Loose Lips Sink Ships

Psalm 141:3 "Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips."

 

Fan or no, there is no missing the hoop-la surrounding the famous chef, Paula Dean. Watching her disastrous fall from grace, it becomes crystal clear that our tongues can get us into an awful lot of trouble. Even for those of us whose lives are NOT played out in front of a camera crew, the words that sneak past our lips can have a huge impact on those around us.

WWII PR Campaign Poster

In a radio interview with her older brother, Richard - a jockey once introduced a song sung by Karen Carpenter as having been written by "Richard's chubby little sister, Karen". The words would change her life. She went from 5'4" and 140 pounds to a meager 91 pounds of flesh and bone towards the end of her brief 32 years. When she died from heart failure due to anorexia nervosa, Karen weighed less than 90 pounds and her heart could no longer support the strain of her eating disorder. 

In a conversation with one of the Queen's military men, William Franklin [then, Governor of New Jersey and staunchly AGAINST American Independence] mentioned a "secret mission" in which his father, Benjamen played a key role. Intercepted by a Red-Coat block-aide, Benjamen was forced to scrub the mission. While the details of Benjamen's mission have been difficult to nail down, he was in league with the French at the time - and working on the clandestine trade of arms and munitions that would later fuel the American Revolution. Benjamen would never forgive his son, William for his political AND very personal betrayal. And though the famous "taming of lightning" involved the two previously inseparable father and son team - the two would never again see one another amicably and William was forever stricken from Benjamen's will as heir to one of our most important founding father's legacy. 

By World War II, our Nation recognizes that words can kill.  If common sense didn't lead to the military phrase, "Loose Lips Sink Ships" - our own history sure did. Sailors in our country's ever growing military power were told to "button it". The consequences of careless words were too terrible and one of our most famous PR campaigns took flight with the use of some creative and artistic posters.

Modern "Loose Lips" Campaign

In a dark garden under a star-lit sky, one Judas Iscariot  kissed Jesus lightly on the cheek, forever sealing his fate to a grueling death on the cross. It was with words, however, that Judas gave up his Savior, telling the Sanhedrin Priests exactly where they could find Jesus at a moment when he might be most vulnerable. 

It has been said, OFTEN, that the pen is mightier than the sword. The truth is, behind the "sticks and stones" taunt that children sometimes call out - there is real pain. Words can sting. Leaving us with permanent marks that cannot be treated with Neosporin and anti-scar creams. It's no wonder that our deeply feeling Psalmist cries out a plea for help with devastating words that might spew from his own lips. And when our Artist/Soon-T0-Be-King's best friend happened to be the son of the current reigning Monarch - words could NOT have been more important. Jonathan warns David of Saul's deep hatred and intent to have him killed. It was with words that Jonathan loved David in spite of the deep-routed desires of his own father. The turmoil of being caught in the middle of two people so very close to him could not have been easy for Jonathan. But it is in this moment that we hear Jonathan utter words of true devotion and a tiny seed for REAL, MANLY friendship is planted - as Jonathan tells his friend David that he is loved like a brother. 

In a popular TV series about the lives and drama of Vampires - a favorite, love-to-hate-her main vampire character provides a sneak peek into eternity as a blood drinker when she informs a Psychiatrist that vampires choose their words very carefully. In a slow southern drawl the vampire comments on the meaningless words taken for granted by the human race as she says: "You promise to never forget each other; you promise to feel the sting of a loss, forever, because for ya’ll forever is just the blink of an eye; you’re lives are pathetically brief. When we say forever; we have to mean it"  As the rest of the scene plays out, it becomes evident than even in our modern, pop-culture saturated society - the importance and potency of words is easily recognized, if NOT always respected.

Within pages upon pages of human-kind written history - from Egyptian papyrus to instant finds on an internet search engine - WORDS draw so much attention that it's easy to become a little desensitized to the true value they can really have. Everything from screen-plays, to Wikipedia, to digital news papers, and hastily formatted corporate e-mail CAN make way into publicly published media. [Just ask Paula Dean] And - while I may NOT live my life out through the lenses of professional camera crews - if I behave as if I DO -- I might be a little more careful with the words that come out of my mouth.

Lord, set guard over my mouth and keep watch over the door of my lips. May my mouth make you proud.