Penny For Your Thoughts By: Nancy Whitaker
One of the things we try and teach our children is not to stick their tongues out at people. It is rude and some kids and adults will do it to someone they don’t like or maybe for attention. However, in Tibet, people greet one another by sticking out their tongues.
I was thinking about our tongues and the power it gives us each day. We would not be able to eat , drink, chew or talk without a tongue. We can tell by our taste buds if something is sweet, salty, hot or cold.
To say we have control over our tongues and what we say would be good, but so many times words that come out of our mouths can be mean and hateful.
To gossip are words that comes from the tongue which may not be true. Gossip can catch fire and spread through work places, churches, schools and homes.
We have all probably played the game of passing words to players down a line and by the time the words get to the end of the line, they are totally different than what the beginning of the phrase was.
One thing I do recall about growing up is that we had a crank telephone. In order for me to even reach it, I had to stand on a chair. We had what we called “a party line.” Party lines was when almost all of your neighbors were on the same main telephone line and we each had a certain ring to let us know the call was for us.
I think our ring was two longs and a short, but everyone knew everyone elses ring. You could almost hear every ones receiver being taken off the telephone when the phone rang and you knew everyone was listening. We could listen in on conversations such as,” We butchered a pig today,”or “Junior got a D in English,”or “that newly wed couple is expecting a baby.”
By the time we told each of our friends and families the news, it became widespread. Is this gossip? Do we listen in and spread the so-called news around with the power of our tongues?
I have always seemed to have a lot to say and controlling my tongue is something I struggle with each day. If I hit my thumb with a hammer, instead of saying, “Ouch that hurt., “I usually think of a few more words to add to it.
Sometimes cutting a persons tongue out is a form of punishment. The following story comes from Iraq from a 38 year old man. (IRIN paper) The insurgents entered into Iraq and forced Muhanned Sulaiman to work for them. The man had a wife and children and worked for the insurgents for two years.
He told the newspaper that he did not kill any Americans. but studied maps of where to find military sites. He said, “Two months ago I told the insurgents I could no longer do my job because I was sick.” “They did not seem surprised.”
However, two days later, three men came to the Sulaiman home and took Muhanned with them.
They went to a house and once inside, Muhanned was pushed to the floor, held down and the insurgents pulled out his tongue and cut it off. Sulaiman said, “I never felt so much pain in my life. They put a lot of cotton in my mouth and drove me to a hospital.
The insurgents told the hospital that Muhanned had an accident. Following surgery, the 38 year old could not talk, but eventually went home and with the help of signing and visual aids managed to leave Iraq and get another job in Syria.
He said, “They cut out my tongue to keep me from talking.”
We all love it when someone says, “Wow you look nice today,” Or, “Your hair looks really good.” We may not know it, but you may make someones day with a positive comment.
Nick Stoeberl an artist and comedian from California. holds the Guinness Book of Records for the longest tongue with a whopping 10.5 cm. He said his father was a KISS fan and Nick would act like Gene Simmons. As a youngster, he noticed that his tongue was longer than most. He said that he can lick his nose and his elbow.
The old saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” is simply not true. We can either bring blessings or say mean things to people. Proverbs 15:4 says “The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.” So go ahead and make someone’s day with kind words and some time someone may just make your day.
Have you ever made someone’s day? Do you think the tongue can be used for good and evil? Oh, have you ever ate cow or pig tongue? And, who has EVER measured their tongue? Let me know and I’ll give you a Penny for Your Thoughts.
