Be Careful What You Say

By Laura Stevens, Trinity United Methodist Church

​I was in sixth grade in the afternoon and in math class.  We had a really nice young teacher and we were talking about when you use the word “and” in large numbers and in dates.  We had just been talking about dates that morning with our social studies teacher, Mrs. Ahrens, —she seemed as old as Methuselah and was cold and cranky.  We were all scared of her. 
We were getting ready for a Thanksgiving program where dates would be given.  That afternoon I realized Mrs. Ahrens did not say the dates “correctly,” and I blurted out, “Maybe Mrs. Ahrens needs reviewing.”  Everyone laughed including my teacher.  But she told Mrs. Ahrens what had been said.  The next time we were together with her Mrs. Ahrens talked angrily about the incident and blamed a nice young classmate, Ken.  I listened with horror.  I sat silent but when I went home for lunch, I told my parents.  They told me to do the “right” thing so that afternoon I told Mrs. Ahrens the truth that it had been me instead of Ken.  She was furious.  But I felt better and Ken was delighted.  I saw him years later at our high school’s 25th reunion and remembered the incident.  It was a lesson in being careful what you blurt out and always, as the Bible teaches us, tell the truth.