Boast: to speak with exaggeration and excessive pride. In our all-about-me culture, it’s becoming increasingly prevalent (and seemingly acceptable) to interrupt and one-up conversations with stories about ourselves.
Kirstin Wiigs’ SNL character “Penelope” helps me see this side of myself. I don’t like it, but I’m grateful for the humorous take.
Are not Penelope’s self-centered interruptions another example of what Josef Pieper calls “speech without a partner“?
When our speech is loving, it is always for the benefit of the other, not for self-aggrandizement.
This post is part of a 
series (see A Lenten Invitation from a Babbling Brook: Focus on Speech and Silence). To receive new installments, you’re invited to “Follow SparrowFare via Email” by placing your email address in the FOLLOW box in the right sidebar (mobile users will find it below). Please share the posts that speak to you. In this contentious time, let’s spread the word about the importance of our words.
