Misunderstandings Poem by Michael P. Johnson

Failing a word to understand
A gesture or a tale
Can lead to anger no one planned
Where even lives can fail

Misunderstandings cause much pain
Can cause a broken heart
Can cause sweet love to run in vain
And wars to even start

Often with love our views we’ll share
Using some gentle word
But Satan as prince of the air
Can make it sound absurd

Words the devil can so construe
Can tongue and mind evoke
Till totally changed, our point of view
Is not the one we spoke

But how we ask can this be done?
Exploit our very will
How can some point of harmless fun?
Produce someone to kill

We needn’t know his every ploy
His strengths or evil plan
We need but God to keep our joy
Through what He gives to man

His overwhelming sense of peace
The love of Christ His Son
With such our joy will never cease
Until each battle’s won

We need to do what Christ would do
Through love in word and deed
Where first we’ve failed we try anew
Planting a peaceful seed