Loose Lips
You may not be familiar with the old saying, “loose lips, sink ships,” the English equivalent of which is to “keep mum”. These phrases originated during WWII and were published during that period by governments to warn soldiers and civilians to beware of loose talk and idle gossip that our enemies might use against us. Still, in ordinary life, there are always people who will both seek and/or invent information, which they can use to further their own personal agendas or paranoia. The bible’s version, which predates our own well grounded feelings on the subject. “Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets; therefore do not associate with a simple babbler.” (Proverbs 20:19 ESV). Even if we’ve only lived long enough to discover community parks, ponds and teeter totters, the chances are that we’ve either participated in or been victimized by idle or intentional gossip. In our highly diverse, imperfect lives and world, there is an abundance of information which can inflict harm or further suffering on us and those around us. One of my earlier adolescent memories, came out of someone’s generational prejudices. I grew up in a predominantly Christian community, which had a tiny lake where children gathered for summer fun. The equivalent of the town “swimming hole” of earlier generations. The summer of my first “crush”, I’d spent the day captivated by the attention of a delightful female schoolmate at our swimming hole. A neighbor (allegedly Christian) gave several of us from our neighborhood, rides home that day. I was asked this question by a friends mom, “You do know that (name with-held) is Jewish don’t you John”?
My mom dispelled my concerns and condemned her “friend’s” suggestion, while promoting the cherished, but too quickly lost innocence of childhood. I learned a valuable lesson that day. Whatever path we choose to follow, each and every soul incarnated on this planet, was given life by God. Today our “loose lips”, have been plumped out to include, television, texting, blogging and social media. The sins of the father are God’s alone to judge. In my own short life, I’ve seen and felt every form of prejudicial paranoia; racial, religious, cultural, economic, age and personal. I’ve watched how gossip and innuendo have heightened fear, hatred and misunderstanding. In this relatively young country, virtually every different culture has at one time been victimized by our “loose lips”. God carved the solution in stone, in the mind cleansing simplest of terms, “... You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:39 ESV). There are still no exceptions!
JC Calkins with COMMON SENSE 4 UNCOMMON PEOPLE (share)
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