THE PATH TO HAPPINESS – ONE WORD AT A TIME

A message from Rev. Sherry Lady

Most of you probably do not know that I still have a landline phone. Yes, even in this day where I sleep with my cell phone by my bed and sometimes carry it into the bathroom so as not to miss an important phone call, I still have a landline. I don’t answer it anymore, will occasionally check the messages on it, though there are barely any anymore, but it serves a very important role in my life. It helps me find my cell phone when I misplace it, which happens more often than I like to admit. It has helped me find it in a jeans pocket, a bathrobe pocket, under a stack of laundry, and on the floor by my recliner when I did not hear it drop earlier, and various other places as well.

 I know that someday they will stop servicing land-line phones and will cut my contact life-line for peace of mind. Then I I will have to rely on trying to not panic when I can’t find the mobile life-line I carry around with me 24 hours a day. I dread the day, which is coming soon, when I will have to say goodbye to the piece of equipment with the hand-held receiver but, I will bless it for the hours and years it has served me.

On the bottom of the phone, just below the digital screen I have a saying, which I taped there many years ago, copied from a note Nola had put on the phone in our church office way back when. The saying is this: “Before you speak, let your words pass through three gates: #1 – Is it true?, #2 – Is it necessary? And #3 – Is it kind? Those words have helped me navigate through some difficult situations, some heart wrenching phone calls, and in conversations when not on the phone. They remind me of how important it is to consider how our words – both negative and positive – will affect others and ourselves before we use them.

 While at the store last week, a young woman was standing outside the door, by a stand of fresh cut flowers, holding a bouquet she seemed to be considering purchasing. She was dressed rather shabbily, looking very nervous, and trying to reach into the pocket of her shabby shirt when a woman, with a loaded shopping cart, almost bumped into her. Without considering any alternative scenario, she sternly said to the young woman, “You better put those back before you get caught. We don’t need people like you stealing things all the time.” The shocked look on the young woman’s face, and the confusion that resulted, could have turned into quite a scene if she had verbally responded back to the bold, and quite adamant accusation, in a negative way. She chose, however, to address it differently.

 As the lady with the loaded shopping cart gave a last glare at the young woman and then proceeded to huffily head toward her car, the young woman caught up with her, took a flower from the bouquet and offered it to the woman with the words: “Please. For you. I have paid for the flowers and was looking for the receipt in my pocket.” “You paid for the bouquet?? Hmmm! How did you do that?” The reply: “From the pop cans I get from the garbage cans. They are for my mom who just moved here. I’m going to have a place to live now. Have a happy day.” This young woman knew about options, and she chose the kinder one. As a witness to this, which happened as I was getting out of my car, I was so impressed with this young woman. I told her so, wondering if, under the circumstances, and at that age, I would have been so kind and respectful. As for the woman with the cart, the softening of her face, and the acceptance of flower said it all. No words needed. I hope she made it safely home.

This Sunday we will hear more about “The Power of Words” from someone who is a woman of power in her own right. I know there will be something more for me to learn. In the meantime, I’m going to tape the words on my landline phone to my computer screen and a couple of other places – like my car dash board for when traffic is challenging, because my thoughts in traffic sometimes need some realignment.

 Love and blessings, Sherry