Questions mix themselves in the newspaper today. Will fathers, especially those in high places, acknowledge their illegitimate children? Are words of bigotry and hatred ok if and when they are spoken between people of the same race? Should we hold politicians accountable for their words? Each question relates to an expression that one person is or will make towards another. If you or I were in their shoes, what would our answer be? If we were on the receiving side, does our answer shift? Are we willing to be held accountable to the standard implied by each answer?
Words have the ability to heal and nurture. I find my soul longing to hear certain words that only one can speak. I do not even look for others to use these terms; they have no right or access to these expressions when it comes to me! But, when it comes to that special person! Ah, nothing could be sweater!
It is as if we know that “mean-spirited slander is heartless; quiet discretion accompanies good sense.” (Proverbs 11.12) Yet, we find ourselves spouting out venom in many different colors. Criticism; unconstructive, tearing down, destroying words that makes sure the other person will not easily stand. Anger; darts, missiles, and ripping apart words with a mission of reducing the other to a place that is anywhere lower and smaller. Hatred; hopelessness, blackness, and words without connection – these are the worst! Relationships die a permanent death after their attack.
God offers us words of a very different color. One color heals the wounded heart. Another one touches the broken spirit and offers hope. Yet another reaches out and build a wall of protection around our weak and feeble self esteem. And there is still more and more! God's expression to you and me always builds us up, drawing us closer to the Divine. It does not end here.
God offers each a gift that we can freely pass on to others. God is looking to us with hope; that we will accept and pass on mercy, love, and unconditional acceptance.
