A Way With Words

March 12, 2011

I have always been aware or rather I have been raised to be aware of words.  It's kind of odd though, we were raised around motivational type information, books, literature and speakers because my dad was a salesman.  I assume he used these works to keep himself motivated, positive and therefore drawing his own dreams and desires into existence.  Oddly enough though, those aren't the words he spoke.  We heard so many quotes, "People don't plan to fail, they fail to plan, show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser, water seeks it's own level, show me a man without a goal and I'll show you a man going no where, how can you hit a target or a goal, you don't have, winning isn't everything, it's the only thing."
On and on, they went. But he never directly spoke those words to us or my mom. If we were sick he would say, "get tough or die".  That comment hasn't helped much with my empathy skills as a mother or as an adult.  His words were hurtful, painful, damaging and at 55 years of age, those are the things I remember about my childhood and my dad.  Report card - 6 A's and 1 B, "you obviously didn't try hard enough or you would have had all A's".  That may be true but is that what you want, your child half a lifetime later to hear that bouncing around in her head. "Can't you do anything right?" Is that what you want your friend or child to remember when you're dead and gone; is that your legacy?  Because your words live on, they have a life of their own. They live on not just in me, but because they affected and still affect me, they live on in my children, my marriage, my friends, my life.  The words we say live on. From a small amount of human tissue placed strategically in a mouth between upper and lower teeth, comes the power to heal, the power to destroy, the power to build up, the power to tear down, the power to scream, the power to whisper.  We can change the tone, the level, the intensity, the intention of our words all for good or for evil. It's a choice we all make, a choice we make unconsciously without thought, without even listening to our own words coming out of our mouth. 
Father God, may we hear our words today, may we listen to what we say and may we be saying what you would want us to say - words that heal, words that mend, words of love, caring and adoration inspired by Your love that included dying on the cross.  Also, as we say these words, may we be people of intention, that do the things we say that we're going to do that we show character and follow through on things after the feeling is gone.  May we not just speak words of genuine caring and affection but may we follow through with our actions.  Jesus, help me to be more like You.