Alejandro Otero was not at his home in Naples, Florida at 2:34 p.m. on March 8, but his son was. That’s when a 2-pound object crashed through the roof of his house; the sound of impact was captured on his Ring doorbell camera. Authorities were of course notified.
NASA was soon involved. The U.S. Space Command had tracked an object that was jettisoned by the International Space Station, and knew it was headed toward Southwest Florida. Testing confirmed that the ISS was the origin of this object. It was part of a pallet of depleted batteries that had inadvertently been launched into space; most of the payload burned up as it reentered earth’s atmosphere, but this portion survived the super-hot temperatures.
We sometimes hear of problems resulting from trash being tossed from cruise ships and other sailing vessels. There are many ships at sea, so that’s to be expected (though not acceptable). Outer space is also filling up with vessels, from space stations to orbiters to satellites. Now and then one of these is guided back to earth to harmlessly fall into the ocean. This story, however, frightens us. The old European folk tale about Chicken Little crying, “The sky is falling!”, now seems like reality.
Trash can come from many sources, but one of the most dangerous is from the mouth. Paul gave this warning in Ephesians 4:29: “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.” Those who pay little attention to this danger area should certainly consider the following verse: “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God.” (Ephesians 4;30). To allow trash to roll off our lips is an affront to the Spirit.
James had much to say about our words. In James 3:5b,6 he wrote: “See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.” James shows the reason we spew hurtful words – our tongues are “set on fire by hell”!
Jesus gave a very sobering warning on how we use our tongues: “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:36,37). Do we ever speak “idle words”, words that just jump off our tongues without thinking first?
Words, like metal objects falling from the International Space Station, can do unexpected damage: “You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people; nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord.” (Leviticus 19:16). Our words are more powerful than we think.
Come to the light God offers! Study His word, the Bible. Worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:24). Get in touch with us if you’d like to discuss these ideas further.
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Copyright, 2024, Timothy D. Hall
