How many of us remember this rhyme?
“Sticks
and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me”
But is this true? Think about how the words
you say effect other people and then try to make the case that words don’t
matter.
Words can be used as weapons or as gifts,
as tools to hurt or to heal, and we always need to be aware of this fact. Language
communicates and it can communicate many things.
In the end it doesn’t matter if you “didn’t
mean” that cruel or thoughtless remark or that you were “just joking.”
Sometimes, words just hurt. And we who use them have a responsibility to do so
with an awareness of the impact they may have.
We are all very conscious of the words, anger
and confrontation that seemingly are the meat of daily life at the moment. We
have all been subjected to the rhetoric of fear and distrust too much lately,
and it seems to be coming from all parts of our world, so that we may wonder
what is going on. Has humanity succumbed to collective paranoia?
The answer of course is that we don’t know,
but we do know that what we say to each other, to friends, to colleagues, at
home or at work can all influence (in small but significant ways) how others
think, feel and react. It is therefore beholden upon us as followers of Jesus
to consider very carefully what we say. Remembering these words of Jesus from
Matthews Gospel.
“But
I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every
careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by
your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:36–37)
And to remember the words of St Paul in his
letter to the Ephesians,
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of
your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their
needs, that it may benefit those who listen”
(Ephesians 4:29)
How we speak what we say, the words we use
really, really matter; they convey the deepest wishes and thoughts of our
hearts and minds and they can be used to destroy and maim others.
I would hope that we who live in such
beautiful and tranquil surroundings have a more benign and compassionate view
of the world and with those hopes in mind offer as an addition to your prayer
life over the next few months the World
Peace Prayer
Lead me from death to life,
from falsehood to truth;
lead me from despair to hope,
from fear to trust;
lead me from hate to love,
from war to peace.
Let peace fill our heart,
our world, our universe.
This prayer was first used in 1981 by
Mother Teresa when visiting the Anglican Church of St James, Piccadilly, (where
incidentally I did my church placement when training for ministry) and is an adaptation
from the Hindu Upanishads by a former Jain monk Satish Kumar. Its use in
encouraged by the world peace prayer society.
I hope you will accept my invitation to
include this in your daily prayers and I pray that we may be constantly
challenged as Christians to live and work together as salt, light, and leaven
and along with people of other great faiths, and all people of goodwill,
understand that our words matter and that we are each responsible for what we
say to others. For although we may survive the ‘sticks and stones’ that break us,
it is our words and the actions that flow from them that truly have the power
to destroy or heal.
Blessings and peace from Highland Perthshire
