Many people have composed email messages in haste or in anger, or simply without thinking carefully about the content or the recipients.

It’s risky. If you need to be reminded of the risks, read this story about the chairman of Bluefield State College’s Board of Governors, who recently stepped down from his position after sending an email predicting that a staff member’s upcoming presentation would be a “gripe session” -- only he used more colorful language. He also included the staff member among the addressees.

An update on William Penn’s advice may be in order here: “If you think twice before you speak, you will speak twice the better for it.”

And it is likely that we could all benefit from taking a deep breath and remembering James 1:19: “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak.”

(Image: Modified from David Wilkies' Distraining for Rent [1815])