Because All Is Not As It Appears

 

Ephesians 4:29

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.

Romans 14:19

Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, 

and things wherewith one may edify another.

Hebrews 3:13

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😅

Some Beach

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