by Martin Peter Mburu
One morning, I couldn’t lift my weight off the bed. A heavy weight pressed me down. A huge, heavy tongue coldly blanketed me. It had scales of small restless tongues. Curses, gossips, false accusations, hurtful words, and lies burdened the small tongues. Their words wove an intricate web to three words on the big tongue: steal, kill, destroy. The three words conducted the orchestra of the small tongues. They writhed homely on the fatherly tongue as they unloaded on me. I knew these tongues. I had seen them speak and not once. Only yesterday, they had spoken words of love and encouragement. I could see the faces of their owners. Shock, anger, disappointment added to my burdens. My oppressed body couldn’t move, but my tongue could. My thoughts moved but foggily. Scriptures about the power of life in the tongue… the Lord has given me the power and authority over all the works… I should submit to God and resist the… flooded my thoughts — I believed! Like a flash, the heavy tongue slithered away. Relief, joy, freedom and praise became my new burden. But only for a minute. A new burden of anger, more anger and thoughts of revenge replaced them. I needed to act on the possessors of the small tongues: An eye for an eye; a tongue for a tongue. But the Lord, who had liberated me, stopped me, “You must never be like the oppressor. Or think like him. Forgive and pray for them. Use your tongue to bless them and seek their liberation.” The new self-inflicted burden found a home on my tongue. I embraced the weight. I drove my thoughts to focus on any other thing except what the Lord had said. I wished my tongue could cling to the roof of my mouth like Ezekiel’s. I wished I could lose my voice for a season like Zechariah. My head shook to further unite my tongue and my thoughts. Mercifully, more Scriptures overpowered my head, thoughts and tongue: “Not my will, but thy will… With Christ, all things are possible... I am comforted so that I can comfort others.” I was free again. Freedom and praise covered me. My free tongue became yoked with the light burden of my Lord. Compassion and joy filled my tongue as I prayed out the unburdening of the small tongues.
Martin Peter Mburu Waweru is a born-again Christian who loves writing, storytelling, blogging, and talking about Jesus. He lives with his family in Nairobi, Kenya. Martin has a PhD in Theoretical Linguistics, a Master’s in English and linguistics and a Bachelor’s in education. He has over fifteen years of experience teaching English, linguistics and writing at the university. He has published several textbooks for use in Kenyan schools. He has self-published two Christian stories: Mama’s Boardroom and The Last Sermon. They are on Amazon. Currently, he writes Christian fiction and coaches and trains Christian creatives.
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