There has been a lot said about the tongue and justifiably so. Though the tongue is a part of the human anatomy that has many muscles, they never appear to tire as others do. It is obvious that what the tongue speaks has to have first been formed in the brain as a thought. Many words that leave the tongue seem sharp and contrary to good sense and proper etiquette. But rather than accuse the mind, it is common practice to blame our dumb anatomy (the tongue). The mind must be protected from accusations of sharpness and improprieties. In support of the practice of our sidestepping mind-blame, there have been many quotations such as, “There is no evidence that the tongue is connected to the brain.” (Frank Tyger) However, the tongue is, indeed, connected to the brain.
The tongue, like the human heart, is given credit for many human expressions, and emotions, etc; expressions and emotions that they are incapable of without the guidance of the intellect. The tongue literally becomes a scapegoat for our brains. For example,
“A tart temper never mellows with age, and a sharp tongue is the only edged tool that grows keener with constant use.” (Washington Irving) The tongue has often been referred to as a very dangerous weapon. How embarrassing it would be to attribute such nasty words and sharp expressions of the tongue to an actual thought in the mind of the tongues owner.”
The Greek philosopher, Socrates, brought so much wisdom into the world, all of which came to us second hand through his pupil, Plato. He is credited with saying, “Nature has given us two ears, two eyes, and but one tongue, to the end that we should hear and see more than we speak.” Interestingly, it was Socrates tongue that did him in. He was executed for the things that he taught with his tongue. The tongue is usually the brunt of abuse but once in a while great things are attributed to it. For example; “She opened her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness.” (Proverbs 31:26) Much of the wisdom attributed to Shakespeare was first found in similar form in the Bible. He had a golden pen and the actors in his plays had to develop golden tongues to interpret his golden pen accurately. Great words, speeches, and oratorical debates are usually attributed to the person rather than the tongue. When our minds stutter and we can’t think of a name or word we again blame the tongue; it’s on the ‘tip-of-my-tongue.’ The tongue is tripping us up again, the mind is fine. When we mix up our words and we are unable to say what we want to, we refer to it as being tongue-tied. The tongue has, in reality, been given a very important calling. It is the spokesman for the mind, kind of like the president’s press secretary. How well it performs depends on how well it has been oriented, or prepared to say what is on our minds. It has to be properly trained and practiced because if it is poorly prepared it is going to be held accountable for any and all errors made by our minds. Oh! That we could learn to control our tongues (minds) and to speak kindly words. The things we say should build and strengthen and never abuse and tear (put) down another. The tongue should be a peaceful tool extension of our minds.