WORD (n): a unit of language

Grab your coffee before you read this.  If you aren’t awake it may be a little much for the AM.

I have recently been teaching Carson and Dylan the “ABC” song—one of the simplest and most important songs that they will ever know.  I will be honest, watching a baby learn to speak is one of the most amazing and miraculous things that I have ever watched.  There’s this natural curiosity and observation that occurs and most of all, there’s innocence there.  They know what words are even before they know the meaning.  It’s incredible to watch.  So we all know that letters make up words, which make up sentences, which make up paragraphs, which make up novels, and so on.  It’s a pretty simple concept and one that maybe we don’t feel compelled to analyze-but maybe we should.

I love words and I always have.  I love to talk, I love to write, and I love to listen.  I’d be lost without words.  I love the word “anarchy” and “puddle” but I hate the word “porous.”  Some words stand alone but sound disgusting when put together, like “window treatments.”  My little sister hates the word “chunky.”  My daughter hates the word “casserole.”  We all have our preferences.    But I mainly love what words do.  I love how the way you say a word can change its meaning, like sarcasm or tone of voice.  Words can display intelligence or ignorance.  I am frustrated by the fact that we can get lost in words during arguments and yet happy that they are there for me to tell someone I love them.  I love how words can strip off your skin and allow someone to see who you really are, and you can see the same.  Words can roll off your tongue sweetly, but can also be spat out venomously.  Words can be taken both literally and metaphorically.   They can be a conduit for expressing emotion and yet rot inside of us if suppressed for too long.  Words are born, sometimes they change, and sometimes they die.  Sometimes they are reborn.  Words can carry bad connotations that make our blood boil and then lose their meaning with the times, and they can be airy and fluffy and fun and stay that way.  They can distort history, create legends, pass on the truth, manipulate people, and guide people to light when they’re trapped in darkness.  Words can change what you are meaning to say if not used correctly, and they most definitely say something about the people we are.  If we are what we eat, are we what we say?  If you are genuine, so are your words.  If you are a hypocrite, your words are lies.  If you’re judgmental, often your words are hateful and ugly.  If you are sweet, your words are comforting.  I’m not sure I believe that words without action are meaningless because I know that speaking them is an action, and words have both the ability to lift you up and rip out your heart.  Someone can do a good thing while saying something hurtful and it takes away the good that they were doing—I think that people who believe that words are meaningless are fools because words stay with us longer than bruises.  Words have the power to create the type of environment we live in.  They can send unwanted messages that make us feel the way we do about ourselves.  When put to music they can give us chills; “Amazing Grace” does that for me.  Words are powerful.

My goal here is not to sound like a stoner (Words, man, whoaaaa) or that dummy in “Good Will Hunting” that said “Trust is uh, trust is LIFE”, remember him?  What a D-bag.  But it’s to get us to stop and think about what we’re doing and saying for a second.  Last night I watched Oprah’s new show “Master Class” on Maya Angelou.  I am not a poetry person (oddly enough) and so I’ve never really been interested in reading her books and I haven’t ever been exposed to her, but she is one smart lady.  When she was 7 she was raped by her mom’s boyfriend.  She told someone about it, he was arrested, and two days later he was dead.  In her mind she thought that her words killed him, so she stopped speaking.  For 6 or 7 years she didn’t talk and people called her a moron and said she was stupid.  She started to devour books and poetry and one day someone told her that until she felt the poems roll off her tongue she’d never love it.  (Maybe that’s why I don’t love poetry.)  She started to speak and said she realized that her words didn’t leave her, she left them.  Long story short, she says that she believes that words are things and that they get into the wallpaper, the upholstery, and eventually into you.  Well, you may not be able to see them, but I believe that they’re always there.  I was taught growing up that you can’t take what you say back.  Once it’s out there, it’s out there.  Have you ever forgiven someone for something that they said but the memory still lingers?  I completely believe that they’re tangible.  Otherwise, why do they explode from our mouths if they are forced into silence for a long time? 

I started thinking about all of the new ways we can communicate and started wondering if it’s a good thing or a bad thing.  I think it’s both, but we’re responsible for our mouths and for protecting our ears.  You can go online and slam someone, but you can also connect with a friend.  There are messages scrolling across the TV screen telling our daughters that they’re fat, but there are new tools that educate people who wouldn’t normally have access to the information.  I guess given the time we live in and understanding the power that words hold, I realize how important it is to think before you speak and write and how important it is to treat words for what they are…..an extension of ourselves.   If you are a nasty person, you speak nasty.  If you want to be a good person, watch your tongue because it has the power to change us from the outside in.  We’ve heard it all before, but maybe we can pause and think about it.  It’s a lot harder than it sounds, definitely.  We’ll never be able to get back to that baby learning a language, but maybe we can fine tune the words we choose. 

I’m closing with this verse because it’s so true.  If only it were easy to follow.

Proverbs 16:24 “Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.”