1.07.2009
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In middle school, I LOVED TO CUSS. You name the word and I was all over it like white on rice. Four letter words dripped from my tongue in every sentence, conversation, talking to myself- it didn't mater. While hanging out with friends, I would see how I could weave together a web of obscenities that would cause any sailor to blush. It would be safe to say my mouth was 'unclean.'
One day, we're hanging out as a family in the backyard- cookin' out. My dad's at the grill, mom's setting the fixings on the table and I'm joking around with my brother. I remember swinging this stick around and accidentally catching him right in the jaw. WHAM! His mouth is bleeding, he's crying, I begin to panic- but in the moment a wordy dird flies... "Oh SSSS-HHHHH-IIII-ZZZ-ZZZ-LLL-EEEE!" Only I didn't have the "izzle" at the end if you know what I mean.
My mother ran over and smacked me on the mouth. Twice. Once for hitting my brother and another for being 'unclean.' She asked where I heard the word, I told her I didn't know. She called me a liar and told me, "I don't need to talk like that. That's not how people talk."
In Mark 7, we see some religious leaders who try to call out the disciples for eating without washing their hands. Jesus lays out some verbal ninjary (yes, I made up a word, but it sounds awesome) and slices their thinking by responding with, "It's not anything from the outside that makes a man unclean, it's what comes out that makes a man unclean."
In the moments when life isn't all you planned,
In the quietness of your room where no one sees you,
When you leave the doors of yoru church's facitlity,
As you hang around the office with co-workers,
As you have a disagreement with your spouse,
When you talk to your kids when they've messed up,
What comes out? What do you do? Is it clean? Or is it... shizzle?