I love
words. Cross word puzzles. Code words. Books. Scripts. Poetry. Words inspire.
Words
MATTER. This maxim has become more & more evident as I have gotten older
and gotten married. But never has it become more clear than in our
current context. All Words matter.
Most
American school children were taught “Sticks and Stones will break my bones,
but words will never hurt me.” What a
positive thought put into such a powerful lie.
Children, young people, and even adults today know that words can hurt,
and leave lasting scars. The above pithy lie was put out with the good
intention of trying to help people not take insults too personally. But in our
day and age of social media and images and constant attention to the web world,
we know how powerful words can be.
The
current context in which I live, in the United States in 2018, I shockingly
find that the current occupant of the White House is popular because of, and
lives by, hate speech. The
long list of those bullied or insulted by Trump and Trumpisms include: the
disabled, Mexicans, women, the press, Muslims, President Obama, Senators
Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, and John McCain, transgendered peoples, Palestinians, the NFL and players who take a
stand, MLB, Kim Jong-Un, the United Nations, most G8 political leaders, the
FBI, James Comey, Republicans, the cast of Hamilton, Supreme Court Justice Ruth
Bader Ginsberg, Penn Jillette, Common
Core, the IRS, various Major Department stores, and the White house itself. By end
of his first year, Trump has hurled over 350 insults out on Twitter, one of his
chief platforms. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/01/28/upshot/donald-trump-twitter-insults.html/
The
most surprising thing is, not that Trump built his presidency upon caustic
rhetoric, attack, innuendo, blatant lies, name-calling and outright racist,
xenophobic, homophobic, misogynistic, Islamophobic bullying, but that many
American constituents parrot this hurtful, not merely politically correct,
verbiage.
Words
in our current context have become true sticks and stones that wound, hurt, and
blatantly, knowingly pull wool over people’s eyes. Not just because we were
built on being a decent country with morals, or the dubious rationale we were a
Christian nation, but just because it is the right thing to do, we must oppose
such hate speech. We must not let it become our new normal.
Recently
two very important illustrations showed me clearly how words can matter in a
positive manner. They inspire. Words lift up. Words bring clarity. Words define. Words
change lives. How they change lives!
A friend’s recent Facebook post depicted how even simple words matter deeply. My
friend, Judy, was at a medical appointment, and a nurse came in and asked the usual,
“How are you?”
My
friend responded typically, "Fine, how are you?" answered by an
equally typical "Good. I can't complain."
My friend rejoined
with an earnest, "Well, if you did want to complain, I'd listen." Judy, a good listener and people lover, knows
that when people share their burdens they get some perspective and relief by finding
a way to laugh about the situation.
The
nurse, taken aback by my friend’s frankness, felt, her day was blessed. "Most
people say, 'If you complain nobody listens anyway,' but here you are telling
me you'd listen. Thanks."
Judy assured her new friend that it was her pleasure, especially since they both
shared “the condition.“
“What
condition?”
“The
human one! People are pretty much people wherever you go," my friend said
smiling.
After
sharing more small talk, my friend began to leave and the nurse caught up to her
saying: "I want you to know that you have blessed my day and changed my
outlook. I left the house in a bad mood but now I'm uplifted. All because you
said you'd listen to me." My friend
got a little teary because she knew how she had been uplifted too.
It is that simple. Words
matter. What we say and how we say it does matter. You never know who is
listening. Or what they are hearing on a daily basis. Will you speak the powerful truth and
love to them? Will you compose a word of meaning and care? Will your words convey light and life?
If we take
another adage at face value, “a picture is worth a thousand words”, than images
too can have a potent punch.
My
counselor provided the witness of words effecting us deeply on a molecular
level. She shared the book, “Messages from Water”, the work of Japanese
scientist Dr. Masaru Emoto who showed how water was affected by words. In one
set of experiments he played classical music and folksongs and heavy metal
music through speakers at containers of water. He took samples of the water and
froze it to form crystals. Then he compared the crystalline structure of the
various samples. With the different musical pieces, the different water samples
produced different shapes. The classical and folk music produced geometric
shaped crystals with intricate patterns. The metal music saw the basic shape of
the crystal break into pieces.
In
another experiment, he took it further.
Dr. Emoto and over 300 volunteers stood on the shore of a badly polluted
lake in Japan and spoke words of love, peace, and gratitude to the water. The water crystals changed from cloudy broken
images before the words to geometric beautiful crystals after the words. This experiment
has been repeated successfully at other lakes around the world.
Above are some of the images from the experiment |
Finally,
Dr. Emoto conducted an experiment that affirms what counselors, pastors,
psychologists have shared – Words and thoughts matter and impact a person’s
well-being. Dr. Emoto taped positive and
negative words facing inward in water bottles. He then looked at the water
under a microscope and discovered water molecules appeared different based on
positive or negative words or phrases. Such as thank
you, love/appreciation and love thyself produced a variety of
beautiful geometric forms. On the other hand, phrases such as “you make me
sick” or “you fool” produced crystals that were disconnected or
chaotic.
Words
matter. If they affect water and we are made up of 70% water how are we
affected on a molecular/ cellular level by the words spoken to us and around
us. Or the words we think about, and say to, ourselves.
The
theologian in me recalls that in Genesis, God breathed into us at point of
human creation. INSPIRED - breathed into -us with Gods spirit, and called by
name, with love. We are good created for good things and goodness. But what
happens as negativity affects our whole being on that molecular level?
Corrupting and changing our spirits-souls-lives? What and who do we become when
we are steeped in toxicity? Or rarely are moved by a positive voice.
At
Christmas, Christians celebrated the Word of life, Jesus, who “moves into our
neighborhood” so love would be personified. Jesus seeks to lift people up. To bring
truth into each situation. To heal. To challenge for wholeness. He also
bespeaks the possible power to affect change by the possession of positivity. Jesus
didn't have the internet where words spread quickly - ad nauseum. We do. And
the words we lodge there do not go away easily.
Actions
also matter, because they back up words spoken. While it is not so black and
white, we have a problem. We let words and images run amuck in our world and do
some major damage to hearts and minds, young and old, male and female, all
backgrounds and cultures. The question is do we love ourselves and others
enough to change? To make a difference?
To carefully consider what we set out into the universe? How will we chose to
use our words. Words matter. All words
matter.
I have been writing about words in this
blog trying to consider their power and potential from inside and out. I invite
you to challenge my ability to see both the cutting edge and the positive power
of words by sending me words that interest you most , for me to play with and
posit upon. Suggest them in the comments and you may see my thoughts on them sometime this year.
Also, feel free to share a word in the comments about how my musings inspire, or when they don't, call me on that too. Perhaps the words we share can build each other up, and create the world as we hope it will be.