We have a neighbor who is incredibly negative. Perhaps even toxic?

I’ve always loved ice cream vans, although most of my life has been spent in rural areas without them. I walked Savannah past negative neighbor’s (let’s call her NN) house a while back and we heard the distant tinkle of the ice cream van. I smiled and commented on the cheerful tune. She glowered. “It’s not really an ice cream van,” she said darkly. “Don’t you know? It’s a cover. The guy actually sells drugs. That’s why he’s out so late. Haven’t you ever noticed how weird his schedule is?”

Here’s the thing; I’m sure NN’s words are false. She never has anything good to say about any of our neighbors. It would be interesting to know what she says about me when she is talking to other people! But while I’m sure that NN is wrong about the ice cream van—she planted an uncertainty and distrust in me that sours the cheerful tinkling music. Unfortunately, it’s possible to consider that her words are true, because she has been right about some of the other negative comments she’s made.

I scold myself and tell myself not to be ridiculous. NN is just a negative busybody—and I’m a writer, mostly of cozy mysteries—with an overactive imagination. And yet…

The ice cream vans I’ve known in the U.S. operate in summer and in afternoons after children are out of school. Everything is warm and bright and wonderful. This Scottish ice cream van makes the rounds largely after dark, and in the winter even when snow is on the ground, and even when it’s painfully cold, and even during gale-force winds.

I don’t know what to believe about the ice cream van.

No wonder the Bible contains strong words against bearing false witness. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor,” Exodus 20:16. “Whoever spreads slander is a fool.” Proverbs 10:18.

God hates every false way. Proverbs 18:21 says that death and life are in the power of the tongue. Our words can cause injury for which there is no healing—and likewise heal injuries for which no physician can provide a cure. Even though I don’t believe NN’s poisonous words about the ice cream van, they pricked holes in my joy.

Once false and negative words have been spoken and heard—they can’t be unheard.

Thankfully, God’s love is stronger than human hate. But it will take a while for me to patch the holes in my joy when I hear the tinkling bells of an ice cream van.

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