A few days ago I was opening a can and I cut my thumb on its edge. It was not particularily deep, but it bled a bit and hurt a bit and continues to sting each time I use my thumb. It serves as a little reminder that I should be more careful with sharp edges. It will heal soon, but until then, each time I bump it, it hurts.
I was thinking….even though I wouldn’t like it, perhaps I should have a similar type of ‘cut’ in my mouth so that I could better control my words. If every time I went to say something unkind, judgmental or untrue, I felt a little ‘sting’, might I be a bit more careful with my words? Maybe not a ‘cut’, maybe I need more of a delay, you know that kind that they use on television.
Anyway, just a short post, a little musing. Reminds me of this story from the Desert Fathers:
It was said about Abba Agathon that for three years he carried a pebble around in his mouth until he learned to be silent.
Desert Wisdom, translated by Yushi Nomura
Perhaps I should take a walk today and search for pebbles.
Reflections on the Journey 
or maybe like “My Fair Lady” have a mouth full of marbles :O)
Yes Lord, cut our hearts so that our words may be spoken with more consideration and less haste.
Out of the Heart the Mouth speaks…
that cut me to the heart when God gave me a true revelation of this verse (cant remember its reference off hand)
Take care and have a great weekend
Kaz
Thanks Kaz, a great weekend to you too.
Oh … so many thoughts enter my mind whilst reading this post!!!!
These days, intead of pebbles most people use chocolate or some other un-necessary delight whilst others in the world starve.
A delay mechanism would be ideal before we say something we might regret … although some people I know would require X thousand volts through their brain instead.
And … thinking of your cut finger, I wonder what Christ thinks and remembers every time He sees the scars in His hands, feet and side? He doesn’t need to hold back on what He says … He forgives silently once again.
Thanx for a great post Andie.
God bless.
Great points Victor – I think I’d like chocolate much better than a pebble.
Ahhh….what I wouldn’t give for a 5 second delay sometimes. Thanks for a thought provoking….and, I hope, delay provoking post.
Thanks Kim, great comment. Yes, that delay would save me some regrets.
Ouch! Sorry about that cut. I could have used that 5 second delay today… Sometimes I wonder if saying what I feel is worth feeling what I feel afterwards.
I know what you mean Bernadine, and yet there are other times when we hold back and later wish we had said something, don’t you think?
And now to complicate things we have texting and email….sometimes we need the equivalent of a pebble before we hit “send” I had the terrible misfortune to hit “send” once and sent it to the wrong person, actually I was sending it to someone else about her, but I sent it to her instead…….luckily I was able to joke her out of it, but it was a lesson I will never forget! Great post!
Oh my gosh, Lori, you are so right. I fogot about including texting and emails. How I wish there was a ‘take back the send’ button. Once it goes, it is so gone. I’m happy that you were able to joke about what you sent. Thank God for humor.
I do wish I had that magical 5 second delay. And there are other people I know who need far more than a 5 second delay; they need glue.
hahaha :O) soooo true…. maybe I could do with glue too ;O)