The Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. (1 Chronicles 28:9)
Words can hurt. Spoken word is likened to an arrow in flight – once out of our mouth we have no control over it; we cannot call it back. It sometimes hits the wrong target or goes deeper than intended, and people are hurt. An offensive word can split apart time-tested bond of hearts — between life partners, friends and communities.
Quite often the words are not intended to hurt. Still they create rifts and ripples in relationships. A bond of love that has stood by us through the testing times of our life should not be snapped for an unkind word or a misunderstanding. But it happens. It happens when the ego, not love, rules our heart.
We should rather look at the other’s heart and not the words he or she speaks. A loving person goes beyond the spoken words, however insulting they may appear, to the inner reality of the speaker. A friendship is more precious than a hurt ego. Further, even if a word or an expression hurts, remember it’s at most a drop of poison in the vast sea of good that the person has done in the past. After all, just a single drop of poison does not make the entire sea poisonous.
Reflections by M.K. Jos (Poet, Writer, Editor and A Friend of Fr. Jos)
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© 2007: Rev. Jos Tharakan. Requires permission to reproduce. Email: fathersjos at gmail.com