Byte

your tongue

By

JUDY KILGORE

[email protected] m

How did you

survive the big snow that never came? Did you, like me,

purchase two weeks worth of groceries and sock yourself

in for the weekend, watching the skies for that first

beautiful snowflake?

What a

disappointment! All we got over in my neck of the woods

was a bunch of rain. Some of it froze on the trees Sunday

and the most trouble I got was from ice falling off and

interrupting the phone lines...well, actually not the

phone line...the modem line. It was most annoying, to say

the least.

I confess.

In much of my free time I am an Internet dweller. It

still amazes me to have so much information at your

fingertips with the click of a mouse. I think I put in

about 25 hours of genealogy research last Friday,

Saturday and Sunday. (Church was cancelled, by the way.)

Rev. Daniel

Overdorf, senior minister at the Fayetteville Christian

Church, apparently has been having computer problems too.

He wrote a thought-provoking article in a recent issue of

The Caller, the church's newsletter, called "Slow

Computers and Fast Talkers." I think you will enjoy

it. Rev. Overdorf writes:

"My

home computer had gotten sluggish. It no longer had the

same blazing speed as when we first bought it. Okay,

maybe it never was blazing ,

but it had gotten frustratingly slower. The solution? Add

memory. Why or how adding memory would solve our problem

I didn't know, understand, or even care; but every

computer-literate person I'd talked with made this same

recommendation.

"Thus,

Saturday afternoon I journeyed to Office Max, computer

manual in hand, to purchase a memory card. I had a $20

bill in my pocket, certain it would be adequate. Imagine

my shock when the cashier asked for $80! This memory card

is four inches long and one inch wide (I measured!).

Twenty dollars per square inch! Sick of fighting with the

computer, however, I pulled out the plastic and made the

purchase.

"What

happened when I got home? It worked! Now "blazing

speed" barely begins to describe our home computer.

Bill Gates would be proud.

"Imagine

that-something so small having such great value and

great power.

"Perhaps,

though, I shouldn't have been surprised. Consider the

power of the tongue. In his New Testament letter, James

compares the tongue to a bit in the mouth of a horse, the

rudder of a large ship, and a small spark that starts a

great fire (3:3-12). Just one small word can make or

break a relationship. A few seemingly insignificant

syllables rolling from your lips may evoke a smile, a

tear, a wink or a scowl. In a brief moment, the tongue

can break a heart or make a friend, destruct or

construct. What value, what power.

"Compliment

someone today. make a needed apology. Express your love.

Encourage...build...edify...comfort...cheer. Make every

word, every syllable count for something good. More

powerful than any computer or memory card, your tongue

can make a wonderful difference in someone's life. Take

advantage of that power today!"

Lots to

think about there, Rev. Overdorf. Let's all try to say

something nice to someone today...and tomorrow and...

Until next

time...keep the faith.

<!--##############