Words fascinate me. I like word paintings where wildflowers carpet a meadow and chipmunks chatter above the breeze whispering through the nearby pines.
What sights and sounds would you add to your scene? I enjoy imaginative words like kaleidoscope. The colourful pieces at the end of the telescopic tube dramatically change patterns with the slightest turn of the tumbler.
Combined words are the most meaningful. Chocolate is a good prefix to any word. What word would you use to follow chocolate? Did your choice include something that brought a significant memory or feeling with it? Words weave thoughts into pictures and emotions. I do not understand how our brains decide what words to say and then speed that information on to our tiny tongues, but I do know that sometimes my tongue speaks faster than my brain.
I don't understand hearing either. How do our ears pick up those word sound vibrations and convert them into intelligent, meaningful data at unthinkable speeds? How do we distinguish between what is said and what is meant? What makes a word worth listening to? How can we discern it value or its truth?
Truth is vital. Truthful words seem to be in short supply these days. Lots of people have their own truth; if they think it, it must be true. Preconceived ideas can block out truth.
My family experienced a lot of poverty when I was a child. Dad worked for farmers who struggled themselves. We did not have indoor plumbing. Washday was an all-day affair where I helped my mom put clothes through the wringer into a tub of water and then again into another tub of water and then again into the basket, from which I hung them out on the line.
Our garden determined how many vegetables we would have in the winter. That meant a lot of weeding and complaining. I still remember my dad getting frustrated with me as I sobbed about him killing Bambi. He asked me if I wanted to eat. Along with this came words from the government about how America was the richest nation in the world. I felt so sorry for other people living in other countries.
Imagine my surprise when we visited London, and I saw all the gold-covered statues, fountains and gates. The Big Ben clock tower even shined with gold. I must have looked like a silly cartoon character with my mouth open as I stood amazed at the pomp and splendor of the horses and marching bands as they changed the guards at Buckingham Palace. I had received an education; I had studied history; but somehow those childhood impressions had survived underneath my thinking.
Truth is vital! Jesus is the ultimate Word. The apostle John wrote: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning" (John 1:1–2). Jesus not only said the right words; he had the body language to back them up. He laid down His life in order to deliver us from our slavery to painful practices such as lying and hating.
Because of Jesus' words, we can speak words of faith and life to others. We have God's Word to back us up! Isaiah speaks a comforting promise to those of us who may be wondering where the world is going. "As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it" (Isaiah 55:10–11).
I know that Jesus came to save us; He didn't come to condemn us. He died so that we could live. I don't even know how to string the words together to express my hope for the fulfillment of His words.
Sue Carlisle grew up on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. An enrolled member of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, her passion is to encourage people to look at creation and see our awesome Creator. Sue is author of Walking with the Creator Along the Narrow Road (see https://www.indianlife.org/product/walking-with-the-creator-along-the-narrow-road/). She and her husband, Wes, now live in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
