When I saw this flair I knew it was for me. I love to play with words. I can play word games by the hour because I get so lost in the moment. Words are one way we can convey the intention of our hearts. Ideas are born and blossom by the exchange of words. When I wake each morning I spend time with the words God has for me and then pray that all of my words for the day will be nurturing and encouraging. I do this because I know that words can also be hurtful and belittling.
I was helping a Mom today and her son and daughter were in their own little universe. I heard the brother tell the sister "You mean nothing to me." She was still for a moment and then looked away seeming to struggle to not cry. I wondered if the mother had heard or was she ignoring those words deliberately. A minute later he banged his sister's head with a metal drawer. Now she did cry, and her mother did intervene. She told her son to apologize to his sister and to put the drawer away. I know the knock on the noggin was an "owie" but I think the bigger hurt was the earlier words. "You mean nothing to me"; could there be a more damaging phrase in the English language. Even when someone says "I hate you" there is still some emotional feeling to the words.
I was meditating at lunch and my heart kept feeling such sadness for this little girl. It was just a moment of time. She may never remember it clearly. But for that moment she was hurt as deeply as she can ever be. I prayed the rest of her day would have moments of love and compassion, God knows her morning didn't.
Praying that my words harm others as infrequently as possible.
jené
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