Speaking to your friend across the table at lunch on a Saturday afternoon started out with, "look at this beautiful day. Boy we really timed this just right, who knew?" And your friend says, "yeah but, if the sun gets much hotter I'm gon'a wish we'd stayed at home." And later during the meal you say, "look at this colorful salad. It looks too pretty to eat but, I'm much too hungry to let it sit there very long." Your friend says, "you know you should have brought a camera then you could have had a picture to take home." You finish lunch and you are glad your friend was able to get 'in' out of the sun that you were enjoying so much, not to mention the lasting memory of the picture of your salad that you'll take with you.

The days go by, the work is steady, the paychecks keep coming in but your friend doesn't call or come over and somewhere deep inside you are glad and you go out looking for a new friend or even better friends. There has to be safety in numbers. And the time goes by, and you find it hard to find new friends as you broaden the circle in which you are looking. You start going to places you would not go to last year thinking there must be someone like you just looking for a friend. About now you start to doubt yourself a little. Was it something you said? Did you make a gesture in the wrong direction? 

You go shopping and find your friend at the other end of the isle looking intently at or reading the label on the thing in her/his hand. You decide enough is enough and you want an answer. You proceed down the isle but as you do they disappear in some other part of the store and you don't see them the rest of time you are shopping. Now you are really frustrated. Why didn't they stop for a minute and talk to you? Did they see you coming and go away on purpose? You say to yourself, 'I really want to know what is going on here?' Or, 'How could she/he do that to me, just disappear out of my life?' And the time goes on by 'cause you are too scared or stuborn to call and confront them when your friendship might be at stake and the time goes on.

So eventually you do call and find out the number has been changed. Even worse, you go over to her/his place and find out they don't live there any more. Now your mind starts to go into a thousand different directions. Are they alright? Is there something else going on? And if so, why didn't they come to you and share their problem with you? And then the icing on the cake is that you remember you just saw them a short while ago at the shopping center, but then, the question is did they see you? Maybe not! All this over a few words? It is driving you to tears and anger and loss of hope and the stress to think your once very good friend may have chosen to deny you to be a part of her/his life anymore. And worse, what can you do about it? It is out of your hands!!

Words can make us or break us. And it seemed like nothing at the time. What just happened to this person is something similar to one that happened to me years ago and to this day I don't know what happened. Things change. And we have no control over the decisions of others. They might tell you that they cared too much for you, to be upset about that thing they said in your presence so they stayed away, and while they stayed away they lost your phone number and their car broke down and they had to move to another town and.....??? You can tell them that friends just don't treat friends like that after months or years of not knowing and now they want to be your friend again. 

What you don't know may be, that he or she was so upset at the world closing in on them, and they would never burden you with the problems they had at the time, they actually laid a curse on you as they left that lunch that day. Just a few words slipped out because you had been so up when they had been headed toward a very dark place they thought you could not begin to help them with. Now they have recovered and they are looking for a few words to cure their wounds. Would you say these words, 'I forgive you' and go on. Or what do you do?

     Genesis 15:1-1 -  After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

     Exodus 4:15 - And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.

     Exodus 23:8 - And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.

     Exodus 34:28 -  And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.

     Job 32:11 - Behold, I waited for your words; I gave ear to your reasons, whilst ye searched out what to say.

     Psalms 5:1-3 -  ¹ Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation. ² Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray. ³ My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.

Another scenario might be; your friend was having a bad day that day and the next and the next and told someone else about your 'up'. And them or the someone else said, "they can't see you  while they (you) are always so 'up'." And now that your have come down the curse has been fulfilled and there-by you are released to be their friend again. From some thoughtless words your world was changed forever but, will you let some thoughtless words control your life? 

I believe that the bible is an accurate accounting of the use and power of words spoken. The words spoken raised up kingdoms, and caused kings to die and kingdoms to fail. Words out of somebody's mouth caused nations to be built and wars to be fought. And words out of somebody's heart out of somebody's mind out of somebody's mouth to say hello and you and I are here, because two people met and had the courage to let go of some words. So words are not bad or good, only the use thereof. My advice; keep control of the words you say and know that they (words) all have meaning and someone is keeping records.

     Proverbs 15:1 -  A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.

     Proverbs 15:23-23 -  A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!

     Proverbs 16:24-24 -  Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.

     Proverbs 18:21-21 -  Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

     Proverbs 29:20 -  Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words there is more hope of a fool than of him.

     Jeremiah 1:9 -  Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. 

     John 1:1-4 -  1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² The same was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴ In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

     John 10:20-21 -  ²⁰ And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him? ²¹ Others said, These are not the words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind?