BEAUTIFUL WORDS

 

Today we celebrate Noah Webster and his creation…the dictionary…without them you might say we’d be speechless…we’d have no vocabulary.

For how important are words once they form within our heads…with their ability to evoke emotions the moment they are said.

A word, itself, is not beautiful or ugly…complimentary or demeaning…it’s only in the context and the way we say it that gives a word it’s meaning.

Words when spoken from a place of love have a musical refrain…words when spoken from a place of hate are meant to damage and cause pain.

Some words make us feel good and bring with them happiness…let me name a few…there’s freedom, laughter, joy, peace, love, compassion and family too.

Some words when uttered leave fear and sorrow in their wake…like Alzheimer’s, Aids, war, death…tornado and earthquake.

I remember when a friend informed us her doctor wanted to see…if cancer was growing inside her…so she ordered a biopsy.

Biopsy…now there’s a word with the ability to fill ones heart with fear…as you anxiously and hopefully wait for the doctor to say the words you want to hear.

It’s interesting that as word spread of her biopsy that was planned….words of encouragement came rushing to her from all across the land.

Words of love…of compassion and support…words easy to comprehend…drifted softly…blended together and landed on our friend.

Our words were one way of showing her we were thinking of her…that we cared…one way to let her know her fear and apprehension was something we all shared.

And as we all awaited the results…hoping our world might realign…our apprehension turned to exhilaration when we heard the word…benign.

It is amazing how one day one word can cause so much woe..so much anguish and concern…and the next day another word replaces it allowing joy and happiness to return.

And so I wonder if Mr. Webster, the lexicographer, would agree…if we only used kind word from his dictionary…how happy we’d all be.

How words of kindness and love are an investment used to gather friends…and one day, when we need it…those words pay dividends.

For when I think of our friend’s frightening experience…it is the words of her friends I recall….leaving me to wonder if words of love…of support…of kindness…of compassion and of friendship…aren’t the most beautiful words of all.