How often does anger speak...
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How often does anger speak and love keep silent? We live in a litigious society. Legal liability claims have gotten so out of hand that insurance premiums seem exorbitant; but without high premiums, insurance companies cannot keep up with the amounts they must have available to pay damages. Sometimes it seems as if we as a society have lost the desire to consider compromise or understanding. We keep lawyers busy for hours on end trying to satisfy our needs for vengeance or restitution. Litigation has become commonplace. In anger, we seldom hesitate to take action. But how many times does a word of encouragement or kindness go unspoken because we just don't make the effort, don't take the time? Yet that one single word, that one small comment, could be the very bit of encouragement another needs. Teachers are, perhaps, more aware of this than most. Time and again they see the miracle that occurs when a struggling student hears that one magic sentence, "You can do it!" It's a magical sentence that says, "I believe in you!" And, because the teacher believes, self-confidence is born in the heart of the student. To be given "... the tongue of the teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word," (Isaiah 50:4a) is truly a gift of the Spirit. -- Fannin
