The Control of the Tongue
I do not want many of you, my Brothers, to become teachers, knowing, as you do, that we who teach shall be judged by a more severe standard than others. We often make mistakes, every one of us. Any one who does not make mistakes when speaking is indeed a perfect man, able to bridle his whole body as well. When we put bits into horses’ mouths, to make them obey us, we control the rest of their bodies also. Again, think of ships. Large as they are, and even when driven by fierce winds, they are controlled by a very small rudder and steered in whatever direction the man at the helm may determine. So is it with the tongue. Small as it is, it is a great boaster. Think how tiny a spark may set the largest forest ablaze! And the tongue is like a spark. Among the members of our body it proves itself a very world of mischief; it contaminates the whole body; it sets the wheels of life on fire, and is itself set on fire by the flames of the Pit. For while all sorts of beasts and birds, and of reptiles and creatures in the sea, are tameable, and actually have been tamed by man, no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless plague! It is charged with deadly poison! With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men who are made “in God’s likeness.” From the very same mouth come blessings and curses! My Brothers, it is not right that this should be so. Does a spring give both good and bad water from the same source? Can a fig tree, my Brothers, bear olives? or a vine bear figs? No, nor can a brackish well give good water.
—James, a Brother of Jesus.
The Great Lesson of History
One lesson, and only one, history may be said to repeat with distinctness; that the world is built somehow on moral foundations; that in the long run, it is well with the good; in the long run, it is ill with the wicked.
—J. A. Froude.
“Home—the place where we grumble the most and are loved the best.”