GRANDMOTHER LIED

 

GRANDMOTHER LIED

1Corinthians [ESV] 13:11-13 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 

  Blessedly, I grew up in a multi-generational home with Mom, Dad, Grandmother, and Uncle.    

  Grandmother McGee was big on not hurting peoples’ feelings, especially in the area of discouragement. “Little white lies” were acceptable in this endeavor, said she. Loving and trusting her I accepted her caring deception, especially when it was me-ward. Though I’d tasted soap more than once for what I considered personally justified lying I never thought of Grandmother as a liar.

  Sounds contradictory? It is.

  A prime example: She always responded to my childhood playmate verbal assaults with “Sticks and stones will break your bones, but words will never hurt you.” The mantra taught me as a way to cope. It worked until I moved on to adulthood and then after trusting compassionate Jesus began understanding His Word under the heading of 1Corinthians chapter 13, working outward from verse 11.

  Another thing I learned is that everyone has a Tale of the Tongue. And that how we hear it matters greatly.

EBB4