Monday June 20, 2022
Words. How we talk about something is important. The words we use to describe something or someone not only characterizes them in our minds but can also do so in the minds of others. The language we use, one writer noted, creates a map for how we view the world as well.
Take the issue of guns, for instance. The phrase “gun control” sets off a reaction from people especially who have created a world around their phrase of “gun rights.” But when we talk about “gun violence,” a different image comes into mind, such as Uvalde or children on our city streets.
Then there is the issue of abortion. The phrase “pro-life” creates an image of people dedicated to saving lives, but many people who use that phrase support the death penalty. What does that phrase really mean then? Not much.
Prayer for the Day
You have given us the gift of speech, Holy Creator,
But often we have used it in the service of hate;
We know our words can have unintended consequences,
But still we often use them carelessly, without thinking.
Enable us, O Lord, to consider the impact our words have on others,
And to use them to bind together rather than to polarize.
In the name of the One who spoke with care,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Taking language into ourselves – having it spark in the brain, reside in memory, touching the cells in our bodies, calling up responses every time a word or phrase or sound or piece of poetry is expressed – means that we are organisms in continuous response and action, creating our very being out of words.
- Tina Packer, actor, from Women of Will
Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by ankind.
- Rudyard Kipling, British writer (1865-1936)
A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
The tongue of the wise dispenses knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly.
The eyes f the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.
A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.
Proverbs 15; 1-4