WEIGHING WORDS, MEASURING THOUGHTS

[Jesus said:] “Listen and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.” 

[Matthew 15:11 NRSVUE]

Over the years I have bought and collected more than a dozen journals, a few of which are pictured above.

I have never completely filled a single one.

Never have I entered a bookstore without moseying over to the stationery section – just to look, I tell myself.

But like the Sirens in Homer’s Odyssey, the allure is too powerful to resist the temptation to buy.

My intentions, however noble, consistently fall short. The blank pages outnumber the filled ones, and upon further review, the content, more often than not, wasn’t worth the entry in the first place.

I always tell myself, “This time will be different.” The results tell a different story.

When I first considered the idea of journaling, I failed to envision a purpose.

What should I write about? How detailed should it be? Would it simply retell the accounts of the day, or would I dare express feelings and opinions?

I also feared the possibility of it falling into the wrong hands and having someone use my words against me.

The constant wrestling with those anxieties eventually prevailed over the initial excitement, so I would become frustrated and quit.

A few weeks, months, or years later, I would take up the effort again, only to meet the same end.

These days, I carry one around, but I’ve long since stopped worrying about what to enter.

My social media platforms, this one included, have lessened the need for extended reflections; yet I still feel an occasional urge to express those thoughts.

All these notions resurfaced last week after I watched several minutes of the senate hearing in which Republican legislators shamefully skewered Dr. Anthony Fauci over the contents of his personal diary, which had somehow been released publicly in an effort to indict him for lying about the origins of the Coronavirus in 2020.

Knowing beforehand how it would play out, I tuned in strictly out of curiosity.

The disrespect shown to a person who has dedicated his life to protecting the health and wellbeing of the people of this country is reprehensible.

My reaction was a combination of anger, embarrassment, and disgust, to put it mildly.

And I speak strictly for myself.

The words of Jesus at the beginning of this essay can be applied perfectly to the behavior of these so-called leaders of our nation’s government.

A few sentences further in the fifteenth chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus elaborates further, almost if He had been present at that hearing.

“What comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” [Matthew 15:18-19]

False witness and slander. There’s a commandment that covers that.

One senator shamelessly shouted an expletive in his question presumably to punctuate his righteous anger.

Foul language has become the norm in our legislators’ public speech these days. Apparently, it is acceptable because our so-called President does it.

“What comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart.”

In Hebrew Scripture, the heart is more than just a vital organ of the body.

The word translated “heart,” levav (לֵבָב), means the inner man, mind, will, understanding, resolution and determination.

The heart is the seat of a person’s character, a place of loyalty and faith.

The message to me is rather clear.

God sees in us, what we cannot see in ourselves and, for that matter, even in others.

And our challenge as people of faith is to try to view others as God views them.

God calls us to look beyond the surface to deeper things.

We are called to look on the heart and present an alternative vision to the world and be mediators of God’s grace.

Will we convince our elected leaders? Maybe, maybe not.

But our constant challenge is to look beyond the partisan bickering, the grandstanding, the acrimony, in order to grapple with the concerns that address the needs of the human heart, and witness to the presence of the Lord at work in our world today.

Nothing else will be acceptable for the life of God’s people.

Let us pray:
O God, because without you we are not able to please you, mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
[Book of Common Prayer, p. 233]