OUT TO PASTOR: The great divide – between brain and tongue

As my Uncle Fred used to say, one of the great benefits of getting old is that you know everything.

If you had ever met Uncle Fred, you would easily conclude that he certainly wasn’t getting old.

Of all the things I have learned throughout my aging career, the most important one is that I have a great divide between my brain and my tongue.

It took me a long time to realize that there was this disconnect between my brain and my tongue. It’s been a slow process, and I’m not quite at the end of the tunnel yet, but I got my fingers crossed.

When young, I didn’t have much problem along this line. I was quick on my tongue and thought I knew everything. Oh, if only my brain were working today as I thought it was working when I was young.

I’m not sure what happened, but somewhere along the line, my brain retired, and I’m not quite sure where it is these days. But for some reason, my tongue has not yet retired.

The main arena of my trouble has to do with The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage.

Her brain and tongue are connected and work well together. Neither one has yet retired, according to her.

Although she has given me many lessons along this line, I still have that great divide that has cost me a lot of frustration.

Quite often, when we’re in some discussion, The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage will stop, look at me and say, “Is that your brain talking or just your tongue?”

For the longest time, I had no idea what she was talking about.

Contrary to good old Uncle Fred, my experience in growing older is that my tongue works when my brain is in snooze mode. I’m not quite sure how this works, but I am in this dilemma for some reason.

If only there was some way to get my brain and tongue connected and in good unity, I think my life would be better. At least, that’s the thinking of The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage, and her brain is working.

If I could think three times more than I speak, I’m sure my life would be much different, maybe even in line with my wife.

The question I struggled with is, why does the brain slow down in life, but the tongue speeds up? What is the connection there? And, is there a way to control the tongue?

These are things I’ve been thinking about as I get older. If I believed my good old Uncle Fred, I would have more control of my tongue than I do. But the older I get, the less control I have over my tongue.

This is no more obvious than when The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage and I discuss some subject. During the discussion, her brain is in complete control of her tongue. Or, so she says.

My tongue, on the other hand, is completely out-of-control. When we have some discussion, my tongue begins talking about something that is not even related to the subject.

My wife then looks at me with a questionable stare and says, “What did you just say? And what does that have to do with what we’re talking about?”

I have no way to respond to any question along those lines.

For years I’ve been trying to train my tongue to say, “Yes, dear. You’re right.” For some reason, my brain cannot remember those phrases.

Although I’m struggling along this line I have learned one thing. My brain has not let me down on a rather important issue.

That important issue is, always let your wife have the last word. That’s hard for someone like me to do. My tongue sometimes is completely out-of-control, and not listening to what my wife is saying. She somehow irritates my tongue, and my brain has no idea what’s going on.

Another important aspect is that my tongue is not connected to my ears. What I hear is not always what my tongue responds to. I think God gave me two ears on either side of my head to control my tongue in some regard.

No matter what I hear with my ears, my tongue has a different story to tell.

I have noticed of late that my brain is focused on one subject, my tongue is focused on another subject, and the twain shall never meet.

In my devotions this morning, I was reading 1 Peter 3:10, “For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile.”

I don’t know how much better that can be put. To refrain my tongue from evil is a great discipline in my daily life that offers great rewards throughout my life.

Dr. James L. Snyder lives in Ocala, FL with the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage. Telephone is (352) 216-3025, e-mail is jamessnyder51@gmail.com, website www.jamessnyderministries.com.