dailydatewithgod

It is amazing what a difference a letter can make.  If you exchange stroking for striking you get two different realities. One is inclined toward soothing and one is inclined toward harm.  Yet how often do we use our language to strike at others and ourselves instead of using them to stroke?  These days we are quick to strike out at each other instead of stroke each other with kindness.  We take pride in being able to shut someone down quickly.  We call it being quick-witted or clever.  Don’t get me wrong, as someone historically inclined to keep her mouth shut and not say anything I often admired people who could just strike out with what seemed to be the right thing to say. It came across as powerful. Yet I wondered if striking had the a lasting powerful impact I was looking for.  I sense that much of what we are witnessing when we see each other striking with words is evidence of what is happening inside our minds.  How often do we pause before striking at ourselves with what is going wrong, how things are not the way we would like, or a list of all the problems in a situation?  Why is it easier to join a group striking at the problems of life by complaining instead of stroking out the possible solutions?  Stroking requires a pause. It calls upon to consider what it is we are touching upon and utilize a tactic enabling it to come to life.  When we hold life with great value we are inclined to caress it with care not cut it off at the knees.  God invites us to pay attention to our language and notice if we are using it to strike or stroke the love and light of life.