Opinions

“I don’t know many words about teeth,” I told the dentist. Since my husband, Peter, and I spend time in Mexico, it makes sense to get dental work done while we’re here, and I had been putting off going to the dentist. I knew I needed to get work done where my gums had receded, and the enamel no longer covered what it was supposed to. I’ve been told that over-exuberant toothbrushing contributes to this condition, so I’ve been trying to ease off. But I don’t really think my toothbrush is the cause. I’m just getting old.

“There will be monks here tomorrow morning,” is what I figured Jorge was telling me. In Spanish, “monks” sounds like “monkeys” in English. But I was pretty sure we were not having monkeys over for breakfast. Jorge is my landlord here in Mexico, and he speaks only Spanish to me. He will speak some English when my husband, Peter, is around. But if it’s just me, he’ll stick to Spanish, and I am fine with that, but it doesn’t mean I get 100% of what he says.

It’s a spiritual revelation to comprehend that words have tremendous power but where there is privilege there is also accountability. Communication not only shapes our views while influencing our behavior, but words also expose who we really are as we can learn a great deal about a person’s views when we hear them speak. This is a wonderful prayer to begin each day, “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips” Psalm 141:3. Yes, we have much to pray about, and this petition is crucial if we are to live a holy life of integrity, respect, and love. Encouraging words are worth much, and cost little, and since what we say is what we think, it would be wise to monitor our thoughts and what we believe.

So I’m doing a show after all. The problem with me (and I might not be alone in this) is that I have a hard time imagining anything between close to perfect and nothing at all. I’d been planning to do a first show featuring material from my columns, and it was overwhelming. A fully realized show involves a lot of preparation and getting every detail down all at once. A close-to-perfect show requires a ton of rehearsal and usually a lot of help from others to make it happen.