Osler's Razor

Genesis 1:

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

Think about that-- God said "let there be light," and then there was. I've always appreciated that the Judeo-Christian creation story (whether one takes it literally or not) describes a God who speaks things into existence. Words do matter.

We, too, create through our words. We create relationships, conflicts, trust, war-- all the things that are most meaningful. We marry one another by speaking to someone; we pledge ourselves to what we believe with words; we declare who we are when we speak our own name.

Jesus taught that it is not what goes in our mouth that makes us unclean-- it is what comes out (Matthew 15:11). Certainly, we have the power to hurt one another through words, and I have already written about that, but this is something else-- the amazing power to create through words. Once in a while, someone will use exactly the right word-- "chastened" or "besotted" for example-- and that is enough for me to turn to them and listen for a long, long time.

Yes, we should be careful about our words, so they do not cause harm, but also free with them as we create and love; each one can be a gift.

What will you create with your words?