Candor

 

 Candor

 

Remember the old Westerns on the big silver screen? There was Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers. Saturday theater matinees featured black and white thrillers of the Old West. One line often spoken by an American Indian to a white man in the movies: “white man speak with forked tongue.” A perceptive statement that you can say one thing but mean another.

 

My observation is that there is a lot of  “forked tongue” talk going on even for an election year. With all that we have been through this year, the last thing our world needs is a lot of double talk. That’s where candor comes in. Candor is the quality of being open and honest. It assumes that my opinion is based on fact not fiction without bias or prejudice. You may ask, “Is that possible anymore?”

 

Candor assumes that I am able to express my views on a variety of subjects without employing derogatory, inflammatory, hyper emotional half-truths in my daily discourse. The discipline of candor means that although I have strong opinions on important issues of our day, I have learned the skill of sharing them without anger, name calling or baiting. I am confident in my perspective but open to the views of others. Just because someone is vicious or deceitful in their words doesn’t give me liberty to do the same. Candor is an important character trait of a civilized society.

 

A little wisdom from the Bible to help us practice candor in our daily speech: “Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slanderous as well as all types of malicious behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Jesus has forgiven you.”