Related commentaries – Words

Careless Words Are Harmful – Proverbs 12:17 – 12:22

A Bus Driver And a Minister Met St. Peter

A bus driver and a minister were standing in line to get into heaven. The bus driver approached the gate and St. Peter said, “Welcome, I understand you were a bus driver. Since I’m in charge of housing, I believe I have found the perfect place for you. See that mansion over the hilltop? It’s yours. The minister heard all this and began to stand a little taller. He said to himself, “If a bus driver got a place like that, just think what I’ll get.” The minister approached the gate and St. Peter said, “Welcome, I understand you were a minister. See that shack in the valley?” St. Peter had hardly gotten the words out of his mouth when the irate minister said, “I was a minister, I preached the gospel, I helped teach people about God. Why does that bus driver get a mansion, and I get a shack?” Sadly St. Peter responded, “Well, it seems when you preached, people slept. When the bus driver drove, people prayed.” (James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988 p. 146).