Hello ,
Listen to the words of
South African poet Mzwakhe Mbuli, in his Zulu poem:
An injury to the head,
Is an injury to the whole person,
Is an injury to the whole family,
Is an injury to the compound,
Is an injury to the village,
Is an injury to the kingdom,
Is an injury to the world.
He aptly tells how an injury to one's mind and emotions can often devastate the individual, and in turn has a profound effect on the entire world. The ripple effect on the world from these injuries can also travel across space and time into a future generation.
I well remember my father's own fear of water. His mother had warned him over and over again that water was a very dangerous thing, and he was petrified of it. I can recall my father anxiously pacing the shores of the pond that we would swim in as children (my mother was a great swimmer and would take us there,) and shouting out
phrases like, "Mike, what are you doing? Don't go in there past your waist; it's dangerous!"
Perhaps my grandmother (his mother) had experienced a life-altering fall in the water, or maybe she was merely echoing her mother's fears to her son, but it affected my own father's life in startling ways. After all five of his children learned to swim, he got at least a little more comfortable with it, and eventually, he would even put his shorts on and sit in the water near the shore.
As I thought about this Zulu poem that I just shared, it caused me to stop and wonder; how many people have experienced something negative in their lives because of me? Have I transferred some of my own fears to them, or have I said or done something negative that might have contributed to a cycle of fear and pain that they (or someone they encountered) experienced later on?
This is HEAVY stuff!
Perhaps this is why the scriptures tell us to be careful of the things that we say and do. When we're connected to Jesus, we can lean on Him for
help in these areas of human interaction.
"Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer." Psalm 19:14
Have a great day and God bless!
