In the beginning was the Word…the power of words

We are immersed in words, in various forms, in everyday life — the printed word, the published word, the written word, the spoken word through discussions. Words, words, words — so many words that we sometimes despair that we have an information overload in this digital age.

Nov 13, 2015

By Anil Netto
We are immersed in words, in various forms, in everyday life — the printed word, the published word, the written word, the spoken word through discussions. Words, words, words — so many words that we sometimes despair that we have an information overload in this digital age.

It would be easy then to underestimate the power of words. Which is strange considering our spiritual tradition and heritage: “In the beginning was the Word: the Word was with God and the Word was God” (John 1:1).

If we look at the sequence: the Word was made Flesh and then the power of the Spirit was unleashed. The Spirit carries the power of the Word and inspires those receptive to it into action. This in turn can transform the world and usher in the kingdom that Jesus heralded.

In our own lives, our words are first crystallised in our thoughts, and then released to the world through the words we utter (and this includes songs, poems, etc) and through the written word (texting, writing with a pen or keying in on a word processor and publishing our work).

Our words, once released, carry the force of the ideas that first germinated in our thoughts. That raises the deeper question: what spark gives rise to our thoughts and how we should nourish the thought process.

After all, our words may inspire others,  spur them into action and move people to action. Conversely, they can cause hatred, anger or violence. Words in advertisements bombard us through various media and easily promote a culture of selfish materialism, unsustainable lifestyles and insatiable greed.

So, the process here is: Thoughts, Words, Action… and this action may lead to change for the better, or for the worse.

One of the baffling things about Jesus is that he never wrote anything himself. Instead, he was so confident of the power of his words, the source of those words. And why wouldn’t he be, when he was the divine Word made flesh.

Jesus didn’t seem particularly bothered that his words would be forgotten or misinterpreted once his earthly ministry was over. Instead, he left it to the Spirit to carry the force of his words throughout the world.

Well before the first scriptures were written by St Paul, a strong oral tradition spread the message of Jesus’ words among the early 

followers in the years after Jesus’ earthly ministry ended. And it was only later that the early Church deliberated on what should go into the canonical Bible.

Somewhat in a similar style, the Greek philosopher Socrates (479-399BC) expounded his thoughts through  public discussions using his oratorical skills. None of his written works in philosophy survived. He was more concerned about ethics in public life — and his talks put him in conflict with city elders. They felt he was corrupting the minds of the aristocratic youth. What we read today as Socrates’ philosophy was not written by him. It was left to his student Plato to put down in writing much of Socrates’ thoughts.

Similarly, Buddha himself never put down anything in writing leaving behind a rich oral tradition of his teaching which was finally put  in writing by learned scribes much later.

It is remarkable that Jesus, and others expounding deeper truths, had such confi dence in the power of words that they felt they didn’t have to put them down in writing themselves.

This can only mean that they realised the power of words to survive the test of time and to prevail through debate and counterdebate, through prayer and reflection and discussion. The words of truth have the ‘truth force,’ as Gandhi put it.

And why not, when “in the beginning was the Word...”

That is why we should never underestimated the power of our own words. They reflect our thoughts and can assume a force and life of its own, especially if they reflect deeper truths that can stand the test of time.

So we need to reflect and weigh our words, and not utter them lightly, especially in matters of importance.

This does not mean we cannot banter with our friends and engage in social interaction. But we do need to be aware that our thoughts, unleashed through the spoken and written word leave an impact on the world — and these words have the capacity for making a difference — whether for better or for worse.

Our challenge then is to ensure that our words leave behind a positive impact for change in our world, inspire compassion and spur us to challenge injustice. In doing so, these words will flicker like a thousand candles, extinguishing the darkness

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