I haven't forgotten about my blog. For the past week and a half I've been without a computer. It was a crazy thing really. I was sitting at my computer when my cat jumped onto my leg and dug her claws in. I jerked and it pulled the mouse cord from the computer. I heard some crackling and it hasn't worked since. Anyway, I have someone looking at it and hopefully he can get it fixed. For now, I'm typing on my phone and its pretty difficult.

Today I overheard a conversation when I was at lunch. I wasn't eavesdropping; the voices were loud enough to hear. Actually one voice was on a speaker phone and the other was in the food establishment sitting at a table nearby. In this conversation one party seemed to be complaining about something that had happened that he was pretty angry about. The man stopped him from speaking and began to give him a lecture that made me assume it might possibly be the father speaking. The young man on the phone was told to listen to what he was saying and then given a lesson about how you are to respond in this life. I can't relay every word that was said, but I can say I was impressed. He never raised his voice, but was very authoritative in his tone. He made it clear that sometimes people don't get the results they want and then get angry at the person who delivers that news, when in reality they are more likely mad at themselves and looking for a scapegoat to carry the blame for their poor behavior. He then went on to say how he should respond. It was a lesson in treating people respectfully even when you aren't happy with the circumstance. I think that's something we can all learn from. When we are dealing with people or when we are dealing with trying circumstances our first response can dictate the direction it will head. As  I'm typing this I hear the Michael Dunn trial in the background and I think about how one confrontational overtone set things in motion that led to a young man being shot. But what if he had just ignored it and moved on? Things may have went differently. Words and attitudes are like a fire that can run out of control without a moment's notice. I once wrote a song called, "Can a Man Tame His Tongue" that was my own personal reminder that on my own strength I am not likely to control this mouth. And that can lead to damage. This is why it's so important for me to rely on God's help. And speaking from experience, I can say that he definitely can help us.