We have to avoid gossiping. If we have to talk about

somebody else, we should focus on the positive side rather than on the

negative, even if a person has clearly made a mistake, and even a

terrible one at that.

  

            We have to be ready always with good and edifying stories,

anecdotes and jokes if only to spice up our commentaries. That is why

it is always good to make it a habit to collect good stories and

anecdotes, and to be always prepared to speak well, avoiding as much

as possible speaking off the cuff.