How many languages do you speak? My older sister can speak three fluently and has some command of at least two more. I always joke that I can speak one, kinda good. Growing up, my mom, sisters and I would spend entire summers in Italy. I learned early on that I would appear mysterious if I did not speak…like I had hidden secrets that I chose not to reveal. In reality, I was afraid to make errors, seem stupid, so I didn’t even try to learn or speak Italian, or my mothers home town language, an Albanian/Italian combo. In the stubbornness of youth, I tried to control my image and I effectively muted myself and stopped up my ears, because in choosing not to learn the languages that were being spoken all around me, I also chose not to understand what people were trying to share with me…
Babble
At fifty years of age, I realize most spoken words are a waste of sound because they are endlessly strung together with no destination in mind, becoming no where words…babble. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1). Because of this God given ability to speak, we use words to communicate, to share our thoughts, hopes, dreams, love and hate with one another. The stories we tell do take us somewhere and often times, when you and I listen closely, we can hear a longing for a better place, a somewhere that is intangible and seemingly unreachable, from here…when our words take us on a roundabout, we can get trapped circling endlessly and something big, like a two ton truck heading in our direction, may be the only thing that has us swerve and exit the deeply grooved routine of repeat.
The Word, sharper than a two-edge sword
In the beginning was the Word…do you know what this means? Does this sound like a foreign language to you? “And God said…” (Genesis 1:3). Forgive me dear reader, this is indeed a piece of writing that is a battle of the wits. God uses words to create and bring things into being. The words he uses have purpose and meaning and a destination. They were and are well placed and chosen. “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). Can you comprehend the mighty power of the spoken word? What do you say inside of your own head? What are the thoughts and intentions of your heart? Do your words give life to you and those around you? They are alive and active, do they pierce and divide soul and spirit? God has this power and I must must warn you that you have this power too, with your words.
Words become tangible
Words kill. Words give life. Words colour our world and give life to imagination. The old adage if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all comes to mind and that is where words start, in our minds. What we say in our heads becomes tangible in our world. We create our own reality. What you think is who you are…the question is, is this who you really want to be? The choice is always and forever more, yours.
