Unguarded mouth

When I was a little girl heading off to school, my mother would wrap an arm around my shoulder and utter a prayer from the Psalms: "Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips." She knew well how much I needed that. Sadly, I failed to internalize the prayer, and those of you who have known me the longest know how much I have sinned with my words. In fact, you have probably been the victim of my words. I thought about all that last evening as I was reading Peterson's Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places. He was recounting the "Ten Words" (we call them Commandments) from Deuteronomy, and said this about the ninth in 5:20: "Words are sacred and inviolable. The Hebrew word translated here as 'false' is the same word translated as 'in vain' in the third word [in regard to the Lord's name]. Words used about or to neighbors are as sacred as those used about or to God. Frivolous and empty talk that demeans or trivializes persons is as sacrilegious as outright lies. Language is the community's lifeblood; if the circulatory system is diseased the community gets sick, sick from lies and gossip alike." I'm thankful that the Lord is letting me live long enough to reflect on and deal with these serious matters that I used to keep too busy to think about.

Community! What a beautiful thing! It's hard to get past our differences and live well together, but it's impossible to live well and serve God effectively in total solitude. I'm thinking a lot about that as I'm writing this issue of the SIM magazine on the theme of partnership. Thanks so much for praying for me; God has moved me past the "writer's block" and it's coming together. I plan to spend a few hours on it today. You know, there has never been so much positive feedback on our magazine as there's been since I got sick last November. I know that's because you've been praying for me, the designers, and the whole process of finding photos and getting timely feedback from around the world. It's amazing what God does when we pray.

Have a blessed weekend.
Carol