Tart Tongue

When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I’ll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day? Genesis 27:45 TNIV

Listen to Tart Tongue – He Said

We get along fine now, but that wasn’t always the case. She’s older; I’m wiser. I’m still her little brother, though – the one she picked on and put out when she couldn’t put up with my tart tongue.

My sister was a senior when I began high school. Mom forced her to drive me to school. Marji hated it. I think she found me an embarrassment. Can’t blame her. I wasn’t the most malleable brother. One morning we’d barely left the house when I made one smart remark too many. She pulled over and put me out. Told me to walk to school. Nine miles. I don’t remember walking home, so I must’ve flagged down the school bus when it roared past. I never told Mom but I got her back later.

We were on the way to church one morning when Marji hit me in the head with her shoe. I had no idea her aim was so good. I’d never seen her throw anything other than a fit and that was only after Wesley Smith had broken up with her. I awoke on the kitchen floor with Dad telling me to hurry along or we’d be late for Sunday school.

After watching Dark Shadows one afternoon, Marji called Mom, complaining that I’d pulled out all her hair. I forget what prompted that skirmish. I do remember pinning her to the floor and exacting my revenge – for what, I can’t recall.

Esau and Jacob fought, too. Their feud festered until it split the family, Isaac favoring his oldest son, Rebekah protecting Jacob. Years later when God called him to be reconciled to his brother, Jacob feared for his life.

But time, tempered anger, and a loving trust in God’s goodness and mercy heals old wounds. The rift that separated the two brothers was restored by a God whose arms reach across the chasm of bitterness and hurt. God softened Esau’s heart. The pitiful blessing he received from his father, Isaac, blossomed into great wealth. By the time Jacob returned to the family, all Esau lacked was the love of his younger brother.

Marji isn’t the mean sister she once was. In fact, she’s one of my biggest fans, a thing I’d have never thought possible as I stood on the side of that highway that day watching her drive off. In fact, a few years ago the two of us rented a sailboat and sailed around the British Virgin Islands. Folks kept asking if we were married. “To him?” She’d chuckle. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

I love my sister. Even if everyone else deserts me, I know she’ll remain by my side — or at least with me on the side of a highway, or a sailboat, or at a book signing. Thanks for being my sister, Marji. And thanks for only throwing a shoe at my head and not the Sears Christmas Wish List catalog. Who knows how a blow like that would’ve affected my noggin’.