For me, testing stuff with litmus paper was always a highlight of my science experience—it was easy, gave fast results, and it was easy (did I just mention that?)—just wait for the paper to turn red or blue.

I don’t usually daydream about litmus paper, but a quote I recently read caused me to think:  “Anger is an acid which can do more harm to the vessel in which it stands, than to anything on which it is poured.”   Matthew 15:18  “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.” That anger does hurt us, but it does harm others, too.

We probably wouldn’t need to run around with litmus paper hanging out of our mouths to warn people (wouldn’t it be nice if it were that easy?), but it might not hurt to trade in those angry words for some less acidic ones.  And you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to do that.