Grains of Sand

Waste. That’s what has niggled at the back of my mind this week. At the beginning of this month a message was left on my voice mail from the sister of a long-time friend. She didn’t say what it was about but I was pretty certain Rita would only call me if Jean had passed away. She didn’t leave her phone number and I couldn’t find it on Canada 411 so I hoped she would call back. This past Monday she did. We talked for a long time and I was left with the sad reminder of how wasted Jean’s life had been in so many ways. Yes, she lived into her sixties but many of those years were lonely and fraught with both emotional and physical pain. Jean was the kind of person that most people don’t “see.” I had my share of regrets. I wished I had been a better friend on those occasions when I had the chance to be. Sometimes I didn’t “see” Jean either. Over the past few weeks, and twice this week, three young people have died in our little town. One young man killed himself after killing his parents....

Google Images Perhaps nothing better illustrates James 1:26 and James 3:1-12 than recent events in England. A nurse committed suicide after having been deceived by two Australian DJs into giving information on the health of the Duchess of Cambridge to a person she thought was Queen Elizabeth. Apparently the DJs are devastated. Certainly a whole lot less devastated than the husband, two children and family and friends of the nurse. It was a ploy to get a news story and it took a woman’s life. James 1:26 introduces a subject that the author will continue in detail in chapter 3. He writes: “ If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is in vain .” The DJs never imagined that a woman would take her life because of what they did with their tongues. We often never think about the consequences of our words. Someone recently said that the Lord gave us two ears and one mouth, signifying that we ought to listen...