STICKS AND STONES
Solomon wrote: “The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit (Proverbs 15:4).” Several years ago I found a wonderful illustration of this while reading in Robert Fulghum’s book, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten (pg.17). “In the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific some villagers practice a unique form of logging. If a tree is too large to be felled with an ax the natives cut it down by yelling at it. (Can’t lay my hands on the article, but I swear I read it.) Woodsmen with special powers creep up on a tree just at dawn and suddenly scream at it at the top of their lungs. They continue this for thirty days. The tree dies and falls over. The theory is that the hollering kills the spirit of the tree. According to the villagers, it always works. Ah, those poor native innocents. Such quaintly charming habits…
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