Tuesday: Sticks and Stones

A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a secret.

Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never harm me.

Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. It is a really nice morning here at the Southern Location of the North Pole. We are having a nice rain, which we really need.

Tuesday, and that means it is schools day on this line, the day we pray for our schools and all those that enter the doors. Please also keep praying for Pastor Charles, Pat Parvin, Kathleen Sansoni, and this old man. I am still passing those kidney stones. I have passed enough so far to pave my driveway, and in just a few minutes I am heading to the veterinarians to get a cat scan.

Sticks and Stones: Over the years, the 12 years that I have been writing messages, I have written on this subject before. When I was young and the streets were still dirt, my dear late mamma would tell me not to worry when other kids would call me names. She would say to tell them that "Sticks and stones may break my bones but the names will never harm me." Well guess what, sometimes those names cut pretty deep, and really hurt. So I just want you to remember that in a lot of cases, it is a real sin against God to call others names, or do things that will hurt them. Over the next couple of days, I want to point this out to you ... Here is a start.

Proverbs 11: 13 - A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a secret. (NIV)

When one gossips, it might not just be that you were told a secret, you might be just passing along a story you heard, and you could be really hurting someone. I want you also to remember this ... Before you engage your mouth on anything, you should pass it through your brain. Remember this, once you say something, once it comes out of your mouth, you cannot put it back in. If you say something that is not true about someone or something that might hurt them, you can later go and tell them you're sorry, but you can never, ever put it back in your mouth. Tomorrow, more on this subject, for it is very important, very important. Oh, and by the way, sticks and stones will break my bones, is also a fact, so don't be throwing stones and sticks at people either.

Dear Father in Heaven, help us to inspect each word that comes forth out of our mouth. It seems so often in this world today that people just do not use their brain. Even on the computer, you can hurt people. Help us to always use the compassion that You have shown us, and help us to love each other. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Go forth saying good things and helping each other and sharing your blessings, and remember even sending text messages on those blueberries can get you in trouble ... think nice. Love ya, dan.