We can be irritated by words; we can even close our minds and blame our attitude on words and the negative associations we’ve drawn between some words and our own emotions.
He...She...It?
Even the use of pronouns can tie some folks in knots. Eventually someone is going to coin an acceptable and palatable English unisex word that means ‘he’ and ‘she’, ‘hers’ and ‘his’. Until then, if we want to be all-inclusive, we are stuck using either the awkward-to-read: s/he (his/hers) or the sometimes stuffy-sounding “one”. After running around in circles for a while, I decided to play it by ear. Most of the time I use the mutual “our” and “we”, but where appropriate, I use the space-conserving neutral form of “he” and occasionally, the more personal “I” and “me” with the hope that you, dear reader, will look beyond the words, to the meaning.
Superkalifragilistikexpealedocious...
Words that have no relevance to our lifestyle often remain out of sight and unknown until the subject they describe becomes acceptable and familiar, or normal. The words that describe the function of computers are common now, but it wasn't long ago that such terms as “hard drive” and “software” belonged to a small sector of people who held computer-related jobs. Now software is sold in dollar stores.
Separation and Connection...
Words can reveal our thoughts or conceal them, allow connection to others or cause separation. Sometimes we allow ourselves to get tangled up in others' words as well as our own, insisting that the onus is on others to make us understand perfectly—so we'll know what to think, and how to react. We can be so bogged down in our concern with correct usage, and expression of language, that we make “words” a Big Issue, as if they have relevance of their own.
Sticks and Stones may Break my Bones
but Names will Never Hurt Me....
Our reliance on linguistic certainties can become so huge and unstable, that we may even carve words into scapegoats, blaming our own anger on words and their definitions. Not only do we want perfection in our lives, we want it in our speech, or at least in the utterances of others! But language is simply a human-created means of communication, a series of lip, tongue, and jaw movements that give form and symbolism to the expiration of air, as it moves past a vibrating larynx.
Certainly, we must try to be as clear as possible, so that our words reflect our behaviour and perspective, but we need not insist that everything be perfectly correct before we exercise our ability to apply faith: faith in each other and faith in "God" (however we imagine God).
A Single Thread in an Infinite Fabric...
The trouble with words is they can close our minds if they have been continuously associated with subjects that have no pertinence to our lives or connection to our logic. When trying to describe the spiritual aspects of life, how can any statement be definitive when spirit itself cannot be defined, limited, or corralled? It cannot.
We have to stretch our imaginations when it comes to discussing spirituality, and to keep in mind that expressions and beliefs that seem bizarre to us, may owe their strangeness simply to the words that have been used in an attempt to communicate an impression, idea or feeling.
What one person might describe as an hysterical reaction, another might interpret as channelling, or as an electro-chemical surge, an altered state of consciousness, or an encounter with a spirit or ghost. It does not matter that the approach, perspective, or description is different. What is important is the acknowledgement that mysterious experiences and states of mind occur, and that the effort to explain them is an attempt to understand and share them, not a bid to reach an absolute truth, or to create some irreversible fact.
Words are merely symbols of reality used in our attempt to describe and define our interaction with the world outside our Self.
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