Be kind to one another
May 19, 2010 (Wednesday)
Recently I spoke at a banquet, and one of the first one-liners I dished out was, “A speech should be like a woman’s skirt: long enough to cover the subject, and short enough to be interesting.” Everyone laughed.
I had read it on the web as I prepared the routine, and it was new to me, so I thought it was relatively new, but a couple of days ago, while viewing an old Andy Hardy movie, I heard a solemn old judge (Andy’s movie father) use the same line. He presented it in a conversation, almost under his breath, and it was so subtle that you had to be listening carefully to catch it. I don’t think I would have laughed even if I had never heard it before.
It’s not what you say; it’s the way that you say it, or, if you like, in the words of an old song I used to hear when I was a little kid, “It’s not hotcha say, it’s the way hotcha say it.”
Your pets know this is true. You could look straight into the eyes of your dog or cat, and say, “I love you, sweetie,” in a loudly harsh tone of voice, and the pet would scamper for safety.
We humans know the difference, too, although we seldom understand the dynamics. Our sixth sense picks up on subtle differences so that we can get the real message behind the statements of others. Women are more gifted at this than men, usually.
Jesus taught us to be kind to others. If our hearts are right with God and with our fellow human beings, we won’t have to plan our conversations carefully. We can naturally speak in a way that doesn’t hurt others and seeks to help. That’s the way Jesus did it.