With much fanfare and aplomb, a speaker is introduced with many accolades and superlatives – and then – the audience is left with the sense of not knowing what was being said! Some have coined a descriptive phrase that a person is continuing to speak until he can think of something to say. An illustration of this is a report in The Guardian by Karen McVeigh regarding the new Prime Minister of England. She wrote: "David Cameron’s choice of words is sometimes rather baffling…Asked why he didn’t bring up the ‘big society’ in the first TV election debate, he said: Well all the questions were rather subjecty subjects. And in the Downing Street garden on Wednesday, he answered a question about how long the coalition would hold together with the words: This will succeed through its success.” David Crystal, a linguistics professor, said that “Cameron’s answer was a historical putdown that dates back to Roman times. Saying ‘This will succeed through its success’ is a down-to-earth way of saying ‘Don’t ask silly questions.’ This is normal rhetoric, which goes back to classical times (linguistics experts say his language has much in common with Shakespeare), to make a point simply and effectively.” You can see more about the use or misuse of language by going to: http://schott.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/20/vocabulinks-9/.
All have experienced moments where something was said that (a) was not intended in the way it was heard, and (b) a statement made that became gibberish and made no sense at all. At such a moment, another statement made is: “My tongue got in the way of my eye-teeth and I couldn’t see what I was saying.” Steven Poole has a column where misspeak is addressed. He cites: “In the last Presidential Campaign, there were instances of false statements made that became relegated to the evasive and elusive category of "misspeak." A couple of examples are: (1) John McCain, when he was asked how he could have imagined that Iran was arming “Al Qaeda”: He responded: “I just simply misspoke when I said Al-Qaeda”. (2) Hillary Clinton was forced to admit that she was not actually being shot at by snipers when she landed in Bosnia in 1996. Her glib response was: “So I misspoke.” One acknowledges that what was said was absolutely false, but the fault is not the speaker’s, as it would be if one had deliberately lied or been wrong. No, the fault is somehow in the faculty of speech itself, something going wrong in the course of that complex magic between brain, lip and others’ ears. Lying (if that’s what it is) is Unspoken as a brief blip of dysphasia.” The phrase: “a brief blip of dysphasia” has a potent meaning. The Medical Dictionary indicates Dysphasia is: “loss of or deficiency in the power to use or understand language as a result of injury to or disease of the brain.” When used as a noun, it means: “Impairment of speech and verbal comprehension.” Basically, what is being inferred and intended is that the speaker lied and knew that he/she was lying but lied anyway. The only other suggested alternative is that the speaker is brain-damaged.
One needs to stand on and for the truth, as well as to speak the truth and only the truth at all times. The basis for this type of commitment is stated throughout the Bible. Psalm 40:4 (NKJV) - Blessed is that man who makes the LORD his trust, and does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies. Proverbs 12:22, “Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, but those who deal truthfully are His delight.” In Proverbs 19:9, “A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who speaks lies shall perish.” In John 8:43-45, to Abraham’s descendants, Jesus Christ spoke directly, sharply and unequivocally: “Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.” The test of real character is evidenced in Colossians 3:9-10, “Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, The only way to maintain a lifestyle that is free from cynicism is to be anchored to The One Who declared of Himself (John 14:6), “I am…The Truth…” and of Whom Scripture declares (Hebrews 13:8), “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Consider these things with me!
All have experienced moments where something was said that (a) was not intended in the way it was heard, and (b) a statement made that became gibberish and made no sense at all. At such a moment, another statement made is: “My tongue got in the way of my eye-teeth and I couldn’t see what I was saying.” Steven Poole has a column where misspeak is addressed. He cites: “In the last Presidential Campaign, there were instances of false statements made that became relegated to the evasive and elusive category of "misspeak." A couple of examples are: (1) John McCain, when he was asked how he could have imagined that Iran was arming “Al Qaeda”: He responded: “I just simply misspoke when I said Al-Qaeda”. (2) Hillary Clinton was forced to admit that she was not actually being shot at by snipers when she landed in Bosnia in 1996. Her glib response was: “So I misspoke.” One acknowledges that what was said was absolutely false, but the fault is not the speaker’s, as it would be if one had deliberately lied or been wrong. No, the fault is somehow in the faculty of speech itself, something going wrong in the course of that complex magic between brain, lip and others’ ears. Lying (if that’s what it is) is Unspoken as a brief blip of dysphasia.” The phrase: “a brief blip of dysphasia” has a potent meaning. The Medical Dictionary indicates Dysphasia is: “loss of or deficiency in the power to use or understand language as a result of injury to or disease of the brain.” When used as a noun, it means: “Impairment of speech and verbal comprehension.” Basically, what is being inferred and intended is that the speaker lied and knew that he/she was lying but lied anyway. The only other suggested alternative is that the speaker is brain-damaged.
One needs to stand on and for the truth, as well as to speak the truth and only the truth at all times. The basis for this type of commitment is stated throughout the Bible. Psalm 40:4 (NKJV) - Blessed is that man who makes the LORD his trust, and does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies. Proverbs 12:22, “Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, but those who deal truthfully are His delight.” In Proverbs 19:9, “A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who speaks lies shall perish.” In John 8:43-45, to Abraham’s descendants, Jesus Christ spoke directly, sharply and unequivocally: “Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.” The test of real character is evidenced in Colossians 3:9-10, “Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, The only way to maintain a lifestyle that is free from cynicism is to be anchored to The One Who declared of Himself (John 14:6), “I am…The Truth…” and of Whom Scripture declares (Hebrews 13:8), “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Consider these things with me!
1 comment:
I like this one. The only way to overcome fear, pride and prejudice is with the Truth...know where to find it!
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