Language (Saw)

​Here’s a great word for you—logorrhea.  It literally means excessive use of words which is comically close in sound to a word which communicates an excess of another problem! 

​Meditation
Proverbs 12:18--There is one who speaks rashly, like a piercing sword; but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
 
Language represents power.  The better we are able to communicate, the more effective we will be in accomplishing our goals, edifying others, and minimizing confusion and misunderstanding.  The American Heritage Dictionary gives us helpful insight into types of speech we often use.

These nouns refer to concise verbal expressions setting forth wisdom or a truth. A saying is an often repeated and familiar expression: She was fond of quoting the sayings of philosophers.  Maxim denotes particularly an expression of a general truth or a rule of conduct: “For a wise man, he seemed to me . . . to be governed too much by general maxims” (Edmund Burke).  Adage applies to a saying that has gained credit through long use: On his birthday the child gave no credence to the adage, “Good things come in small packages.”  Saw often refers to a familiar saying that has become trite through frequent repetition: My wise saws gave little comfort to the losing team.  A mottois a maxim that expresses the aims, character, or guiding principles of a person, a group, or an institution: “Exuberance over taste” was her motto.  An epigram is a terse, witty expression, often paradoxical or satirical and neatly or brilliantly phrased: In his epigram Samuel Johnson called remarriage a “triumph of hope over experience.”  Proverb refers to an old and popular saying that illustrates something such as a basic truth or a practical precept: “Slow and steady wins the race” is a proverb to live by.  Aphorism, a concise expression of a truth or principle, implies depth of content and stylistic distinction: Few writers have coined more aphorisms than Benjamin Franklin.

Have you ever said “hang in there” to a person you know who is going through a tough period in life or, “Cheer up, things will get better!”?  Unfortunately, these expressions are saws.  Saws can be symptomatic of laziness on the part of the speaker, insensitivity, confusion over what to really say, or, embarrassment because of the awkwardness of what the other person is enduring.  We don’t want to be trite!  What we say and how we say things does matter.  
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When I see someone in need my goal is to be an agent of healing.  I must decide if it is best to remain silent or to share.  The next time you see someone who could use encouragement, avoid verbalizing a cheap platitude.  “Listen, for I speak of noble things, and what my lips say is right” (Pro. 8:6).  Our language matters!
 
Inspiration
If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever.  Use a pile driver.  Hit in once.  Then come back and hit again.—Winston Churchill 
It is terrible to speak well and be wrong.—Sophocles
Oratory: the art of making deep noises from the chest that sound like important messages from the brain.—H. I. Phillips
It is an insult today to tell some men and women to cheer up.  One of the most shallow petty things that can be said is that “every cloud has a silver lining.”  There are some clouds that are black all through.—Oswald Chambers in The Shadow of an Agony
A bird that you set free may be caught again, but a word that escapes your lips will not return.—Jewish Proverb
 
©1998 Daniel York  ARR.  Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  If you would like to receive these devotionals go to www.firstcause.org and click on the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box. Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed subject to inclusion of this copyright notice.      
 
Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.  (Holman CSB)