What did you Say? 

Pastor Duck's Weekly Column 

Taiwan Church News 2650, December 15, 2002 

Translated by David Alexander 

The word of God is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it. (Deuteronomy 30:14) 

Siao-mei works in a large corporation. To qualify for promotion she participates in many training workshops. Recently she took one on "interpersonal communication skills." 

At the first session the teacher distributed tape recorders to each student. They were to carry them around for a day. The recorder was voice activated, and would grab every word they uttered, not running if they were not involved in some sort of verbal communication. After wearing it for a day, they were to listen to and evaluate what they had said. 

The exercise was very helpful to Siao-mei. She happily heard how polite she was to other people, but was dismayed at how negative she was about herself. Of course, some of her talk was "humble self-deprecation", but a lot of revealed her poor self image. 

What sort of word is near to you? What sorts of words are in your mouth and in your heart? If you were to listen to everything that passed your lips in a day, would you hear your courtesy to other people, your self-respect and self-love? Or would you hear yourself being impolite with others, disrespectful of yourself, and uncaring of God's creation? 

Those who have ears, hear! 

Prayer: Be near us, O God, in all we do and in all we say. AMEN