The Ugly Duckling

When I was in the sixth grade at Old Post Road elementary school (age 12), they had a costume party for Halloween.  My mother made cute little yellow duckling outfits for me, my brother Phillip (age 10) and my brother Duane (age 7).  Then she made a white duckling outfit for my cousin, Beverly (age 7).  Mom and Aunt Ilene (Beverly’s mother) didn’t want to tell Beverly that she was the “ugly duckling” in the nursery rhyme, so they just told her that she was a “special duckling”.  She was the white duckling.  Beverly was fine with being a “special duckling”.  Hey, we must be careful about what we say … and what we don’t say.  Solomon said in Proverbs 6:2, “Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.”  To be a special duckling or an ugly duckling is innocent enough, but often our words hurt others.  So today, try to be careful with the words that you say, even if you must tell someone that they are a “special duckling”.