Monday, May 26, 2014

A Week of Devotions: #1 "Can You Hear Me Now?"

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to contribute some devotions to a friend's discipleship ministry.  Over the next week or so, I'm sharing a few of them on my blog.  Here's the first:

I heard the woman's voice long before I reached the terminal gate.  The nasal, strident tone was distinctive above the din of the other conversations in this area of the airport.  At the designated Southwest gate, I felt a frown of consternation forming as I realized the only seat available in "B" section was by her.

She was obviously a businesswoman:  well-tailored suit, laptop, cell phone fused to her ear.  It was via the phone that this one-sided conversation was being held.  Ignoring was not an option due to her volume and distinctive voice.  She droned on for the 30 minutes prior to boarding - a continuous stream of coworker criticisms, boasts, and self promotions, continually denigration of others' accomplishments with praise always followed by a "but...".

I wondered how one person could be so unpleasant!  I wondered if she had a clue how much about her personality was being revealed to the strangers around her.  As my opinion of the woman diminished, a troubling thought drifted in:

How much do my words reveal about my heart?  Would strangers hear my conversations and marvel at how unpleasant I was?

Let no corrupt communication proceedeth out of your mouth except that which is good for the use of edifying that it might administer grace to the hearers. ~ Ephesians 4:29

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