My niece Zenia inspired this post. The other day she quoted one of history’s greatest story tellers and writers on her Facebook status. Shakespeare is great, but I’m talking about the doctor. Seuss that is (and Ted to his friends). The man can weave a tale like no other. And so now I want to segue into what this post is about.

 Words. They help us communicate, tell stories, pass on knowledge, and express ourselves. They can inspire, tear down, comfort, deceive, uncover, and hurt. They can bring tears of joy and sorrow, and elicit emotional responses of all kinds. Some words are spoken, some written, some sung. Words are important, there’s no doubt about that.  

I like the written word. Reading takes me to places I can only go in my mind and my heart. God shared with us his truth through the written word. But here’s the thing. You can read the Bible from end to end, study it, discuss it, and analyze it. But faith is the only way you will be able to lift the veil to see the truth in the word.

Sometimes words aren’t adequate. Sometimes silence is golden. I’m one of those people that often speak their mind because we just can’t help it. I might cringe as soon as the words leave my mouth, but said they were and sorry can only come as a follow up. That’s another reason the written word is sometimes better. You can delete, white out, and start over before you hit that send/publish button. Just those few moments of time to stop yourself before uttering a mistake.  

But I digress. Sometimes words just can’t describe the beauty (or unfortunately the horror) that we see.

Revelation 8:1 says that, “When the Lamb broke open the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.” I’ve been silenced by the beauty of the earth and its people before, but I can’t imagine what could be so beautiful as to stun everyone for 30 minutes. I’m looking forward to that. But until then, whenever I find myself suffering or hurting, I’ll try to remember what Paul told us in Romans. “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.” It’s so comforting to know that God doesn’t need for us to speak or write to know how we feel.  

To pay homage to the literary geniuses that fill our lives with emotions, here are some beautiful words by poets on our side of heaven.

“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”
Dr. Seuss 

“You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.”
Dr. Seuss

“In my world, everyone’s a pony and they all eat rainbows and poop butterflies!”
Dr. Seuss

“Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind.”
William Shakespeare

“My words fly up, my thoughts remain below: Words without thoughts never to heaven go.”
William Shakespeare

“The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.”
Mark Twain

“The difference between the almost right word & the right word is really a large matter–it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”
Mark Twain

“She’s mean and she mocks me. I’m pretty sure she has a mild crush on me.”
Tyler Crowe

“Everyone who loves me, raise your hand.”
Harmon Crowe

 With that being said (or written), I bid you adieu. Word Up.

 

Advertisement