INBOX INSPIRATIONS
January 27, 2021
Words – 1
Dear Friends,
This past Sunday, January 24, my homily focused on the power of our words.
You may access that homily through the link at the bottom of this page.
Today I am sharing some additional comments on the same topic.
Besides the words that we speak to or about others, there are also words that we speak to ourselves.
This is called self-talk – the things we say to ourselves, to our inner selves, often in silence or maybe even out loud if no one else is around.
These words have an effect on us.
For example, if I fail a course in school, I may simply say to myself that I did not do well and that I need to get some help to learn that subject better.
That kind of self-talk focuses more on my behavior, on what I did or now need to do.
It will probably have a maturing and positive effect on me.
On the other hand, I could say to myself that I am failure and feel that I am a failure.
This kind of self-talk is directed more to me personally and can have a harmful effect on my self-esteem and self-confidence.
So, we need to be careful even about the words that we speak to ourselves.
They can move us forward positively or pull us down and hurt us.
Besides that, our self-talk can easily overflow in how we talk to and about others.
If I speak to myself with negative, hurtful words, it is likely that I will speak to others in the same way.
Please think about this;
“If we understand the power of our thoughts, we would guard them more closely. If we understood the awesome power of our words, we would prefer silence to almost anything negative. In our thoughts and words, we create our own weaknesses and our own strengths. Our limitations and joys begin in our hearts.”
To be continued in the next two Inbox Inspirations, February 3 and 10, 2021.
Father Michael Schleupner
(Quotation above from: Betty Eadie, American author of several books, including Embraced by the Light.)
Our words have power, even in our relationship with God.
For example, the more positive our self-talk is (this consists of the words that I, in my inner being, speak to myself),
the more I name myself a child of God,
the more I label myself a temple of the Holy Spirit,
and the more I call myself God’s beloved daughter or son –
the more I do this, the closer I am to God.
The more I do this, the more I am becoming the person that I really am in the eyes of God.
Additionally, the more I speak respectfully to others,
the more I talk about others with an awareness that they are persons much like me,
the more I voice protection for the poor and powerless,
and the more I express what unites our community, country, and world –
the more I do this, the closer I am to all as the brothers and sisters of Christ.
The more I do this, the more I am alive as a member of the living body of Christ on this earth.
Again, the more I do this, the more I am becoming the person that I really am in the eyes of God.
Please reflect on the following insightful thoughts.
“…the word has the power to create. When God speaks, God creates. When God says, ‘Let there be light’ (Genesis 1:3), light is. God speaks light. For God, speaking and creating are the same.
It is this creative power of the word we need to reclaim. What we say is very important.
When we say, ‘I love you,’ and say it from the heart, we can give another person new life, new hope, new courage. When we say, ‘I hate you,’ we can destroy another person.
Let’s watch our words.”
Father Michael Schleupner
(Quotation above from: Bread for the Journey by Father Henri J. M. Nouwen.)
Today I am concluding some reflections on the power of words.
I began these in my homily on Sunday January 24 and continued them in the Inbox Inspirations of January 27 and February 3 (you may access all of these through the links at the bottom of this page).
I have two additional reflections.
First, the more we can use words and express ourselves in ways that are calm and peaceable, the better.
Words can be a way of bullying.
When we bully, we are putting down and intimidating another person.
We leave a wake of destruction behind us.
When we speak calmly and peaceably, we leave the dignity of others intact and may even enlist them in whatever our issue or concern is.
“Raise your words, not your voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.”
(From Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, the poet usually known as Rumi.)
My last thought for now on this topic is that our words last.
Maybe we have learned this the hard way.
Maybe we have had experiences where we say to ourselves: I wish I had never said that, or, I would love to take back that word.
But, of course, we all know that once a word is spoken, it is spoken.
It has staying power and can have lasting effects.
It can result in actions that are hostile and start a spiraling of enmity.
So, it is important, as the saying goes, to count to ten and think before we speak.
Allow our words to arise from the very best of our inner being, from our communion with God and from our oneness with Jesus Christ.
“Speech has power. Words do not fade. What starts out as a sound, ends in a deed.”
(From Rabbi Abraham Joshua Herschel.)
Father Michael Schleupner
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