The Weediness of Words

Sometimes we little seem to realize how much of hurt there is in irresponsible utterance, and how much of time is used in triviality of talk. On this subject Sir John Lubbock said: “One is thrown in life with a great many people who, though not actively bad, though they may not willfully lead us astray, yet take no pains with themselves, neglect their own minds, and direct the conversation to petty puerilities or mere gossip, who do not seem to realize that conversation may by a little effort be made instructive and delightful… or, on the other hand, may be allowed to drift into a mere morass of muddy thought and weedy words.”¹ There is a phrase that may be remembered: “muddy thought and weedy words” — the weeds that clutter, that hurt the good growth. Sometimes critical and unkind talk seem to suggest almost complete lack of appreciation for the privilege of living with those whom the Lord God has given us to live with, to share life with. Of course, people aren’t perfect, and are sometimes disappointing, and make many mistakes, and sometimes seem selfish, self-centered, and inconsiderate, and irritate and annoy. And of course, if we were so disposed, if we were looking for fault, for blemishes, we could always find a reason to gossip, to criticize, to spread rumors, to be unkind in comment. But if we want to come to a point of great appreciation for other people, we need only imagine how alone and lonely we would feel without friends, without family, without others with whom we are privileged to live out the days of this life, with all the Lord God has given. “…little do men perceive what solitude is, and how far it extendeth, for a crowd is not company, and faces are but a gallery of pictures, and talk but a tinkling cymbal where there is no love.”² And this awareness well would lead us to greater caution, to greater kindness, in all comment and conversation, with less of the “weediness of words.”