Saturday, November 24, 2007

The Tongue

“Stupid Tyler! Stupid Tyler!”

My head snapped sideways at the voice, and despite my attempts to appear unruffled, I knew my face revealed my anger. Suddenly, a lot of things made sense.

Tyler arrived about three weeks into the school year. This may not seem like much time, but in 6th grade it can be an eternity. Friends had been made, social cliques established, and Tyler arrived an outsider.

My first encounters with Tyler weren’t the best. He was argumentative and often refused to work. When I informed him I was there to help, his response was, “yeah, I’ve heard that before, but no one does.” After several weeks things improved between us. He began to trust me, and when I was around he did his work. However his relationships with his peers were subsequently deteriorating.

Tyler spent little of his lunch in the cafeteria. I usually found him sitting alone just outside the door or trying to wander the halls. We spent increasing amounts of time talking, and I learned a lot about the boy who had originally been a nuisance to me. I learned about the trouble he’d had at his last school, I learned about the histories of addiction his parents were now battling with God’s help, I learned that more than anything Tyler wanted a friend. He tried his best to smile when we spoke, and even laughed on occasion, but when he didn’t know I was looking his face always sunk into a lonely sadness.

I knew others weren’t treating him the best, but I didn’t see it first hand until that day in art class.

“Stupid Tyler!” the chants continued. I ordered a time out, the boy tried to talk back, so I sent him to the hall with a detention slip. However, as I turned back to Tyler, I saw his face begin to sink, and it was obvious the damage had been done.

“The tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark…

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.

My brothers, this should not be.” James 3:5, 9-10


Our tongues are capable of both great good and great evil. What are you doing with yours?

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