Bolt thy tongue!
“Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” (James 3:5-8)
Lightening Bolt has taken the world by storm, gobbling up the opponents and he has got the world at his feet now! After winning his second gold medal of the 2012 Summer Olympics, Usain Bolt took the time to talk about Carl Lewis. The fastest man in the world was super-swift with his tongue as well, he said: "I'm going to say something controversial right now. Carl Lewis, I have no respect for him," said Bolt. It would have been marvelous, the greatest achievement of all and an amazing example, if Bolt had conquered that moment of anger and ‘bolted’ his tongue during the media conference, from where his words would boom around the world. Alas! The world’s fastest man failed to control his temper and his tongue!
Olympic gold is dazzling, harvested through grit, determination, sacrifice and assiduous training; alright, but friend, let your speech be ‘golden!’ It is of utmost importance to know how to handle success with poise, dignity and elegant demeanor.
We all can think of a time in our lives, probably not too far back, when anger just seemed to consume us. That car that cut us off on the way to work, that woman that stole the parking spot we were waiting on for thirty minutes, the man who jumps queue at the bill counter, the car that overtakes you at the fuel station, the list could go on and on…. Anger is not something we seek after in our lives; however, it’s something that frequently finds its way there; nevertheless, the challenge is to handle it with poise. It’s easy to spew out expletives but it sure needs character to hold your tongue! Are you listening!
With so much of talking, chatting and discussions going on around us in the form of talk-shows, reality shows and what not…..this topic of controlling our tongue, sure needs attention, today you can become popular and you can earn a lot of bucks if you have the gift of the gab. ‘Gift of the gab’ is what the society boasts off today! Aggressive, harsh swaggers are admired because they hold the reign in the society today. Lash your tongue, smash the chin, box the nose and get your work done is the policy of today! Recently while I was traveling in the train, the man in the upper berth started counseling a man over mobile at 5 pm and continued until around 8 pm. Three full hours! I’m not kidding, believe me. Surprisingly there was not much substance in his counseling, the guy on the other side must have been fiercely desperate to listen to such blabber. We have forgotten to use our brains these days. We find profuse words everywhere, right from the parliament to the pavement we see the heat fuming. Immaculately dressed ramp walkers, celebrities of the tinsel world, skilled artistes drop their guard and reveal their inner demons while they are even slightly provoked. Carefully applied make-up melts and reveals the grotesque figures underneath. More than all the accomplishments, burgeoning medals and trophies that adorn your shelf, ‘gracious speech’ is most predominant.
An eloquent, articulate speaker like U.S.President Barack Obama could also mess up on words when they let their guard down is evident from him comparing his mom-in-law to his pet dog Bo. Imagine! He said that his pet dog Bo had more charisma than his mom-in-law, he later tried to butter it with profuse words, though. What is spilt is spilt! It’s alright to be witty but never at the cost of appearing nutty!
The remarkable increase in divorces and broken homes, highlights with pinpoint precision, the free floating sense of fickleness, recklessness and lack of gentleness that pervades relationships today. If it is your ‘swollen pay packet, so-called knowledge that is causing you to be swollen headed’ then cut that. “The lips of the righteous feed many” (Prov. 10:21). Jesus said, “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).
More than all the other achievements, we need to curb that small tongue of ours. Remember, it is a small fire that blitzes an entire forest! Remove harsh language, coarse language, deceit, hurtful words, bitter words, boastful words and cunning words, let your words be pleasant ! “Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones!” It requires an endless supply of energy, a massive amount of patience and iron will to control our unbridled tongue in this world. Let’s do it!
“Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” (Colossians 4:6).
"It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt" (Abraham Lincoln). |
