Like a steady stream, a diet of words can shape us in ways unintended, but what if we had someone feed us good words? Perhaps then the heart would find a new course to flow from.
As she climbed a couple of lectern steps to read the passage, I wondered if she would be able to read the words. She was short in stature but powerful in voice. She seemingly hid behind the eagle lectern.
For this Sunday, it wasn’t a text from the Bible that she spoke but some poetry. (You can read it in the quotes section below)
I listened, watched, and feasted. I opened my heart, and it was fed.
As she spoke, she engaged herself with the words. At times she would lean around and seemingly look directly at me as she said the final words of a sentence.
She finished reading and slowly returned to her seat right behind me.
We have a section in our service where we can greet each other and pass the peace. We turn to our neighbors and wish each other peace. I turned around, clasped this dear lady’s hands, and thanked her for how she said the words.
Words had fed me.
Anyone could have read those words, but she had chosen to serve them with gentleness and purpose. This was not a robotic, A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) rendition of a text. No, this was more an ‘I’m going to feed you some words to nourish your tired heart.’
It’s not only what you say; it’s how you say it. Words can sing together and shake the world.
What diet of words have you fed on?
As soon as the words left her mouth, I knew that these words were not her words but words that had been spoken into her heart as a child.
‘Do you think I’m dumb?’
Someone had sown a word into her thinking at such an early fertile age, and it had grown into a gigantic weed.
Her velcro brain had attached to the words of abuse, and they had burrowed in. No easy response of ‘You’re not dumb’ would help.
Other words, might. Deep, compassionate words, maybe.
Engraved words upon the heart, as Jeremiah says.
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.” Jeremiah 31:33
What words have been engraved upon your heart that need to be let go of and erased forever?
What words would you like to have engraved on your heart?
- Loved
- Beautiful
- Strong
- Known
- Valued
- Florist
- Builder
- Wordsmith
What’s a wordsmith?
We have blacksmiths, silversmiths, and goldsmiths. They are the ones who will work with the product in front of them and bring something of beauty and purpose.
I want to be a wordsmith.
I like the sound of the word ‘wordsmith.’ It feels natural and connected to generations of fellow craftsmen and women who take words and fire them together to form sentences and paragraphs and poems and prose.
To be a wordsmith of the heart. Taking a few words and speaking them upon the heart of another and watching the magic take place.
Not just any old words, though, but deep words that speak to the deepest parts of another person’s heart.
Most people go through their entire life never speaking words to another human being that come out of what is deepest within them, and most people never hear words that reach all the way into that deep place we call the soul. Larry Crabb Soultalk
Finding the diet of words
Finding the words to say takes time, as much as a fine feast takes time to come into being.
The growth of the vegetables laid out in a salad takes time. Unhurried, organically grown, and nurtured words are the tastiest and most sustaining. They have grown deep, and so feed the deep places of the heart.
It’s listening for the words, which again takes unhurried quiet and presence.
Being a wordsmith begins with an apprenticeship. The apprentice always makes mistakes, but with patience and self-forgiveness, they grow in confidence to express new words in new ways.
I want to speak new words into hearts that feel old with tears. Rich words that bring a sense of hope into the soul.
What are the words you most need to hear?
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly Colossians 3:16
Quotes to consider
- What do you hope for the world?
What are your dreams?
Peace and justice,
food and shelter,
lands and oceans
that are healthy and clean?What do you hope for your country?
What are your dreams?
Freedom from oppression,
just and generous government,
available work and adequate housing,
allotments and gardens and city parks?What do you hope for your friends and family?
What are your dreams?
Health and prosperity,
love between each other,
safe spaces to grow up in,
safe places to grow old?What do you hope for yourself?
What are your dreams?
It’s good to dream.
God is always dreaming.
And dreams,
with God’s help,
can become reality. Ruth Burgess - Learn to get in touch with silence within yourself and know that everything in this life has a purpose. There are no mistakes, no coincidences; all events are blessings given to us to learn from. There is no need to go to India or anywhere else to find peace. You will find that deep place of silence right in your room, your garden, or even your bathtub. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
- The greatest favorites of destiny make mistakes. Our joys are composed of shadow. The supreme smile is God’s alone. Victor Hugo Les Misérables
- Man lives by affirmation even more than by bread. Victor Hugo Les Misérables
- Real encouragement occurs when words are spoken from a heart of love to another’s recognized fear. Larry Crabb
- Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless. Mother Teresa
- Insults should be written in the sand, and praises carved in stone. Arab Proverb
Questions to answer
- What words do you need to feed the child in your heart?
- What words does your ‘enemy’ most need to hear from you?
- If a word was to be spoken to you from the mouth of Christ, what would it be?
- What is your current diet of words?
Further reading
Three Words to Build a Bridge Instead of a Wall into the Secret Garden.
Barry Pearman
Photo by Katrina Wright on Unsplash
