Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths,
but only what is helpful for building up the one in need
and bringing grace to those who listen.
Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace,
and things wherewith one may edify another.
But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day;
lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Sometimes when we get an 'inside story' on a situation
we are reminded, nothing is ever completely as it appears.
Hopefully then, we strive to be kinder because who knows
what hidden cross our fellow-pilgrim is bearing!
This song from my younger days still makes me laugh😂
because most of us at some point can relate to at least one of
the frustrations he highlights😅
Be gracious, because everything is not as it appears
We all carry a hidden world beneath mortal veneers
And often what we might surmise by the posture of sheaves
Is but a glimpse of much more than the naked eye perceives
The aches and breaks of love and life are not splayed in bold font
For all to see the bare bones of necessity and want
Of tug of wars we weather as heart-tethers strain and groan
Of prayers poured out in secret tears, witnessed by God alone
Surely the common ground of stumbles and mistakes and such
Should sweeten words and soften hearts and gentle thought and touch
And make us far more patient with each other than we are
Where low blows from life’s hard knocks leaves many a hidden scar
Love’s lessons-in-the-learning do not spill for all to see
Therefore, we should defend each other with kind empathy/ sympathy
Rather than hurling insults, or quick judgment’s sharpened spears
We should be gracious, because all is not as it appears
© Janet Martin
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I hope you enjoyed your pause on this porch and thank-you for your visit!