LOOSE
LIPS SINK SHIPS
Dear
God and King of Creation and Speech,
“A
slip of the lip can sink a ship,”
warned a World War II poster: one casual careless
comment could endanger the lives
of comrades in arms or many fellow citizens.
I
know that “loose lips” can also destroy
trust, sink friendships and ruin reputations.
Like
a wartime censor, warn me to think before I speak.
Let
me never, ever, forget that words can be damaging.
Words can be weapons.
Sharp words cut like knives, inflicting hurtful
wounds which may never heal.
Once deployed, words can never, ever,
be “taken back.”
Apologized
for? Yes. Forgotten? Perhaps.
Retrieved? Never. Ever.
Divine
Word, please keep me constantly mindful of the harm
and even permanent spiritual damage that gossip
can do.
Set
a guard on my tongue and lips.
Teach me to think before I speak.
Teach me to be kind in all I say.
May
I never take away
another person’s dignity.
Help me to look to my own faults
and not those of others.
Help me resist the temptation to ridicule,
to gossip, to use sarcasm, and to “talk behind
the backs” of my friends and acquaintances.
Let
me remember that if I gossip,
the hearer knows that she or he may well be
the next victim of my vicious tongue.
Lead
me then, to set a guard upon my lips
so that I do not recount the shortcomings
of any person, even though I may know them
to be true.
Let
me not point out the failings of others when I know
that my own past misdeeds,
and my own faults, are legion.
Let
me speak of goodness.
Let me speak of You, Who are all Goodness.
Please,
Divine Word, absolve me of my sins
of speech!
Let
the unkind things I have said
to or about anyone be forgotten.
Give me a new dawn of kindness.
Let me see the best in people and not
the worst. Let them feel better for having encountered
me.
Let
me strive to be a person of whom it is said, “He
speaks ill of no one.”
Only
with Your help, Divine Word,
and God of Charity, can I succeed
in this endeavor.
Give
me the grace and strength of will
to be silent when I should remain silent.
Please
set guardian spirits at the gate
of my mind and charity on the tip
of my tongue to guard me against the remark that
injures.
Give
me a new dawn of kindness.
Let me see the best in people and not
the worst. Let them feel better for having encountered
me.
Help
me speak of goodness.
Help me speak of You, Who are all Goodness.
Help
me seal my lips against all evil words.
Amen
