My daughter has taken this to heart. She insists it's not a problem, and usually it's not. People will figure out that you mean "sweatshirt" even though you keep calling it a "sweater," but if you start referring to trucks as cars, computers as elephants and left as right, you're going to sow a lot of semantic anarchy.
We testify about what we know and to what we have seen, but our testimony as only reliable as our words. Even if we're not shameless liars who let the moment's impulse trump the truth on a regular basis, the words we use can affect our testimony. Clumsy word choice, an unusual or unexpected point of view, lubricational slang, or an unfamiliar language -- they can all affect how our message is received and whether our testimony is understood.
Another thing about testimony. Whatever we offer, and how we offer it, stands as a testament about us. What does our testimony say, when we testify to what we know?
Copyright © 2020 by David Learn. Used with permission.
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