When my daughter decided to follow in her older brother’s footsteps and join the local basketball team, Sue and I wondered how she would go. Sarah is a really social person and loves to make new friends and this is the disposition she carried out onto the basketball court. I was coaching one of my son’s team, so I missed her debut as a player.
When I got home, I asked Sarah, “How did you go darling?” To which she replied, “Great! I made a new friend!”
This puzzled me, I looked at Sue who said through her smile, “Sarah didn’t go anywhere near the ball or other players, but she did talk the whole game with another girl from the other team!”
This story came flooding back to me when I recently read from The Old Testament Book of Proverbs, Chapter 10 verse 19, “He who holds his tongue is wise.”
A text like this reminds that it is easy to talk and often all we do is talk, talk, talk! It is important to be able to talk and communicate effectively, but talking too much can be as bad as not talking at all. Sometimes a well-chosen sentence has more power than a whole paragraph and this is why the book of Proverbs extols rationing our words.
I read the story of Thomas Eddison, the inventor, who was at a reception when the toastmaster stood up and complimented him on his many inventions, especially The Talking Machine. This was known as The Tinfoil Phonograph, which was invented in 1877. It was the first device to record and play back sound. As the toastmaster sat down after his very long-winded introduction of Thomas Eddison, the aged inventor slowly rose to his feet and said, “Thank you for your kind remarks, but I must correct one thing. It was God who invented the talking machine, I only invented the first one that can be shut off!”
Amid the humour of this story, let us not miss the point: that words are important, but let's not overdo them! This is why I like the advice contained in a poem by an anonymous writer:
“If your lips would keep from slips
Five things observe with care:
Of whom you speak, to whom you speak,
And how and when and where.”
A wise person is someone who has a disciplined tongue. Many need to learn this for, just like the tongue in old lace up shoes is the last part to wear out, so is our tongue the last thing to be worn out.
In a classroom there are many words spoken day in and day out. One of the prayers the staff and I have is that the students would not sense we just talk, talk, talk, but rather thyat the words we offer can help them to discern and exercise wisdom. Our prayer is that the words we share bring hope, encouragement and peace, enabling each student to draw closer and deeper to becoming followers of Jesus.