Words, Words, Words

 

As someone who’s had instances of writer’s block, this scripture frequently comes to mind:

“Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.”

Ecclesiastes 5:2

Granted, it doesn’t always feel conducive to the writing process; words are kind of important. Nevertheless, I suppose it is worth pondering.

“The tongue has the power of life and death and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

Proverbs 18: 21

 

I remember, as a kid, having some cutesy stationery with babies, spouting statements like “Be patient; God isn’t finished with me” and “It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak up and remove all doubt.” That one really stuck with me. And, it was only years later I discovered that cutesy slogan was, in fact, scriptural.

“He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit. Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.”

Proverbs 17:27-28

 Furthermore, there’s a little thing called consequences:

“The lips of fools bring them strife,
    and their mouths invite a beating.

The mouths of fools are their undoing,
    and their lips are a snare to their very lives.”

Proverbs 18:6-7

Yeah, that’s not appealing. Being ensnared does NOT sound like a party to me.

I keep thinking about Shakespeare’s character, Hamlet going on a tear about “Words, words, words…” and we know how well THAT went. (If you don’t, please feel free to look it up).

The point is, words carry results with them, either positive or negative; they’re not neutral.

“The tongue has the power of life and death and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

Proverbs 18: 21

And that includes our recovery processes. What do we say about ourselves, to ourselves when it comes to the state of our lives?

Do we lie? That’s often where addiction can really flourish.

“He whose tongue is deceitful falls into trouble.”

Proverbs 17:20

Do we isolate? Again, left to our own devices, addictive choices can run rampant.

“A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire;
He rages against all wise judgment.”

Proverbs 18:1

Do we embrace help/God?

Do we…really?

Let’s be real, the twelve steps wouldn’t be powerful at all if it weren’t for the reality of their action words.

1.      We admitted we were powerless over a substance or behavior ─ our lives had become unmanageable.

2. We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. We are entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. We humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. We made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. We continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
11. We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

 

Do we get it right? Most of the time, probably NOT. We’re imperfect. Yet, that’s still no excuse not to be held accountable for the words we say.

So, worth considering, words be few.

 “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.”

Psalm 19:14

Perhaps there’s some merit to the writer’s block condition after all.

Copyright © 2015 by Sheryle Cruse