In the Spirit
September 10, 2015

Scripture Reading: James 3:1-12

So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits.

 How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, but no one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison.  With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. –James 3:5-9

I heard from a friend yesterday who lives in Washington State that the fire raging in the mountains near her were now 70% contained. Homes, wildlife, and the ecosystem in general has been changed forever from the spark off a cigarette or lightening hitting a single tree or the wheel of a train casting a spark into the dry grass. I doubt they have even had time to analyze how the fire started.

Words are like that. Once spoken they can never be pulled back into our mouths, erased from the minds of their hearers. Unkind, callous words seem to be in vogue today. If we cannot say something bad why bother to try to communicate at all. Part of that is a stubborn desire to hold on to beliefs and opinion we know are no longer valid but we have held them for years and they have come to define us. It is really hard for humans to change their basic definitions of who and what we are, particularly when we find we have been wrong.

For those willing to open their hearts and minds to new ways of being, Jesus freed them from the bondage of the way they once were. He said: For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matt. 11:30) Letting Christ guide our tongues will start the conversations that are so desperately needed to bring wholeness and justice into our world.

Prayer: Guard my tongue from hurtful and inflammatory words. Like you touched Isaiah’s lips with a burning coal and made his words pure, so cleanse mine. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.