What Miss Marple Knows...words can wound

Agatha Christie, borrowed from Omar Khayyam for the title, The Moving Finger.  In his famous Rubiayat, Khayyam ponders the truth that time moves on and we cannot call it back or erase what has happened (Verse 51).  In her book, Christie explores the impact of a poison pen writer in a small village.  Needless to say the letters are not the only subject matter of Miss Marple's investigation. In fact, the letters are a diversion to attract attention away from the real crimes. Miss Marple sees beyond the words.

In conflict, and in the heat of anger, words can be weapons.  We have all done it.  The red mist descends and before we realise it, we have said something hurtful and cruel.  We have made a threat, the closer to a real fear the better.  If we are lucky then these words are forgiven or forgotten and our relationship continues.  However, if we are in an ongoing conflict or in a separation then these words can come back to haunt us.

I can recall many mediations where the angry words spoken by one party are used to justify the fears or positions of the other party.  It may have taken a microsecond for the words to come out of our mouths, but the tail is long. 

The reality is that we are all capable of saying terrible things when we are angry.  As humans we need to acknowledge that whilst words are important, we are all capable of speaking without thinking. 

As Miss Marple and Omar Khayyam know we cannot go back in time to change them, we can only change things going forward.  We cannot ask people to trust us, we can only show them through our actions that trust can be rebuilt. 

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