We may not realize how much harm our words can do. |
She was angry and felt rejected, and she shared bits and pieces of conversations that she had. These conversations had been held, never believing that confidential moments would be publicly aired. But they were being aired now. “He said this, and I said that….” Those sentences, spoken freely months ago, were now pinned up for inspection, criticism and judgement. My friend had broken up with her boyfriend. The last time I had seen someone so passionately plead their case was after a family had left a church, feeling misunderstood and insignificant. Hurt and offended, they spoke, believing they needed to be heard and understood. In both cases, mutual respect had been thrown to the wind.