Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones. Proverbs 16:24 KJV

Johnny used to give me quite a tongue lashing in my early days of preloading his delivery car.

Route drivers like Johnny had their own system and delivery strategy to get the packages delivered in an efficient and timely manner. And that wasn’t necessarily how our preloading charts laid it out.

At first, his rants caught me totally by surprise and I really didn’t know what to do. I mean if I said what I wanted to say in response to his negative berating tone, I probably would have been fired on the spot. But I needed the job, so I struggled to find a way to endure the abuse. I tried everything.

Then finally one day, I just started making myself say thank you when he told me how stupid my load looked and how ridiculous it was for him to come in early enough to “fix my mess.”
After I got past the fact that I felt like I was being somehow dishonest for not giving him a piece my mind, it became pretty fun.

I would greeting with a overly jovial “Good morning Johnny!” And I started following him around with a smile and a “yes sir, you are right and I will get right to work on it.” Pretty soon, ol’ Johnny didn’t have much to say in the morning about his load or anything else.

When harsh words or attitudes mount an attack on you, it makes for a pretty miserable existence. And you won’t last long if you don’t learn to counter with kindness. I’ve witnessed the powerful hand of God come on the scene when I chose kindness over justice.

May today’s proverbial wisdom help us all do a little healin’ in our neck of the woods!