{"id":208,"date":"2018-05-01T12:04:09","date_gmt":"2018-05-01T18:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/openwordshow-com.stackstaging.com\/?page_id=208"},"modified":"2018-05-01T22:21:34","modified_gmt":"2018-05-02T04:21:34","slug":"party-line","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/openwordjourney.com\/?page_id=208","title":{"rendered":"Party Line"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"208\" class=\"elementor elementor-208 elementor-bc-flex-widget\" data-elementor-post-type=\"page\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-cf58604 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"cf58604\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-6244b3f\" data-id=\"6244b3f\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1fcba39 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"1fcba39\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Party Line<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-157b0a7 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"157b0a7\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"180\" height=\"180\" src=\"https:\/\/openwordjourney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Phone.png\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-210\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/openwordjourney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Phone.png 180w, https:\/\/openwordjourney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Phone-150x150.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 180px) 100vw, 180px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-104c57b elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"104c57b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Party Line<\/strong><\/p><p>When I was six years old, my parents had a telephone installed in our home for the first time. We resided in a very rural area, so a telephone was a luxury that we had never experienced before. Because private telephone lines were expensive, my parents opted for an option that kept us on the same cable as four other families.<\/p><p>The option was called a \u201cparty line,\u201d and it was anything but a party! In order to make a phone call, the line had to be clear of other callers, and there was only one way that we knew of to check; pick up the receiver and listen in. If we heard talking, we simply hung up, waited a few minutes, and checked again.<\/p><p>It was the common practice of many people in those days to listen in on the telephone conversations of other neighbors, and thus learn more about their lives. It started many rumors in our area, and on more than one occasion I can recall a neighbor sharing a juicy tidbit that they had heard on the \u201cparty-line\u201d while listening in, and whoever chose to listen, got an \u201cear full!\u201d<\/p><p><strong>Watch Your Tongue<\/strong><\/p><p>Party lines are a thing of the past, but sadly, the issue of gossip is not. We have choices to make when it comes to sharing and receiving tales about other\u2019s lives, and the scriptures call us to choose wisely.<\/p><p><strong>\u201cKeep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies\u201d (Psalm 34:13, NIV).<\/strong><\/p><p><strong>\u201cThe gossip of bad people gets them in trouble, the conversation of good people keeps them out of it\u201d (Proverbs 12:13, Message\/Remix).<\/strong><\/p><p>God calls us to choose to speak only good words about others, and when we encounter someone who is trashing another person\u2019s character, motives, or qualities, we have the same option of doing what we did when we were on the party line; \u201cdisconnecting\u201d and choosing not to listen. With God\u2019s help, we can maintain a \u201cprivate line.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Party Line Party Line When I was six years old, my parents had a telephone installed in our home for the first time. We resided in a very rural area, so a telephone was a luxury that we had never experienced before. Because private telephone lines were expensive, my parents opted for an option that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":210,"parent":50,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_canvas","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-208","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Party Line - The Open Word<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/openword.tempurl.host\/articles\/party-line\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Party Line - The Open Word\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Party Line Party Line When I was six years old, my parents had a telephone installed in our home for the first time. 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