I Almost Made 'That Call'!

I ALMOST MADE THAT CALL!

 

 

“Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry” (James 1:19).

I had to rush back home after the Sunday service so that I could change my purse and go shopping. As I waked away from home and joined the main road, I saw it. I could not miss it because of its colour; YELLOW! The front cover of my second publication, ‘The Bridge’, could not be missed. She held it in her arm against her breast on top of what looked like a black plastic file. I walked to her, greeted her, and asked her if she liked it and she told me that she did. She told me that she, especially, likes the prayers in it – I was happy. I introduced myself to her as the author and she immediately turned it around to look at my photo on the back cover. I then asked her where she had got it from and she told me that she had bought it in a stationery shop in Bushenyi, which is many miles away from Kampala. She told me that she had paid  35,000/= for it! I could not hide my SHOCK! I told her that I do not sell them and that I give them away free of charge. Well, I thanked her for her time and took my leave of her.

 

As I walked away, I made PLANS! I quickly made a decision to buy some airtime, call the man who had printed them for me and give him a very big piece of my mind…should I call him and tell him off or should I ask to meet with him, I wondered! He had seemed like such a good man, born again, soft-spoken, and honest! Why had he printed more copies and then sold them at such an amount of money? No wonder he had not insisted that I take my films and plates…he must have printed more copies, without my knowledge, and sold them! Well, I was not going to give him more business when I printed my third book!

 

I soon got to the airtime vendor and bought some airtime. For no apparent reason, I told him what I had just learned, how disappointed I was and that I was going to ‘make that call’. Just then, a young man (engaged in a telephone conversation) who I had also given a copy of the same book, walked out of the restaurant where he worked. I hardly noticed that he had ended his call until he walked to me and addressed me directly. However, what he said shocked me into silence! He said that he had just lent his copy of the book that I gave him to his sister who had just left the restaurant! He said that she had called him a few minutes back to tell him that she had met the author of the book that he had lent her. He also told me that he had listened to my conversation with the airtime vendor and that his sister had not paid any money for the book! In other words, it was not necessary for me to make that call! I thanked him for not only putting my mind at ease but for saving me from making a complete fool of myself!

 

Now, situations such as the one that I describe above are the cause of  many breakups, divorces, and sour working relationships. If only we could be less hasty to react, and more mature even if we have all reason to think that what we have been told is the ‘truth’. If only we could maintain our friendships and relationships regardless of what has been said as opposed to ‘making that call’. Sometimes, what we think is the truth about a matter is actually not.

 

Prayer

Dear GOD, sometimes, I believe everything that I am told yet most of it is false. Unfortunately, LORD, it is upon this information that I often make decisions that destroy my relationships. Please forgive me. I now make a decision to be more alert and mature. Give me the grace to be slow to react. May I always wait upon you regarding how handle the information that I receive. May I receive only correct information so that I am well informed about all matters. I thank you, LORD, because you have done it. In Jesus’ name, I have prayed, amen.