Words, Pain, and Friendship

Friendships perish by word of mouth. Expressions, sometimes more than actions, can sink a relationship like a weathered vessel. Actions, yes, are the precipitant to conflicts, but, at many times, words often seal the deal. Many times we speak before we talk, forgetting that once words leave our mouths they can never return. There is truth in the aged maxim which likens words to toothpaste squeezed out of the tube – once out, it can never be put back in. we’ve all said and done things we immediately regret; we’ve all had things said and done to us that we immediately despise. How does one begin to forgive either? The greatest slight man can do to man is injustice. Words oft cause wounds which are not easily healed or forgiven, despite how many bandages one puts on it. The natural progression of time doesn’t permit one to move backward. Once the fragile and mutual trust and respect in a friendship is broken, all that is left is wariness and uncertainty. There will always be that subtle awkwardness, that back-of-the-mind feeling that the ill done might not be the last transgression. Two might return to friendship, but it will not be like the first. It is not in the nature of man to wholly and completely offer total and absolute forgiveness – that attribute belongs only to God.