Wednesday; December 16
Not long ago, I heard a friend of mine use a phrase in a sermon – weasel words. I won’t give you the whole modern definition of the term, but basically it is language we use so that we can “weasel” out of things in the future. For example, we might tell someone that “We might try to do something with them (or for them).”. When we phrase it this way, if we don’t do it, we can’t be accused of breaking a promise. Another example is, when challenged with an improvement that needs to be made in our lives, we respond with “Yes, I know that I should do better.”. By using these weasel words, we cognitively assent that something needs to be changed, but we stop short of making the commitment to do so. Another phrase I got to thinking about is the promise, “I will do my best” at something. Again, we give vocal recognition to a promise, but since we all know that none of us can actually do our best, it gives us an escape when we don’t. We may not intend it this way, but when we use weasel words, we give ourselves an excuse for when we don’t follow-through. Whether it is intentionally or subliminally, it is almost the verbal equivalent of crossing our fingers.
Our reputation should be important to us – in fact, it should be so important that if we say something, we do it. No fibbing, no lying – not even any weaseling. As I thought about this challenge, I remembered the words of the great sage, Yoda, “Try not. Do … or do not. There is no try.” More appropriately, when driving home the point in his lesson, my friend quoted Jesus, “But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil.” (Matthew 5:37).
Think About It!