Don't Say Nothin' At All

     Riding in the car again.  Seems like that's all I have done in the past 3 weeks.  It isn't, just seems like it.  Last night we went to our final event at the Balloon Fiesta in Albequerque.  It was called a 'glowdeo', where the balloons stayed on the ground, but they all lit up at the same time.  Beautiful colored balloons exhibiting their amazing colors with a backdrop of magnificent mountains.  A wonderful experience. And yet, to me that experience still doesn't compare to the site of a pristine mountain stream.  No noise.  No mama's voices admonishing a child to hurry along.  No arguing couples.  No sarcastic, critical teens.  Just the sound of nature .  Serene.  Calming.  Peaceful.  Somehow man's best doesn't come close to what God creates.  We mess things up, don't we?  Sometimes with our actions, sometimes with our mouths.  The man-made beauty of the balloon  fiesta was tarnished by exactly what created the experience. Man.  And although we were impressed by the lack of trash thrown on the ground and how people cleaned up, etc., what I heard while watching was different.
      The bible tells us many times about how our tongues are evil.  Just a few of the passages are:

*Psalms 52 :2 -  "Your tongue devises destruction.  Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully."
*James 1:26 -"If anyone amoung you thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless."
* James 3:8 -  "But no man can tame the tongue .  It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison."

      Whoa! And that's just a few of the verses pertaining to the tongue.  It seems SO hard to control our tongues in today's world. It's my biggest spiritual battle.  I wonder if it's harder now than 100
(or even 50) years ago.  Now, our expectations of "equality" are so much a part of us, it is not considered normal to forgo our " rights" and bridle our tongues for the preservation of peace. Or someone's feelings.  Or just to grant someone else's right of the ability to enjoy an event without having to listen to unpleasant conversations.
     I remember the movie " Bambi" from my childhood.  I have watched it a few times as an adult with the excuse of watching with my grandchildren.  I love T humper's quote to his mom.  She's admonishing him for something he said and she asks him to repeat what she has told him about that.
Thumper reluctantly says , "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothin' at all."
    Maybe,if we have trouble membering the scripture's teaching on our tongues, remembering Thumper's words will help us.  If it don't sound nice, just don't say it.   Might solve a lot of issues. Spiritual and relational.  Ponder your tongues this weekend.  I don't mean look at it in the mirror. Just think about how you use it.  Is it for the Glory of God, or satisfaction of self?
  Gotta go.  I have a lot of pondering to do.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

In Case of Emergency

      Well, as I sit here full of drugs for bronchitis, I'm mellow enough to tackle the last part of James 1:19 regarding anger.  Of all the emotions we experience, this one can be the most damaging to us and those around us.  Anger, combined with the tongue James speaks of later, can destroy relationships, lives, jobs, government entities, even countries.  It is a powerful and vicious tool that is almost always used in the wrong hands.       We all remember the example of Jesus becoming angry at the temple.  Since we know Jesus did not sin, this demonstration was more about righting a wrong than an expression of anger.  We sometimes call this righteous anger.  I fear that we use this example as Christians to justify our anger outbursts.       As I write this I am thinking about the last time I was really angry.  I have been doing much better with this due to the hel...
Read more

When Silence Breaks Your Heart

Image
"How long, Lord, must I call for help but you do not listen?  Or cry out to you, 'Violence!' but you do not save?" Habakkuk 1:3 We've all been there. Prayers that bounce off the wall.  No answers when we cry out day after day, week after week, month after month.  We question the goodness of a God who seems silent when we, desperate for answers and solutions, beg Him with tears, moans, and sometimes anger.  Why????? Often, when we look back, months and sometimes years later, we see what The Plan was.  Sometimes we don't. But when we are actually going through the experience of petitioning our God for our needs and we feel unheard and unloved, it's not easy. If you are familiar with Lysa Terkeurst, she's faced a number of battles recently when she has cried out to God for answers.  She experienced a marriage crisis and breast cancer within the last two years.  But in her new book, "It's Not Supposed to Be This Way", Ly...
Read more

Who Will Pray?

"When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven."         - Nehemiah 1:4 My friend and I are planning a retreat.  There are a lot of things to do to put a retreat together, and as with any project there are a lot of people 'behind the scenes' that contribute to the project.  I met with one of those people this week, and I think I got my "retreat experience" when having that 15 minute conversation. One of the things that happens before the retreat is a lot of prayer.  We have one prayer warrior we count on for a lot of this.  I met with her to give her the names to pray for, people who have registered for the retreat so far.  This lady is 86 years old.  She has not had an easy life.  She has a child to cancer, has watched other children suffer with it, and faced many other difficulties and trials along the way.  Her body does no...
Read more