No Small Moments - Keep on Rolling - June 28, 2026 Traci Hubbard ©Hubcatstide 2026

Remember when you were a child and suddenly it appears…the gumball vending dispenser. I remember the feeling of looking at all the colored gumballs, hoping my mother would give me a penny and an orange one would roll out into my hands. I’m not a person who discriminates, except when it comes to my tastebuds. The white gumballs were my least favorite and a waste of a penny. When my daughters experienced this Western World phenomenon, the price had gone up. Ten cents may or may not roll out a favorite color. And then when my grandsons became memorized, the price had become a quarter. A quarter for a blue gumball that could possibly become stuck underneath a table at a restaurant or on the sole of a shoe.

The words we speak are like gumballs. Some of our words roll out peacefully and land sweetly. While some of our other words roll out faster than we can manage, and those colorful gumballs cost more than a quarter. They can cost us relationships, and depending on their color, they can cost us our reputation. Those kinds of words are sticky and come with tariffs. This past Monday, June 15^th, during Council Meeting, a rolled out a gumball before I could catch it and it landed differently on everyone present. My energy has been circling the drain lately for reasons unimportant to this blog. We wee discussing something that needed to be removed because it was taking up space and was a messy eyesore. Someone said we didn’t need some other things we possess because our future as a community of faith will not include them. An innocent comment that I heard saying we are going to stay insular, we will not grow, new people, new families will not join our loving community. That’s what I heard, but it wasn’t what was said.

But what I said was a gumball…the bigger size kind that is often hard to turn into a soft chewy sweet treat. I said, “If y’all think this way, I’m not the person for the job.” Yep. It wasn’t a penny, dime, or quarter jumble of words. It was a tired, not curious, defensive, fear filled sentence that rolled out and landed like it had already been chewed into a tasteless ball that felt like stale silly putty. Stale silly putty is the worst. It’s been died with newspaper comics ink and rolled too many times over things that had dust on them.

I tossed and turned all through the night. I couldn’t put my words back into my tired brain and choose different ones. That moment was gone. It reminded me of trying to stuff the white gumball back up into the machine, hoping an orange one would roll out. A childish thought, but on occasion, I did try.

Words hold energy, power, and influence that can change the course of a life, even human history. Look at the effect of Jesus’ words and Hitler’s words. The words that became actions of both men changed the course of human history. 

Proverbs 18:21 tells us, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.” And James writes that our tongues are set on fire by the power of Gehenna, or the Spirit.

The origin of the Greek word “Gehenna” comes from the physical valley of Hinnom. The term is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew Ge-Hinnom. In ancient times, this site was associated with abhorrent practices, including the sacrificial burning of children to pagan gods. It is also interpreted as the "City Dump". Because of these dark associations, the prophets cursed the valley, renaming it the "Valley of Slaughter". Over time, it was repurposed as a place to burn Jerusalem's garbage, corpses of executed criminals, and animal carcasses. The fires burned constantly, and the smoke and refuse created a permanent, foul environment.

Imagine being a child and walking by a gumball machine that possessed all of that! “Yum” does not come to mind, and I don’t think any parent would say, “Sure honey! Here’s a penny!”

Our words can inflate the market of human kindness and connection, or they can deflate a balloon of work, or a relationship connection, or a reputation faster a nail in a tire waiting to blow up and cause a wreck on the highway. Death and Life are in our words, and in my opinion, in white and orange gumballs.

I am going to send this blog out to Council with hope they will hear my heart. Circling the drain, being tired, it’s a real thing we all experience. BUT it doesn’t excuse what we allow to roll out of our mouths. As the summer unfolds, I hope all of you can plan and experience times of rest, renewal, and sweet connection with yourselves, others, the Sacred, our beautiful Lake Country, and wherever your feet land. And I hope all our landings and words land softly, sweetly, and full of curiosity. And if something rolls out that you cannot take back, own it, ask for forgiveness without giving excuses and begin again. It’s not easy being human, no matter what color we are.

There are no small moments.

Traci Hubbard