9/11/2021

When Diane and I still had a wood and brick house, and it was a good one, there was an antique plate that Diane hung over the back door in our kitchen. It had these words printed on it:

“Be careful of the words you say. Keep them soft and sweet. You will never know from day to day which ones you will have to eat.“

This plate was a reminder of how we were to treat others. If something made anyone in the household mad, and ugly words started flowing, someone would quote that plate. That might make someone's pride flare up for a second, but then they would settle down and the tone coming from them would too. Being in business, and dealing with customer complaints (I did not have many complaints) I learned very fast that you catch more flies with honey than salt, and that a soft answer turns away trouble. I learned that being soft-spoken and polite is not a sign of weakness, just the opposite actually and my customers trusted me sooner to fix a problem if I were calm even if they were not. I had a couple that could be quite caustic at times, but I still treated them the way I would want to be treated if the shoe were on the other foot. My partner Mike was a master at this, "You fix the phones, and I will take care of them" he used to say. The system would be down, I would go to the phone closet, Mike would go to the owner's office, and before long I would hear pleasant talk and sometimes laughter coming down the hall.

My devotional for today, which again, hits close to home, says that we have two types of relationships, a Vertical one and a Horizontal one. The Vertical one that goes up is with God, the one that goes Horizontal is with those around us. Those around us include our family members, our friends and neighbors, workers, schoolmates, and even strangers. The most important thing to remember is that our Horizontal relationship is a reflection of our Vertical one. The way we treat others is a sure sign of how we treat God. Do we love him or are we just giving Him lip service? My Mom used to say that when I was not paying her the respect she was entitled to and deserved.

“Don't give me lip young man..“

Do we talk the talk as well as walk the walk? One really can't do one without the other. So we, and that means me, who claim to be Christians, should all ask ourselves these questions,

How do we look at others?

How do we talk to them?

How do we talk about them?

How do we treat them?

The way we treat them and the way we talk about them should and does exhibit, it advertises, our walk with God.

Proverbs 6: 1-19

1 My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor,

if you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger,

2 you have been trapped by what you said,

ensnared by the words of your mouth.

3 So do this, my son, to free yourself,

since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands:

Go—to the point of exhaustion—

and give your neighbor no rest!

4 Allow no sleep to your eyes,

no slumber to your eyelids.

5 Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,

like a bird from the snare of the fowler.

6 Go to the ant, you sluggard;

consider its ways and be wise!

7 It has no commander,

no overseer or ruler,

8 yet it stores its provisions in summer

and gathers its food at harvest.

9 How long will you lie there, you sluggard?

When will you get up from your sleep?

10 A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the hands to rest—

11 and poverty will come on you like a thief

and scarcity like an armed man.

12 A troublemaker and a villain,

who goes about with a corrupt mouth,

13 who winks maliciously with his eye,

signals with his feet

and motions with his fingers,

14 who plots evil with deceit in his heart—

he always stirs up conflict.

15 Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant;

he will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.

16 There are six things the Lord hates,

seven that are detestable to him:

17 haughty eyes,

a lying tongue,

hands that shed innocent blood,

18 a heart that devises wicked schemes,

feet that are quick to rush into evil,

19 a false witness who pours out lies

and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.

Derrick