Last Sunday, I gave a talk at imagine/Northampton called "Our Words Leave Marks On Others." The main idea centered on the power of the tongue to speak life or death to other people. It can crush or liberate them using mere words. But as a counselor, much of my work has to do with people striving to help folks heal from those rascals. It is no small task for many. A word has the power to alter the trajectory of an entire life. Throwing them around like so much confetti is a fool's errand to say the least.
Of late, I've been composing Opening and Closing Prayers we say together in our worship. The prayers reflect the theme of the day helping us enter in and leave Sunday worship under the umbrella of a commonly- held idea. So I thought I'd share it with you in the hope you could use it to be more mindful of what you say.
Father of lights,
Fill my words this week with grace and truth, wisdom and gentleness.
Set a guard, Oh Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips.
Set a guard over my heart that I might not be careless, rash or irresponsible in anything I say.
Let my words give life and liberty, not wounding or discouraging.
Let me hear clearly others words, and speak rightly such that nothing I say deceives, discourages or diminishes anyone.
Visit my thoughts with your Word that I might honor you in every conversation I have.
Make it so.
Amen
6 comments:
Just saw this in my Inbox this morning, and thought it went along with your comments brilliantly:
http://michaelhindes.com/power-of-words/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MichaelHindes+%28Michael+Hindes%29
Ah, the great circle of all things. Just a remark about the opening and closing prayers that hold that coomn thought, the common thoughty of the whole worship for the day. Actually, after giving up on the common prayers of the temple, we got a little more spontaneous. And, we were small. Then, as we grew, how do you keep all of the house churches, spread out by distance, on that same theme? And, we went back to the Collect of the day - a prayer that reflects the theme of the readings and worship and prayers. Interesting how we find that not everything we discover is actually tha new.
Man, this is incredibly relevant to what I've been faced with in the past few weeks. Realizing that I am incredibly immature and inappropriate, specifically in my words, I have had to confess to several people. I read the first chapter of "Am I Called?" and I have to say that I really was forced to take a look at my life through the eyes of others. And the ears of others. The conclusion I came to was that, if you gathered a person from every sphere of my life into a room and asked for their opinion of me, specifically in terms of my words to and about others, some of those opinions would lead you to believe that I can lead well. Some of those opinions, on the other hand, would tell you that I am not currently fit to lead anyone.
I appreciated all that you had to shared on Sunday. It was a great reminder concerning the power of our words.
Last week I had someone facebook me about a problem they were having at work. They wanted to blast someone and wondered what God's word had to say. I pointed them to James. My final response was that blasting someone might make us feel better, but I doubted that it would accomplish much. The person facebooked me back and thanked me for the words of wisdom.
So our words do matter.
Just yesterday evening I was talking to my father on the phone and he asked what we (daughter and myself) were doing. Playing volleyball (with neighbor kids) I replied. His answer was "Good, maybe you'll lose some weight." Now, I'm used to this man's careless throw around of words. He does it to everyone. A slight tremor of hurt ran through my heart. I say slight because I've learned over the years how beautiful my real Father has convinced me I am. But it has taken years (I'm 52!) and some comments from this critical man still bring a rush of anger from my soul. Compare that with a friend who declared at work recently "Pam, you rock!" Quite a different response in my heart, as you can imagine. Yes, words count, boy do they! I'm grateful for this prayer and for hearing about practical ways to spread the love of God.
The eyes are the window to the soul. When focused inward to self and all that is wrong or difficult, a bitter soul spills out onto a bitter tongue. When our eyes are outwardly focused, seeing God's people and his blessings on us, the soul softens and gentleness prevails. Jesus, keep my eyes focused on Your beauty, Your grace, and Your compassion for Your children, so my soul will remain soft and my words gentle. Amen.
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