A few weeks ago, within the lines of this regular feature, I said some unkind things about two-time Academy Award winning actress, and former flying nun Sally Field and her once-a-month Boniva tablet.  In her commercial for this medication she complains that a friend of hers has to “set aside time each week” to take her calcium tablet. 

            This doesn’t fit into Ms. Field’s schedule.  Once-a-month Boniva is something she can shoe-horn into her busy life.  I observed that it only took me twelve seconds to take my once-a-day Protonix (and that includes removing the child-proof cap) – even less if there are no ladies present and I can drink from the faucet.  This made me wonder just what kind of life Gidget was leading, if taking a tablet a week was a time-stresser she just could not bear. 
            This week, however, I am better informed.  A sister who has taken one of the prescription medications for which Boniva is a substitute told me that because of the dietary restrictions you had to follow on the day you took the pill, and the other instructions you had to follow to take the pill correctly, one did have to make it the event of the day.  Since planning, arranging, and a good deal of time were involved – taking the pill was a great stress upon one’s schedule.

            Of course, none of that is in the commercial.  It doesn’t have to be, because the commercial’s target audience isn’t the milk-drinking, broccoli-scarfing, cheese-eating middle-aged man (me), but the post-menopausal woman (not me).  And so my riff on Sally Field’s inability to take a once-a week pill, though mildly clever, was a clear display of ignorance.

            Not that that would have mattered much to me at the time.  After proofreading the essay three times, and tweaking the jokes, I decided that the piece was sufficiently funny to run - accuracy was not a priority.  Most of us have language filters to keep us from saying things we would rather not say.  Most of the time my only filter is the criteria “Is it clever?”  I was raised on Bugs Bunny, James Thurber, Groucho Marx, and Hawkeye Pierce – men (and rabbit) whose highest calling was to point out the emperor was not wearing any clothes, and to do so in a way that caused the emperor maximum body-image anxiety.  This is clearly not a communication filter offered by the New Testament.

            The New Testament does provide several filters for our communication.  Among them are:

"Be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger."  James 1.19

"Let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no."  Matthew 5.37

"Speak the truth in love."  Ephesians 4.15

"Be ready to give an answer to any one who asks…but with gentleness and reverence."  I Peter 3.15

 And particularly this:

"Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only that which is good for edification, according to need, that it may give grace to those who hear."  Ephesians 4.31

            And so I stand reproved, and edified.

            I do believe that barbed humor has a place at times in our communication – Jesus used it on at least two occasions (Matthew 7.1ff, Luke 13.31-33).  But I want to make this note to self: humor is a condiment, not the main course of discourse.