A
lesson in Patience from the Letter of
James
Characters: James and Kerry
James: Boys and girls, welcome to chapel today. My names is James. And I wrote a letter that became a part of
the famous book called the Bible. Can
you saw Bible? And I….
Kerry: Hi! How are you doing? My name is Kerry.
James:
Kerry, I was trying to talk to the children…
Kerry: Can I go outside
and play? Can I have some ice
cream? Can I go to the store?
James: Kerry, we are not doing any of that
today. And you need to stop
interrupting. You need to wait your turn
to speak. In fact I was about to teach
these boys and girls something. Do you
think you can be silent for a few minutes.
Kerry: I don’t know if I
can. I just want to talk all of the
time? How do I stop talking?
James: Well, that is what I am going to talk about
today. I would like to give you a
riddle. Do you like riddles?
Kerry: Yes, but what is a riddle?
James:
A riddle is a problem that you have think about. And my riddle is this: What is a very small
muscle that might be the strongest muscle of the body?
Kerry: That’s hard. Is it the stomach muscle?
James:
No, Kerry. Boys and girls, what do you
think your smallest and strongest muscle is?
Is it your arm muscle? Let me see
your arm muscle? Is it your leg
muscle? Let me see your leg muscle? No, those are bigger muscles. Do you know what muscle I am talking about?
Kerry: No…please tell
us.
James: The smallest but strongest muscle in the body
is the tongue. Let me see your
tongue. What do you use your tongue for?
Kerry: I use it to lick an ice cream cone.
James:
But do you use your tongue to talk?
Kerry: Yes, I use my tongue to talk. But how is my tongue strong?
James:
Our tongue is strong because when we speak we can do some very strong
things. A general can talk and all of the
soldiers will go into a battle. And that
is strong. But our tongue is so strong
it can hurt people. Do you like bad
things said to you?
Kerry: No, I don’t …bad things can hurt my feeling
and make me feel sad and cry. I guess
the tongue is strong enough to hurt our feelings.
James: But a tongue is also strong enough to help
people and make them feel better. What
if I say to you that you are a very good girl and you are growing up to be strong. What if I say that I like you? What if I say can I help you? What if I say nice and kind things to you?
Kerry: I would like
that.
James: Do you see how strong the tongue is? It can do nice things and very bad things. But the tongue has to be controlled.
Kerry: Sometimes, I want
to talk all of the time. How do I stop
my tongue?
James: Well, you need to have a patient tongue. If your tongue is patient, you wait your turn
to speak. When you are patient, you raise
your hand in class before you speak. If
you do that you will have a patient tongue.
Kerry: But it is hard to
have a patient tongue.
James: Kerry, I believe that you and these boys and
girls are superheroes?
Kerry: How are we superheroes?
James: You are superheroes because you are strong
enough to control what your tongue says.
You are strong enough to have a patient tongue. You are strong enough to say kind and nice
things and to wait your turn to speak.
Do
you think you can be that kind of superhero?
Kerry: Well, I’ll try.
James: Good, then you and all of the boys and girls
repeat after me: “I am a strong super
hero.”
Kerry: I am a strong super hero.
James: I have a patient tongue.
Kerry: I have a patient tongue.
James:
Good so now you can practice being a super hero today because you are strong
enough to have a patient tongue.
