I have just hung up; why did he telephone?

I don’t know . . . Oh! I get it . . .

I talked a lot and listened very little.

Forgive me, Lord, it was a monologue and not a dialogue.

I explained my ideas and did not get his;

Since I didn’t listen, I learned nothing,

Since I didn’t listen, I didn’t help,

Since I didn’t listen, we didn’t communicate.

Forgive me, Lord, for we were connected,

and now we are cut off.

_______________

Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.