SCATTERED LEAVES

Once upon a time an old man spread rumors that his neighbor was a thief. As a result, the young man was arrested. Days later the young man was proven innocent. After his release he sued the old man for wrongly accusing him. In court the old man told the judge: "They were just comments, didn't harm anyone."

The judge, before passing sentence on the case, told the old man: "Write all the things you said about him on a piece of paper. Cut them up and on the way home, throw the pieces of paper out. Tomorrow, come back to hear the sentence."

Next day, the judge told the man: "Before receiving the sentence, you will have to go out and gather all the pieces of paper you threw away yesterday."

The old man said: "I can't do that! The wind spread them and I won't know where to find them." The judge then replied: "The same way, simple comments may destroy the honor of a man to such an extent, that one is not able to fix it. If you can't speak well of someone, rather don't say anything.

"Let's all be masters of our mouths, so that we won't be slaves of our words."

If only we could eat our words, but once they leave our mouths they often seem to breath, breed and take on a life of their own. Truly words are living things...they create the realities of our lives and can forever impact the lives of others.