The ubiquitous tongue

James 3:4-8
4Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

I felt slighted by a friend recently, with words shot point blank without first checking. Obviously I was most unhappy but decided to do the opposite - reticence. The air is already bad, although I don't think this person knows it; and I rather it not get worse. So I have decided to keep mum over it.

I was checking out some proverbs and found this:

The Taming of the Tongue by Leonard Ravenhill
Until recently, we were pretty much in the dark about the human body. But then came the X-ray with its peeping eye...a marvelous instrument which has saved us much human misery. It was able to show us the human heart, but it couldn't show us the soul or it could show us the throat, but not the voice. The brain, but not the mind. Nevertheless, medical science has done much to help this outward man that perishes. If our eyes are getting dim, we can get glasses. If our kidneys or heart fail, we can have a transplant. But as far as I know, there is one member of the body that has never been transplanted. If we used our arms and legs as much as we use this part, we'd be incredibly stiff and sore. But this member never gets tired, and I've never seen one with a splint on it. As you get older you may get dentures - but you will always have the same tongue you were born with! There are artificial joints made these days, but no artificial tongues.

For more, read it here.

And some other interesting sayings and proverbs:

The human tongue is more poisonous than a bee's sting. ~ Vietnamese saying

The tongue has no bones, yet it breaks bones. ~ Greek saying

口是傷人斧, 舌是割肉刀.
Your mouth is like an axe, and your tongue a butcher's knife. ~ Chinese saying

Better slip with foot than tongue. ~ Ben Franklin

巧言不如直道, 明人不必細說.
Righteousness is better than cunning words, A sensible person speaks carefully. ~ Chinese saying

Give thy thoughts no tongue. ~ William Shakespeare

Having two ears and one tongue, we should listen twice as much as we speak. ~ Turkish saying

一言(已)出,駟馬難追.
Once a word leaves your mouth, you cannot chase it back even with a "chariot drawn by 4 horses." ~ Chinese saying

Turn your tongue seven times in your mouth before you utter a word. ~ Chinese saying

Let a fool hold his tongue and he will pass for a sage. ~ Anonymous

The tongue speaks, but the head doesn't know. ~ Russian saying

Better to stumble than make a slip of the tongue. ~ Russian saying

Listen or your tongue will keep you deaf. ~ Native American proverb

The wise man has long ears and a short tongue. ~ German proverb

I can't really control how other people will guard their tongue, but I had better guard mine.

Maeghan
Picture by Craig Jewell