As I mused on the suggested topic for May, my thoughts wandered to a poem I memorized in grade four or five, which is more years ago than I care to admit. It is such a simple poem, yet powerful enough to hang around a lifetime, enabling me to bring it out of its archaic brain file to use as ponder fodder.
God wove a web of loveliness
Of stars, clouds, and birds
But made not anything as beautiful as words.
They shine around our simple world
with golden shadowings.
And every common thing they touch
is equipped with wings.
If you remember different words, please forgive me. After sixty-plus years, a few cobwebs have slowed down my thought process. But not my love of words.
Can you imagine a soundless world? After the first hour of blessed quietness? I can’t. Words are life, and really do put wings on our thoughts. And they are powerful. God warns us in the Bible to use them wisely. If I want a bad day, all I need to do is begin it grumpy, complaining over this and that, and it is guaranteed to end up a bust. But if I choose to speak good to myself, as well as others, the sun shines gloriously, even if I’m up to my neck in an impossible situation.
Words are not only spoken. They communicate thoughts, which means they can also be written, painted, or drawn. I have friends who can speak a thousand sentences with only a few strokes of a brush or pencil, enabling these visual words to light up the saddest heart.
Words are fascinating. Every word in our vocabulary is made up of a combination of only twenty-six letters. Yet they can create many different worlds, comfort countless people, and anger numerous others. How neat is that?
Words are a precious gift from God, which we seldom think about. They not only allow us to communicate with each other but add meaning to our music and expression to our heartfelt prayers. Because they are a heavenly gift, they are not a toy and need to be used with care and in a way that brings glory to God.
- Eunice -
Words are our life that put wings on our thoughts - that paints a beautiful picture. It reminds me of people using airplanes to scroll out a marriage proposal or watching birds in flight who chatter with one another. They may not be singing choruses that we understand but their joyful noise does raise a conversation among those of us who enjoy their songs. Yes, our words are a gift!
ReplyDeleteA world with no words? I can't imagine! Words are a 'heavenly gift' that I now will add to my daily gratitude list!
ReplyDeleteI just love this post Eunice! I am so glad that you joined us this month...
ReplyDeleteHow true about words and how they can be misunderstood. A terrible accident happened in Fort Saint John a few years ago. The control tower man told the snow plow driver to, "clear off the runway." He meant he should get out of the way of a landing plane. Instead, the unfortunate plow man drove onto the runway to clear off the snow. The plane hit him. I can't remember the casualty count but that miscommunication has stuck in my mind.
ReplyDeleteVery good Eunice, I love your piece and thoroughly agree with it. The Bible also has some fascinating comments about our words. Prov 6:2 for example. You are snared by the words of your mouth; You are taken by the words of your mouth.
ReplyDeleteJesus also warns us. Matt 12:36-37 Every one of these careless words is going to come back to haunt you. There will be a time of Reckoning. Words are powerful; take them seriously. Words can be your salvation. Words can also be your damnation.” The Message
Speaking words aloud appears to be an essential part of conversion.
If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Rom. 10:9
The Message version is interesting: Say the welcoming word to God—“Jesus is my Master”—embracing, body and soul, God’s work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead. That’s it. You’re not “doing” anything; you’re simply calling out to God, trusting him to do it for you. That’s salvation. With your whole being you embrace God setting things right, and then you say it, right out loud: “God has set everything right between him and me!”
Thanks for this lovely post, Eunice. What a wonder are words. Loved the poem at the beginning, I have never heard it before.
ReplyDeleteWell, Eunice, I discovered two things from your post. Because I'm always so curious, I hunted down the full poem that you shared. I'd never read any poems by Anna Hempstead Branch but I LOVE this poem in its entirety because she talks about how she became a lover of words because of her mother. I LOVE that! I also wasn't familiar with the painting you shared by Salvador Dali. I'm familiar with his more popular art pieces but not this one. I LOVE this piece. And now I've bookmarked both this author and this art piece on my computer. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your beautiful poem, Eunice. I'd never heard it before. I also loved the way your phrased how we are to use our words: "Because they are a heavenly gift, they are not a toy and need to be used with care and in a way that brings glory to God."
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