Discipline Your Language

Today, watch what you say.  Specifically, as a witness in this election season keep yourself from saying the words that draw instant judgement without a lot of content–words like Republican, Democrat, liberal, conservative, fundamentalist, evangelical, mainline, etc.  These are words that obscure more than helping to communicate, which at its base means to share.  Seek instead to use language that shares ideas and brings others together.

Write down the list of words you won’t use today and keep a tally of which words you slip in using.  Pray that God will help you communicate with others instead of using cheap language to assert ideas without creating shared understanding.

About Ragan Sutterfield

Ragan Sutterfield is a writer, teacher, and agrarian living in his native Arkansas. Ragan explores the connections of sustainable agriculture, health, the body, creation, and contemporary culture through writing, teaching, and speaking. He is the author of the small collection of essays Farming as a Spiritual Discipline and a contributor to the book Sacred Acts: How churches are working to protect the Earth’s climate. Ragan works to live the good life in partnership with his wife Emily and daughter Lillian.