Recall

I listened to the latest report about Toyota recalls (another reason why my next car should be a Harley Davidson).  

I received a recall notice for my car (a Buick, because I'm old and don't have a Harley). Apparently there's a problem in the engine compartment and should be fixed.  It's about something silly like the engine catching on fire.

A recall is all about a manufacturer slapping itself on the forehead saying, "Oops, we made it wrong!  You paid for it assuming we didn't, but we did, so we'll fix it."

I've tried to do this with things I've said.  

Words are harder to recall than cars.  Once they have left my pie hole and found their way to their intended target they can't be recalled - the damage is done.  So the best I can do is to attempt damage control.  By the way, have you notice that when we attempt to do damage control over words spoken we usually make it worse?  Words are hard to recall.

Words damage innocent people too.  A brake pedal that doesn't work can obviously impact an innocent person, but so do words that are not thought through.  Most often the damage that is done is more devastating to the innocent then it is the intended.  Exhibit A - children who have to listen to sewage coming out of their parents mouths that are intended for each other.  Words hit the innocent too.

Words that can't be recalled and damage other people are really expensive.  Toyota can measure precisely how much it will cost to fix a steering problem with a car.  Know the number of vehicles sold with the problem, calculate the cost of repair, make sure you have 3.2 zillion dollars in the checkbook.  How much does lost trust cost?  What is the price of no respect?  How expensive are words that find more homes than they were intended to find?  Words can cost more than I'm willing to pay.

Words that can't be recalled and damage other people that are really expensive have two tools that have more power than the biggest checkbook and the most intelligent engineer - a sincere apology and a changed behavior.  God has designed it so that His power would flow through those two human actions.  

In religious terms, as it relates to a relationship with God, we call them confession and repentance.  They unlock the door to healing the relationship between God and those created in His image.  

In human terms, as it relates to damaging words I have said, sincere apology and changed behavior also have unlimited power and can unlock doors to healing and provide room for God to touch lives.      
  
Or, we could just spend our time and energy figuring out how to recall the words from people's minds, erase the damage they caused, suck them back into our mouths, resend them to our brain for adjustment or elimination, and then redeliver them repaired.  

Yah, if you come up with anything on that let the rest of us know - until then we're sticking with apology (confession) and change (repentance).

Harleyless,

Pastor Dave