Thursday, January 26, 2017
What do we do when we've lost the game?
What do we do when we lose the game?
I will never, ever forget the day we lost and one of our teammates threw the ball over the net at the other team. OOOOOOhhhhh! We were in TROUBLE! We had lost all decorum in the eyes of our illustrious coach. It was as though we had run to the other side of the court and hit each of the other girls in the nose and blood was rushing out. Coach had no tolerance for sore losing.
This episode changed the rules of the game for everybody. There had already been a rule that throwing the ball over the net was a no-no. This incident stiffened those rules immensely for us all. I don’t think we lost many games after that sad moment. Coach T hollered at us as only he could, in silence and we all went home in tears, because we knew that our teammate’s activity was agreed to in sentiment by us all. His simple and convincting reproof sent us completely, penitently home to our knees. He had our hearts in his hands and our behavior would reflect our penitence.
Tuesday, January 17, 2017
What is the definition of a forked tongue?
We always learned about the reputation that the "White" man had with the Native Americans that he spoke with a forked tongue. This has always had a question mark in my mind as I thought about the language and articulation of words between people and people groups.
The older I get, the more that I see the forkedness of my own tongue. The "rubbish" language that I use to get my own way, here and there. A bell sounds in my mind that I am speaking with the "forked tongue". I am using words to sensitize my victim, perhaps, so that I can accomplish some unsuspecting goal. Not exactly deception, but doping, perhaps. Using words as a sedative, perhaps.
I am writing this to you, who wrung every scripture verse out of my soul about the use of the tongue. The tongue of the wise...The angry tongue, etc. Never did I talk about the forked tongue, which is perhaps my own blindspot.
Straight talk and undeceptive speech is very difficult and learning to choose the right word for the right situation is becoming more and more evasive, with the use of emoticons and emojis. What am I trying to say gets lost in what do I want people to think about what I am saying. This is a very complicated soul wrestling. Don't miss the wonderful corrections from God, in the complexity of growing to speak the "truth in love." Pray about your posts and your emails and stories, etc. Pray about how to say what you say to the people you love and care about, as well as those with whom you could care less, what they think.
Think about pleasing God and getting your tongue bridled and narrowed from a fork tongue to a single mind and a single tongue. Love you!
The older I get, the more that I see the forkedness of my own tongue. The "rubbish" language that I use to get my own way, here and there. A bell sounds in my mind that I am speaking with the "forked tongue". I am using words to sensitize my victim, perhaps, so that I can accomplish some unsuspecting goal. Not exactly deception, but doping, perhaps. Using words as a sedative, perhaps.
I am writing this to you, who wrung every scripture verse out of my soul about the use of the tongue. The tongue of the wise...The angry tongue, etc. Never did I talk about the forked tongue, which is perhaps my own blindspot.
Straight talk and undeceptive speech is very difficult and learning to choose the right word for the right situation is becoming more and more evasive, with the use of emoticons and emojis. What am I trying to say gets lost in what do I want people to think about what I am saying. This is a very complicated soul wrestling. Don't miss the wonderful corrections from God, in the complexity of growing to speak the "truth in love." Pray about your posts and your emails and stories, etc. Pray about how to say what you say to the people you love and care about, as well as those with whom you could care less, what they think.
Think about pleasing God and getting your tongue bridled and narrowed from a fork tongue to a single mind and a single tongue. Love you!
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