A WORD FROM OUR PASTOR

SMALL WORDS, PROFOUND EFFECT 

            Have you ever thought about the way that you sometimes express yourself?  Sometimes we just blurt out something without the slightest thought of how it might effect someone who may be standing nearby.  The Bible tells us that the tongue is unruly.  In truth, it really is.  It can cause damage beyond measure.

            “The tongue has the power of life and death…”  

            That may sound a bit extreme to you; a bit exaggerated.  How could mere words kill anyone?  But consider this.  You’re probably familiar with Karen Carpenter, (incidentally who was and is my all-time favorite) the popular singer from the seventies who died in 1983 of heart failure.  Most people know that her heart attack was caused by anorexia.  Basically, she starved herself to death.  But what started it all?  According to a 1988 CBS television movie, the “Karen Carpenter Story”, her “fatal obsession with weight” began when a reviewer called her Richard’s “chubby sister”.  That little phrase was all it took to start her on a tragic journey of self-destruction.

            Now, obviously, she was a troubled woman to begin with.  The author of that article didn’t cause her underlying psychological problems; he almost certainly had no intention of causing her harm.  Nevertheless, those few words had a profound affect on her life.  So let us remember dear friends that small words can have a profound effect.

                                              In His Service,

                                                            Pastor Mead