“Cooperation is doing with a smile what you have to do anyway.”
- Anonymous

"If someone criticizes you, see if there is any truth to what he is saying make changes…If there is no truth, ignore it and live so that no one will believe the negative criticism."
~author unknown but greatly appreciated~
~Proverbs 12:16; 17:4; 18:21; 26:4 ~

PROFILE OF A TONGUE

My name is TONGUE, and unlike many who loiter and idle and meddle in other people’s business, I do what I'm supposed to: taste.

And not only am I smart; I personify one of the senses.

And although the GOOD BOOK warns about me, I am taken for granted. And nobody likes to be taken for granted. Do you? So, I basically serve a greater purpose—which I do almost non-stop and without discrimination. You could say I am passionate about it. I love to TALK—bad talk.

I am CREATIVE and SKILLFUL too. I can twist a story and sell it before you could blink, and I could praise you with one side and with the other side, call down the worst evil upon you.

I am CLEVER too; you may see the bad seeds that I spread, but you can’t always find my root.

And I am very RESPONSIBLE. I am responsible for driving people to insanity and despair, and once in a while to the grave.

I am extremely HARDWORKING. Hardly a second goes by when I’m not running, because I just never seem to run out of resources.

I am not partial; I strike anyone—from womb to tomb, sperm to worm, from lust to dust, from conception to corruption (pick your choice).
I am loyal to no one. I am ruthless. I cannot be tamed.

I stop at nothing; the sky poses no limit, because I could spread a lie and swear by heaven that I didn’t.

I betray trust and divulge confidentiality, even when I know I could defame a reputation, endanger a life.

I do not get along with the other senses. My best friends are name-calling, fault-finder, rumor, gossip, back-stabbing, and slander, and, my cousins are a whole pack of LIES—little lies, big lies, white lies. And my favorite long-time friend is the telephone. We have an intimate relationship. We are like peas in a pod, bench and buttock, tongue and tooth. We can go for hours at an end. We might even spend nights together, taking tales from one victim to the other, and, if circumstances allow, we continue into the next day.

My favorite scenes are unrest, misery, disunity, and disorder; I have a vehement dislike for peace, happiness, and order.

I cause agitation, oppression, depression.

I can strike at anytime, without warning, thoughtfulness, or reason.

I break up marriages, families, communities, and if you let me I could bring a nation down.
With one word, I can break a heart, a mind, a spirit and put it in much tribulation and despair. I can set the world ablaze—The GOOD BOOK says.

And the best part is that no one can do anything much to me, because I have billions of brothers and sisters, and I’ll tell on you. They’re worse than I am and will probably beat you down, down to hopelessness and despondency.

But since you’ve read this, I’ll let you in on a secret: Just like Samson, the strongest man was taken down by sharing his secret with his wife; I’ll let you in on mine: The only thing that can really stop me is a DEAF ear.
--Glasceta Honeyghan(2004)
Proverbs 18:31

"'Till I loved I never lived--Enough." --Emily Dickinson

SELF-WORTH

Never let criticism get the better of you; If you do, you are allowing someone else to control your sense of self-worth. By the same token, don't let praise get the better of you. After all, you alone should control your sense of self-worth.

"Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."
~ Abraham Lincoln~

Please treasure this day my friend,

It’s rather unlikely you’ll see it again

No two days are quite the same; they surely don’t come together,

and just perhaps, there might very well be, even a slight change in the weather.

--author unknown

"The middle of the road is where the white line is, and that’s the worst place to drive."
- Robert Frost~

A FIVE-SENSE PRAYER


Lord, Jehovah grant us
ears not just to hear,
but to listen;

Eyes not just to see,
but to truly observe;

The desire not just to do your will,
but to obey you in all things;

The time to slow down and savor the smell
of Jasmine;

Hearts not just to love,
but to cultivate a higher love
as you showed when you sent your son to die;

Then give us lips not just to babble and meddle,
But to declare your everlasting glory;

Help us to taste your ever-flowing goodness,
And grant us the rare and wondrous quality
to show fellow feelings.

~Adalcie Nembhard~

Psalm 90:12

Psalm 8
1 O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.

2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.

3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.

6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:

7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;

8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.

9 O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!