taming the tongue

"With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water." -James 3:9-12

Tonight's Bible study on taming the tongue got me thinking about how what we say subconsciously or off the cuff is telling of what's on our hearts. You know, those moments where you say something without thinking, and then have a moment of "wait...was that out loud?"

When I was a freshman I was a little crazy. (OK, a lot crazy). It must have been before the overachiever was beaten out of me. I distinctly remember the devastation after my very first college exam, when I was really depressed and thinking I was going to fail out of college, not realizing what a curve was. Thinking I was a hotshot only lasted about 3 days before I realized what it felt like to look at a problem and have no idea how to start.

So this class was really intense - 5.12 (Organic Chemistry) with Prof. Kemp. He had this crazy military approach to orgo. He was notorious for his colored chalk and had the best chalkboard lecture technique of anyone I've ever encountered - and basically just bombarded us with materials and gave us a test every other week. Sounds normal...but his method of teaching was all problem solving and no memorization. You learned to either get it, or not.

So by November, I got completely caught up in the class. It was totally consuming me. Not to mention the fact that I had too much on my plate and didn't sleep enough as is. My roommates began to know me as the girl who would sleep anywhere, anytime I got a chance.

So one day I came home after a 5.12 review session and collapsed on my bed. Apparently it was still pretty early in the evening, and my roommates were in the room, either studying or hanging out. A few hours later when I woke up, Cze Chao said to me:

"dude. you were talking in your sleep. about hydrocarbons and benzenes. and you kept saying 'the bromide doesn't go there!' what's WRONG with you??"

Haha...they wouldn't let me forget that until we graduated. (Yes, I fully realize that it is pathetic that my obsession that night was chemistry). But seriously...what would happen if the thoughts in your heart were suddenly on display for others to see, without any filters? (Haha...totally dangerous). While it's important to control what we say, perhaps James is saying that the more appropriate course of action would be to think about controlling the source.

Definitely easier said than done. And if you've ever tried to drink salt water...it's pretty nasty stuff.