"There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." - Proverbs 12:18
The tongue is an interesting part of the body and the reading from Proverbs says how it is. The use of the tongue can either be so encouraging to an individual or it can be quite damaging depending on its use.
One of my early hobbies was the breeding of Mynah birds in my specially adapted shed out in the garden. They are lovely birds and, in my opinion, the best mimics on the planet in their speaking ability. It was the clarity of their speech that was the attraction for me, beautiful talkers and can mimic humans in a way I’ve never seen before.
I was contacted one day by a lovely old gentleman from Dundee asking if I would like a another mature Mynah bird for my collection. He explained on the telephone that he’d been given the pet for company on his retirement, but decided to part with the bird as it wouldn’t speak. Jock was a beautiful bird and even on the journey home wouldn’t speak to me either but I thought given time it would settle down. I isolated the bird for a while and kept a watchful eye on him. Weeks past and he still wouldn’t speak and by this time I thought something serious was wrong, so sought advice from another breeder friend who also happened to be the Major in the local salvation army Citadel. He offered to take Jock for a time of observation and this was when the fun started.
The Major turned up on the doorstep late one evening in quite an anxious state saying that he’d guests in for a meal and during this time the bird had started talking but was using some inappropriate language. Apparently, he’d placed the Mynah bird in its cage on top of the piano in the room where they all were and some of the guests were senior officials of his church. Jock had begun to use foul language which didn’t go down well at all with the invited guests.
After all this, I thought it best to investigate Jocks past and it turned out the bird originally belonged to a night watchman in a rough area of the city and discovered it wouldn’t begin talking until around 10:00 at night.
Sometimes we can be too quick with the tongue to a level that can be hurtful to someone who happens to be in the firing line. Also, we can be too quick to judge with our tongues. Paul the apostle could shoot from the hip now and again but still came away with those words from Ephesians 4:29: “Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift.”
I remember my mother saying to us, “If you can’t say anything good about a person, then don’t bother saying anything”. Maybe this technique should also apply today!
Enjoy your day.
Tom Bonnar
Image: Common hill mynah bird taken by Nafis Ameen, this image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.