Once upon a time, there was a little boy with a very bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.

On the first day, the boy hammered 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails he hammered each day gradually decreased. He realized that holding back his temper was much easier than driving nails into the fence.

Finally, the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. He told his father, who then suggested that from that day onward, for every day he managed to control his temper, he should pull out one nail. Day after day passed, until at last the boy was able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.

His father took him by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, “Son, you’ve done well, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same again. When you speak in anger, your words leave scars just like these. You can stab a man with a knife and pull it out, but no matter how many times you say ‘I’m sorry,’ the wound is still there.”

The little boy finally understood the power of his father’s words. He looked up at him and said, “I hope you can forgive me for the scars I’ve left on you, Dad.”
“Of course I can,” his father replied.

Reflection — Let our words always be filled with kindness.

Proverbs 16:23-24

23 A wise man heart guides his mouth and his lips promote instruction

24 Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones