I recently read this quote: "Words are like stories...they change as they are passed from mouth to mouth; their meanings stretch or truncate to fit what needs to be said...Words are our tools for resurrection" from The Dictionary of Lost Words. Tools for resurrection. That resonates with me. I have always believed in the power of words to change the way we see life all around us. But can they really restore us?
I find myself thinking that lately words have been used to diminish us. rather than resurrect us. Words are carelessly thrown out to wound or weaken in a way that hurts all of us and adds to a general feeling of mistrust and insecurity. People I talk to feel the malaise from a bombardment of negative language aimed to tear down from media, politicians, leaders and just ordinary people. How do we change the story of words as they move from person to person, shortened or stretched? I think the power actually lies in us, to seek understanding and 'stretch or truncate' our own words for a restoration of humanity, civility, peace.
I haven't written a blog in over a year. I didn't lose my words like I did during CoVid. It has been more of a holding for me, a pause. I am ready to move again, to seek positive change. You don't have to think the same way as I do but together we can change the story being written. We can do that by refusing to repeat and relay the diminishing stories. By replacing them with words of hope. This is not Pollyanna; this is taking action to change.
I challenge all of us to use words as tools of resurrection. To lift up others, to retell stories of hope and wonder. We all need it.
