The open mike

By Tammie Ledford

I overheard a conversation I wasn't meant to hear. Call it a case of the “open mike”. My 82 year old mother fractured her back and was in the hospital. It was two in the morning, she was in pain so we rang for meds. The aide answered, he was with another patient but would tell the nurse. Then it happened, he left the intercom on.  It was amusing listening to him chit chat with his patient. 

I was contemplating leaving the warm blanket I was under to let him know of the faux pas, but he made it to the nurses station and told her our request. 

She lashed back.

Her words stung… "patients have too many rights." "I don’t need three people telling me to "get pain medication," there was more.

My face grew hot, I was shocked at her response. I thought about all the hardships my mother had endured in her life, how she had handled them with grace. If anyone had rights it was her! How could a nurse, someone dedicated to healing, respond with disregard for their patients? My anger was growing.

Then the Lord, as He always does, very gently reminded me of things I had said in the past, words I would have been embarrassed about if there had been an “open mike”. He reminded me that He is the open mike and every thing we say or think, kind or unkind falls on His ears. 

Ouch!

King David wrote in Psalms 139:1-4 

 O Lord, you have searched me and known me!

 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

    you discern my thoughts from afar.

 You search out my path and my lying down

    and are acquainted with all my ways.

 Even before a word is on my tongue,

    behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.

I thought about words, how powerful they are! In a flash words can tear someone apart or build them up. 

 Death and life are in the power of the tongue,

Or in James 3 and how impossible it is to tame the tongue, how the same tongue blesses G-d but curses the man G-d created and it shouldn’t be this way.

Slowly my anger was replaced with empathy. I thought of all the physical hurt the nurses saw every day on the trauma floor. People from all ages and walks of life. I tried to imagine how emotionally draining it must be to manage their pain. I could understand her frustration. Then empathy was replaced with compassion and I began to pray, I prayed for the nurses, the other patients but I also prayed that I would always use my tongue to encourage others.

Can I challenge you to do as I did in those wee hours and determine to choose your words carefully? After all there is always an “open mike”.

Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips! 

Psalm 141:3                   

About the Author: 

Tammie has been married to her best friend Randy for 34 years. They have three sons and two amazing grandchildren. She recently retired from a career in advertising and is pursuing a dream she never forgot, to write children’s stories. They have been residents of Wilmington since 1995.