December 2 365 Health Strategies
Health Strategy: Speak No Evil
Virtue: Thinking & Writing: Spend daily time reading and observing. Then, write your thoughts.
Scripture Reading: James 4-5
Verse of the Day: James 4:11 Speak not evil one of another, brethren.
My paternal grandmother, Inez Runels, showed a unique personality quirk that seemed unique to me, even as a child: when the conversation turned such that it may have prompted her to say something not good about another person, she would seem to go blank for a second or two, almost like you were rebooting a computer. Then, she would somehow avoid the negative expected statement and either say something nice or even change the subject of conversation.
Her response was so obvious that even as a child, I noticed.
Never speaking evil may seem impossible. Is it even desirable? Maybe it is necessary to speak to warn others about another person. In an extreme case, you may be called to testify in court about another person’s crime and are asked to report what they did. What do you do?
And, more importantly, does speaking evil of other people somehow prevent my best health?
Any Rand, the genius author of the great book, Atlas Shrugged[1] (thought to be one of the top ten most influential books in the English Language), spoke to those who would write for her publication, Objectivism, and gave advice about writing book reviews. She told them never to write a negative review. Her reasoning was that they should not waste their time thinking about the not good.[2] Instead, they should move on and wait until they find a good, smart, uplifting, and instructional book and write about that.
Perhaps the same advice applies to conversational reviews of others.
I sometimes write book reviews on Amazon.[3] I followed her advice and only wrote reviews about books I thought would be helpful to my patients. I made an exception and wrote a negative review about a book that attacked our O-Shot® procedure with erroneous information (factually incorrect statements that paint our O-Shot® in a negative way). It seemed necessary at the time, and for now, I have let the review stand, but it felt like it damaged me somehow to write it.
Perhaps it is OK to correct a lie, even when it means painting the liar in a negative way. I do not know. I still struggle with this.
Even Christ scathingly criticized the self-righteous, not for their attacks against himself but against truth and sincere, loving behavior.
So, perhaps it is good to call out the self-righteous ideas that, if believed, would damage other people. But, most of the evil spoken about others has nothing to do with the defense of the good ideas; it is simply entertainment by lowering others in an attempt to raise self.
Of course, dwelling on the not-good damages health.
At least for a day, try speaking no evil. If it feels good, try it for a week. If you goof up and speak evil, start over until you make it for a week.
Then, decide about speech and whether speaking no evil is a practice worth practicing.
1,3,5 Plan:
1-Fast 1 day per week and one week per season (schedule and do)______
3-Walk 3 miles______________
5-Eat 5 fruits or vegetables (on non-fast days); read 5 pages from the Holy Bible______________________
References
Rand, Ayn. Atlas Shrugged: Centennial Edition, n.d.
Rand, Ayn, and Robert Mayhew. The Art of Nonfiction: A Guide for Writers and Readers. New York: Plume, 2001.
Runels, Charles. “Book Reviews,” n.d. https://www.amazon.com/gp/profile/amzn1.account.AEVDI6UH6NF25ZWKFDJODFON2SMQ/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_gw_btm.
[1] Rand, Atlas Shrugged.
[2] Rand and Mayhew, The Art of Nonfiction.
[3] Runels, “Book Reviews.”
