Tongues and Things

The first 12 verses of James (Bible) speaks to the human tongue. We had an excellent sermon, in church, yesterday, on this topic. Naturally, it was related to speech and what comes out of our mouths, and who or what controls that. But the nature of speech has evolved since those ancient times and speech is now much more than what you say out of your mouth. Back then, it was the primary form of communication as literacy and availability of parchment (paper) was limited. Today we have the Internet with its attendant Face book, email, Twitter, and blogs. The written word has in some ways surpassed the spoken word as a form of communications, for some of us. But the principle still applies as what is written is still out of the heart, not via the tongue, but via the fingers and keyboard. In fact it can be more dangerous, as a written word cannot as easily be taken back, and can certainly be misunderstood much more readily. A great part of speech communication is voice inflection, eye contact, and body language, as well as opportunity to rebut, challenge, or clarify what is being said. These are not available to the e-mailer or blogger, so great care must be taken.
We all need to be challenged and held accountable for our words and that is why I invite comments. If you and I were face to face having a conversation and it was strictly one way, not much would be accomplished. If I said something that you disagreed with, or something that offended you, and you said nothing, I would take it to mean that you agreed and approved. I know that dialogue is not the purpose of a blog, but a comment to challenge an idea is certainly in order. I, like everybody, need to be held accountable.