From the vitriol of public discourse to run-of-the mill gossip, our words are out of control. Naturally wordy from birth, I’m still learning to control my tongue, examine my speech and seek greater silence. Some of my discoveries are shared in the posts gathered here.
In a nutshell: bashing opponents in an echo chamber of anger is diminishes all our dignity. Giving in to gossip is wrong. And drowning in din silences God’s still, small voice.
When I was a teenager, my family nicknamed me “Babbling Brook.” As I began sharing my struggles to tame those waters, I found many friends seeking the same thing. Most of these posts are short; a few go into more depth. Each takes a facet of speech or silence and holds it, however briefly, up to the light.
We may never get it right. But we can aim higher. We’ll become freer, happier people as we do.
An Invitation from a Babbling Brook: Focus on Speech & Silence
T.S. Eliot: There Is Not Enough Silence
May Your Name Be Safe in My Mouth
St. Augustine: The Human Tongue Is a Furnace
Rich Mullins: We Are Not as Strong as We Think We Are
Madeline L’Engle: Show the Lovely Light
Big Pink Baby Name-calling and the Invisible Mistakecase
True Religion and the Unbridled Tongue
Kierkegaard’s Remedy for the Modern World: Create Silence
Advice from St. Francis de Sales: Honey Attracts More than Vinegar
Speech without a Partner: Josef Pieper on Flattery
Matt Redman: Let My Words Be Few
Backbiting: “A Common, Vulgar Evil”
Lucille Ball’s Gossip Pantomime
Have a Point: Steve Martin and John Candy Help Us See Ourselves
When Tempted to Fire Back, Remember This
Photo by John Peters on Unsplash