A Lonely Chair

I just watched Negotiator...for the third time. And even though I know the ending, it still makes my palms sweaty.

And it also touches something inside of me...it incites a righteous indignation. If you do not know the plotline, the character played by Samuel L Jackson is a negotiator for the Chicago police. There is internal fraud occuring, skimming money from the disability fund. Samuel's partner gets too close to the truth...and that's where it gets interesting. Someone dies, and Jackson gets framed for the crime.

Jackson loses his badge, possibly his freedom, his wife...and his name.

What is it about our name, our reputation that is so central to our identity. I think especially with a man, there is something deep inside him that is violated when his name is betrayed.

I remember working at a job where I witnessed less than honest business dealings. When I brought them to light, not only did the parties involved not admit wrongdoing, they turned the tables on me. I was ambushed. My word was questioned, my character was impuned and I was given a lonely chair in a dark room.

In those situations, you hope you have made enough deposits into the trust banks of your friends and colleagues that they will see through the lies that are being spread. However, it is a harsh reality that many times it comes down to one person's word against another, and you have no guarantees that your name may not be forever ruined in some people's eyes.

Betrayal. Betrayal of my name, my word, my integrity. Is there a more lonely chair?

Identity theft is a rapidly growing crime in this country. Why is it so painful? Because someone takes your name, your reputation, and commits acts in your stead.

Gossip is another form of theft. Taking the reputation of another, and stealing the dignity of their name from whoever is listening.

"A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything--or destroy it!

It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.

This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can't tame a tongue--it's never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image."

Lord, help me control my tongue, and may my words never place a fellow human being in that lonely chair.