A Soft Answer Turns Away Wrath

                 In her book, 'I Thought it was Just Me," Brene Brown states that if you put shame in a petri 

dish, it only needs three ingredients for it to grow: Silence, Judgement, and Secrecy. Long before I

knew what plagiarism was I read an excerpt that prompted: Have you ever wondered why in a 

heated argument, two people standing SO close to each other end up shouting at each other?

Answer: The distance of their hearts.

                 A gentle answer, the Bible says, 

turns away anger. But a harsh word STIRS UP

 anger (Prov 15:1). Allow me to indulge you 

about 'a harsh word', child of God, a harsh 

word is that which is born from a HAUGHTY 

heart. Pedestalled on misinformation. Anger. 

Pain. An expression partitioned with 

judgement. A harsh word leaves no room for 

respect, understanding. It speaks to respond/ 

judge/ blame/ petrify. Amplifying the distance 

of hearts. Putting frontiers. Leaving the respondents impassive. Armoured. Shielded. 

            A harsh word, my friend, is THE petri dish edifying the patterns of silence, secrecy, and 

judgement. A harsh word.