Words

Words are containers for power- hopefully for your good and your future hopes, dreams and expectations.

The power of what you say is never more evident than when a person convinces themselves and cannot be swayed. It is sad to say, but if you can’t change your mind, you can’t change anything. If someone says something that is wrong or not true long enough, it comes out of their own mouth, goes in their ears, circulates in their mind, heart and emotions, and comes back out through their mouth again. It becomes embedded and repeats at will like a bad record. It is not what goes in a man that defiles him, but what comes out of his mouth.

My mother doesn’t like to commit to attend a party or travel to visit family or even be home for a visit. Her attitude is that if something happens to prevent the event, she is inordinately disappointed and takes it personally. She doesn’t want to be disappointed. In trying to protect herself, she walls herself off from invitations she so desperately wants. If someone disappoints her, she is harsh in her comments when she sees them again. She has said, “If you don’t expect anything good to happen, you won’t be disappointed when it doesn’t.”

The words you speak matter. It’s not about speaking the wrong things, but about speaking the right things. Focus on making your conversation pleasant. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving. As Aunt Margie said, “If you can’t say something good, don’t say anything at all.” After some family gossip was reported to Uncle David, he said, “it’s not the worst thing that anyone is this family has ever done” and that was the end of it.

My personal weakness is reacting to foolish talk. Someone was explaining to me how a football game was lost by 1 point. They acted like I had no knowledge of football. I spent a decade engaged in watching my sons play and then watching the college teams I attended. I had already watched the news and saw the play clips. So, as I listened, it seemed clear. The kicker missed the extra point (1) at the end of the game and he missed a field goal (3 points) earlier in the game, so he was the lynch pin. The person then launched into their theory about how the center hiked the ball and the person holding it for the kicker delivered it with the seams in the wrong position, so the kicker was not at fault. I felt like the guy in “The Princess Bride”- Inconceivable! I should have done what my sister claims I do, “rolled my eyes out loud” or held my peace and changed the subject. Oh No, not me. I went so far as to say, I would replace the kicker, if he floundered twice in one game. Afterwards, I realized- I don’t need the last word. I don’t need to even go on record with words out of my mouth about something I have no control over and not much interest in. It was such a silly conversation. This is what I am reminding myself and you of today. Watch your words. Let them build up and not cut down. Hold your tongue when you hear foolish talk. There is no good end to letting it continue or being provoked to join in.

We all know that truth can be spoken in love. The facts as you know them can be stated in a sentence and then we can stop. Be a person of few words, for we will give an account of every idle word that comes out of our mouths. Now, I have to add that conversation about a college football kicker to the bag of words that have no value. Let’s fill our future with blessings by speaking good words to and over everyone and everything within our circle of influence.