Chapter 47 The Conspiracy Spirit

       “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me.” I would imagine it was my mother who taught me that. And I can remember saying it as a young boy. Whenever a friend would get mad at me and say something mean about me, I would say, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me.” As we get older we discover that those words really aren’t true. Words do harm us…and we harm others with our words.
      I think that is one of the points McLaren makes in this chapter. He writes on page 237, “Speaking of our words, one of the most important ways the Spirit moves us to care for people in all these circles is by training us to control our tongues.” I imagine I have hurt more people with my tongue than in any other way. I hope that I have helped quite a few people with my tongue as well.
      I liked the various circles of people that McLaren says the Spirit conspires to touch with our lives: family, co-workers, neighbors, the vulnerable, and our critics, opponents and enemies. It is certainly that last group that I struggle with the most. Perhaps we all do.
     It is a struggle to show kindness to people we don’t “get” and people who don’t “get” us. It is hard to have kind words to say about those who don’t have kind words to say about us. I was reading a book recently and in this book, they called these people EGR-Extra Grace Required. May God send me and extra dose of the Spirit to assist me in dealing with the EGR’s in my life. And may I be a little less trouble to those that find me to be an EGR to them.