Everything sounds a little bit better when accompanied by a British accent. Simple words sound more elegant. Foul language somehow becomes comical. Small children sound like prodigies.
So I did a little experiment this morning.
Our dogs get up at the crack of dawn. Any light that comes through the window tells them that it’s time for a new day to begin. Needless to say, that also means that it is then time for us to get up as well. Everything in me wanted to stay tucked into the comfy spot that my body has worn into the bed. But playful puppies just won’t allow it.
As I got up, I had a choice. I could be crabby and have a nasty attitude. That would have been my first choice. Or I could have a sense of humor about the whole thing and start the day with at least half a smile. To my own amazement, I chose the latter.
And that’s where the British accent came in. Ridiculous, I know, but I began talking to the dogs with a flair that my flat American “accent” doesn’t usually have. And that simple, goofy little trick worked. I couldn’t help but laugh at myself. (Although, I must admit, I did a pretty darn good Mary Poppins impression.)
It reminded me of Colossians 4:6 – Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.
Grace, in this case, is the accent. Or, the seasoning. The salt. It’s what gives our words a better flavor, a more appealing message. It’s what “preserves” or heals. Grace in our speech doesn’t just mean poised or beautiful language. It means that every word we use with each other should be accompanied by the recognition of what God has done for us through HIS grace. It means going beyond the golden rule of “treating others as I would have them treat me” and instead treating others as I HAVE been treated by God Himself.
I read this quote this morning – “A spiritual charm lives in the person influenced by the grace of Christ.” Just like the British accent, our lives and our words draw people in when we live out grace. Grace is attractive. It’s flavorful. It’s good and beneficial. And it’s very, very necessary.
The dogs are loud and playing and running around and annoying me greatly as I’m trying to write this. Guess it’s time to do my own rendition of “Supercalifrajalisticexpialidocious” in my best English accent…:-)
Luke 6:45 – The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart…for out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.
