The Value of Speech (7.1.14)

“The value of speech should be honoured by the wise,

                                   should be moulded by the tongue,

                                   should be screened by the lips,

                                   should be as a woodwind playing in the voice box with both scale and tone.

The value of speech should not have its worth underestimated by man,

                                                                           undervalued by man,

                                                                           decried by man.

The value of speech can verify,

                                 can glorify,

                                 can vilify.

The value of speech brings vocality to the thoughts of man,

                                                          to the words of God,

                                                          to the written word in all of its variety:

                                                                for escaping the presence of an island fortress within the self-willed soul.

The value of speech enables the record of man,

                                 enables the record of God,

                                 enables communication between the recipients.

The value of speech requires an attentive ear,

                                 requires the willingness to listen while not framing a reply,

                                 requires a memory committed to hearing the spoken word with the message which is carried.

The value of speech is not present in anger,

                                  is not present in paucity of expression,

                                  is not present in vulgarity,

                                  is not present in blasphemy,

                                  is not present in swearing,

                                  is not present when bringing shame upon a spirit or a soul.

The value of speech is absent in bringing a lie to life,

                                                in bringing a lie to fall upon an ear,

                                                in bringing the deception of a lie into the potential kingdom of each within mortality.

The value of speech destroys the potential within a life upon the utterance of a lie,

                                 opens a gate to an eternal destiny questioned by the faithless as to its existence,

                                                                                                                                   as to its reality,

                                                                                                                                   as to its scope and reach,

                                                                                                                                   as to its ability to punish the unrepentant soul,

                                                                                                                                   as to its disastrous consequences for the spirit –

                                                                                                                                   as such succumbs to the second death.

The value of speech enhances the vain as accents are acquired,

                                 restrains the poor in their dialect of birth.

The value of speech experiences a level of appreciation dependent upon age,

                                                                                          dependent upon education,

                                                                                          dependent upon intellect,

                                                                                          dependent upon interpretation of the thoughts within the soul,

                                                                                          dependent upon the interaction with those of like ability.

The value of speech grows with experience in clarity of pronunciation,

                                                                                      of modulation,

                                                                                      of pause,

                                                                                      of emphasis,

                                                                                      of imparting understanding.

The value of speech is noticed by its absence –

                                                              when silence has no interruption –

                                                              when holiness is welcomed,

                                                              when tiredness submits the record of the day,

                                                              when the eyes greet closure in the sleeping of the just.

The value of speech is noticed on its arrival –

                                                              when the tongue is woken,

                                                              when the tongue is cleanly dressed,

                                                              when the tongue commences its movements of the day.

The value of speech is measured by what is said and done,

                                                     by what is asked and answered,

                                                     by what is sought and found,

                                                     by what is formed as protests and declarations,

                                                     by what comprises the makeup of the vows and oaths,

                                                     by what is birthed through love and acquiescence,

                                                     by what brings honour and due reverence to the mouth of man.

The value of speech does rest in the echo from the void,

                                                              does not rest in dominance,

                                                              does not rest when the sentence remains unfinished with understanding incomplete,

                                                              does not rest upon the partial truth.

The value of speech is not magnified by gossip,

                                                            by rumour,

                                                            by distress,

                                                            by lies,

                                                            by flippancy,

                                                            by sarcasm,

                                                            by excessive frivolity which breaks the bounds of heaven and the space of man.”