“Tomorrow’s the big day, tomorrow, tomorrow,” sang Jenny bouncing up and down on the couch.

“We know already,” Jack said, from the other end of the couch where he was playing a game on his phone. “Can’t you stop moving? You’ll make me lose my game.”

“But tomorrow, we are going to Disney World,” Jenny declared, dropping into a seated position.

“Do you even know what Disney World is?” Jack asked scornfully.

“Of course, I do,” Jenny replied, jumping back up, “I’m not dumb! It is a fun place with lots of rides and Disney characters.”

“You obviously got it confused with something else,” Jack said. “It’s a museum that talks about how they made all the Disney movies. There are no rides, just pictures and text.”

“That’s not true,” Jenny yelled.

“It is,” Jack said, “I should know, after all, I’ve lived eight years longer than you. Dave will agree with me. Right?”

Dave, their cousin, had just walked into the room. He dropped onto the couch next to Jack. “Agree about what?” he asked.

“Jack says Disney World is just a museum. But it’s not it has rides and stuff!”

“Oh,” Dave said, “Yeah, it’s just a museum. We’ve been before. It’s no fun.”

Jenny’s face fell. “But I thought it had rides and stuff.”

“Nah,” Dave said, “That’s Disneyland. It’s on the other side of the country.”

Jenny sat there in silence processing this. She felt crushed. The boys were busy on their devices and after a moment, Jenny ran out of the room. She wanted to cry but did not want to cry in front of them. A tear slid down her face.

Running around the corner, she bumped into Grandpa Joe. “Why, what’s the matter?” Grandpa Joe asked, seeing the tear.

At first, Jenny did not want to say. But with some gentle persuading, she told Grandpa Joe the whole story. “The boys were wrong,” Grandpa Joe told her firmly, “Fifteen-year-olds are apt to think they know a lot more than they really do. There will be lots of fun rides at Disney World.” He went on to describe the park to her and show her pictures. Reassured, Jenny ran off with a happy heart.

Grandpa Joe walked into the living room. He looked sternly at the boys. It was a few moments before they looked up into his eyes.

“What is this I hear about you telling Jenny that Disney World is just a museum?” He demanded.

“I was only joking,” Jack said lightly, “I didn’t think she would take it so seriously, she was just being annoying with her excitement.”

“And that justifies lying?” Grandpa Joe asked.

Dave shrugged. Joe replied, “It did not cause any harm. We were only joking. She should know how to take a joke.”

Grandpa Joe sat down across from the boys and pulled a worn Bible out of his pocket, “Have I told you the story of Sammy Patterson?”

Both boys nodded. “Yeah,” Jack said, “He was the insane kid.”

Grandpa Joe flipped open his Bible to Proverbs, “There is a verse in Proverbs 26 that says, ‘Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “I am only joking!’” He looked up at the boys, “According to this, you are just as insane and idiotic as Sammy was.”

“But we didn’t cause any harm,” Dave objected.

“How do you know that?” Grandpa Joe asked. “Jenny is likely not to believe you next time. That certainly could cause harm. Especially if you had something important to tell her. And if you go on deceiving people you may someday cause a great deal of harm. You never can tell where your words may end up. So, think carefully before you speak, unless you want to be like Sammy Patterson and have someone’s death on your hand.”

He stood up and walked out of the room. The two boys exchanged glanced. “I never thought about it like that before,” Dave said. “I guess I’ll have to change how I speak.”

“Yeah,” Jack said standing up. “And I guess I’d better go apologize to Jenny too.”