THE FEARSOME POWER OF WORDS

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  John 1:1 

It's possible that nothing is more important that words. For good or for ill.  Words can affirm, encourage, heal and restore.  Or they can break, destroy, humiliate and hurt.  Feelings change and pass; thoughts meander and disappear.  Anyone who's tried meditation knows this; try to focus on the breath and thoughts wander in and out.  Let them go; come back to the breath.


But words stick.  They remain. They're not ephemeral.  They don't dissipate like clouds.  Once said is always said.  Many of our traumas are based upon words.  "I remember when you said . . . ."  Out of a thousand kind words we will remember the ones that wound.  They are so powerful that one sentence can awaken our deepest insecurities, insecurities we didn't even know we had. 

"Kind words are like honey, sweet to the soul and healthy to the body"  Proverbs 16:24  What would love be without words?  Whispered words that stroke like hands, words that we need and seek from the moment of our birth until our death. A soft voice, a touch, tender words.  That's why one of the tragedies of this virus is that those who succumb have to die alone, without words of love or blessing. Years ago my husband's father died alone working in his allotment, shovel in hand.  How much better for my husband and his mother when they could pray together before she died.
   

The power of words is so strong that we don't have to use many to cause deep happiness or profound sadness.  Words can reveal a misplacing of love, a promise broken or a duty ignored.  They don't even have to be spoken to you.  You can overhear them, read them, find them. . . .  Some words, found or spoken, can root you to the spot:  "How will I live now?"  "The earth is opening and I'm falling in."


We say that actions speak louder than words but I don't think so.  I think they go hand-in-hand.  After all, speaking is an action.  Remaining silent when words are needed is an action too. First the words, then the deeds that support them. Apologize with words that admit having done wrong.  Show remorse by doing whatever is possible to heal the hurt caused by the wrong.  And when the hurt is slow to fade, continue to find words and deeds to assuage it.  

Why think of this today?  Well, for one thing, today there is more time to think. This post has been waiting half-formed for weeks.  For another, we are all isolated with someone.  Isolation fatigue has set in; self-discipline is not a virtue that comes easily.  Unkind words may be hovering, or have been said.  

So let us find the right words.  Strangers on the phone have said to me, "I hope you're OK."  I've said the same.  We're not just saying, "Have a good one,"  the phrase that's come to mean, "Keep the line moving."  I think we actually mean it.