Lest you accuse me of exaggerating my title, let me clarify—not all heat waves are physical. An emotional heat wave is storming our land. As per the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, overheated people are “marked by anger or passion,” and today there are a lot of overheated people in the USA. Please note, this is a bipartisan observation.
How I long for mature conversations, intelligent and well-thought-out, unsullied with cursing and swearing. How I cringe when adults who are purported to be educated and wise exhibit behavior I admonished when raising my children. How I pray for reason and respect to be valued, and for dialogue to reflect Paul’s words in Ephesians 4:29:
“Don’t use foul or abusive language.
Let everything you say be good and helpful,
so that your words will be an
encouragement to those who hear them.”,
I can only start with myself. Do my words ignite or inspire? Do they accuse or advocate? Do they edify or smother? Demean or discuss? Discourage or persuade?
One last thought from James, chapter 4:
Don’t speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters… Your job is to obey the law, not to judge whether it applies to you. God alone… is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to judge your neighbor?”
Let’s do our best to relieve the heat wave ravaging our land.
BARBARA HIGBY 
Wh
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