"You know," I said to the denizens sitting around the supper table. "I think I should write a book in which the main character has a crazy wife who he has shut up in a separate wing of his manor house. I think that would be a grand idea for a story!"
"Too bad someone already came up with that idea, Dear," my wife said, sweetly.
"Really?" I asked. "I'm always a bit too late on my wonderful ideas..."
It was at this point, our six-year-old entered the conversation. "DAD!" She said. "You need to think twice before you speak once! You said a Bad Word and that isn't good."
I attempted to review everything I had said. I'm not prone to saying bad words or profanities -- not even wooden swearing -- and I certainly didn't think I had done so recently.
"Dad didn't say a bad word, Elise," my wife said.
"He did too," Elise said firmly.
"What did he say?" Elaine asked.
"He said, 'shut up' and that's a bad word! He shouldn't say things like that." Elise said.
"I don't think he said, 'shut up,'" Elaine said dubiously.
I began to laugh. "I did say 'shut up.' I said that the main character has a crazy wife shut up in his house."
At this, we attempted to explain that there are two ways to use the phrase, "Shut up!" one of which is bad and the other is not a problem.
I am glad that our children learn from an early age not to say bad words. There are an awful lot of folks in this world who never learn this lesson and those around them are the worse for their interactions with them due to their inability to control their tongues.
"The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences." (Proverbs 18:21) Sticks and stones may break bones, but words can wound much deeper, leaving scars on the soul. If we only learned this simple lesson the world would be a better place.
The tongue really does have the power of life and death. For those who have not learned to use it wisely, it would be better to shut it up in a separate wing of a manor house to cause the people around them to suffer.
