“A Gentle Tongue Can Break the Hardest Bones” 『柔和的舌頭能折斷骨頭』

By: Szu Mao; Translated By: Evnlyn Lee（林一華）

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A tongue could be very stubborn and sharp like “Iron Teeth”, but the effect of words spoken from a gentle tongue is far more powerful and influential than any other actions. Its importance can not be over estimated.

The Bible said, “A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver”. (Proverbs 25:11)

A tongue is a very small part of a human body, but it could affect our lives very deeply. We are all concerned about how to speak wisely. In the Bible, it often mentions about the problem of tongue. The success or failure of human relationship often depends on “How the words are spoken”. The following story was taken from an English magazine which I would like to share with you. Words when wisely spoken could change an embarrassing situation.

One day, I was visiting Bobbi, a friend from high school. That day he had to deliver some merchandize. to a commercial center. During the delivery time, it was raining hard with occasional thunderstorms cracking. The customer told Bobbi that he could park behind the commercial building. We parked the car at the yellow line of the unloading zone.

Instantly, there came a security guard shouted,”Hello, you guys can not park here”

My immediate response was that we had already contacted the supervisor, Miss Hagen (could be the boss of the security guard) and got her permission. I really did not have the intention to park half a mile away and then deliver the merchandize in this stormy weather.

Then, Bobbi’s response to the security guard explained the reason how he won the best award for his service in the era of his high school years. He immediately unloaded the merchandize from his hands and very sincerely he explained to the security guard,”Miss Hagen told me if I only park here for a few minutes I can use this unloading zone. May be I was mistaken, this is under your territory, please tell me what I should do and I will do as you say”. He paid attention to the guard’s eye and smilingly waiting for his response.

I had never seen a stubborn person become convinced so fast. He even said “Om….I think….. it is o.k. if you only need a few minutes. Let me keep an eye for you car so you would not get a parking ticket. You can hurry up do what you have to do”. Very gratefully Bobbi thanked him and we finished our task without much hassle, not getting one drop of rain on us.

Moreover, when we left, the security guard was clearing the way for us to get out a special exit road.

This story gives us a message: “To convince a king with lots of patience and a gentle tongue can break many bones. A tongue could be very stubborn and sharp like “Iron Teeth” but the effect of words spoken from a gentle tongue is far more powerful and influential than any other actions.