Words Are Life
"I have hated words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right."
Markus Zusak - The Book Thief
These words are from my all time favorite book. They are beautifully applicable to a topic I have been thinking much about lately: language. Words and the ways in which we verbally communicate with one another has always been something that fascinates me. Writing often helps me to process through things, and my emotions are vocalized for my own clarity more often than not, regardless if anyone is listening. Language is vital to the way we interact and understand one another as a human race. But language has its downfalls, and I think that recently, it has become somewhat of a jumbled mess. How does our language and the words we use affect the ways in which we live our lives?
"And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light." Genesis 1:3
The opening words of the Bible tell of the creation of our reality, and it began with speech. God said and it was! Words are the basis of creation. This is why it is so easy to build someone up or to tear them down simply with our words. As human beings made in the image of God, we share this ability to create, albeit on a smaller scale, and we can shape the realities of those around us with our speech.
It is no accident that Jesus Himself is referred to as the Word, in John 1:1.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made." John 1:1-3 (emphasis added)
Jesus is the Word, through which every single thing in all of creation was made, in fact, because of whom these things were made (Colossians 1:16). The world was made through the Word, and yet this creating life was put to death. The Word died so that we may have eternal life. The very means for all creation Himself was destroyed to bring about eternal, pure existence. It cannot be a coincidence, then, that our communications through speech are known as words.
I vividly remember the first time someone told me I talked too much. The careless language of one person created a physical pain in my chest. It stripped me to the bone, and left me feeling vulnerable, alienated, embarrassed, and hated. It also left me silent for a time. It took a while to build myself back from that first verbal insult about my words. Words are so integral to who I am, and while I will readily admit that I do talk a lot -- almost constantly, in fact -- having people point this out to me is never necessary. I have been told this same thing countless times, in various forms such as "why do you talk so much?," "you talk enough for everyone here," or "hey, shut up already!" Each time has been as painful as the first, a testament to the fact that the language we use to address someone or speak about a certain topic can create life-giving empowerment, or tear away self-confidence.
Communication is critical in every area of life. Certain words can be negative when used to describe people and can affect the way these people are then treated. When words are used to dehumanize someone, it is much easier to lash against them in potentially unfair ways, because they are not being seen as an individual with basic human rights, but as an object that may just be inconvenient to one’s own goals. And because of this, words can literally kill.
For example, in our current political climate, there is a large stigma around the use of the words immigrant or immigration. The way in which President Trump speaks about the act of immigration, specifically about non-legal migration into the United States, robs these people of their dignity. He speaks in ways that criminalize the people trying to come into this country, and while not following the rules of our country in order to come in is indeed illegal, these people are still human -- and how is being human an illegal act? I do not believe that negatively stereotyping entire ethnicities because of their country of origin is the way to go about this pursuit of national security. It struck me recently that this kind of arbitrary rhetoric is the foundation for why immigration is currently such a hot topic.
I do not seek to turn this into a political post, but to give a recent example of how divisive language can be. We live in a society that seems currently consumed by a range of subjects, beyond just immigration, that carry wildly polarizing reactions on either side. We are told on one hand to be tolerant of change and difference, and on the other hand, difference is feared and eliminated. And it all boils down to the language we use in conversation. Loaded words inspire certain feelings for people, as is natural, but it can lead to reactions that create dissension between human beings.
Paranoia inspired because of a particular choice in words ought not to keep us from offering care for those outside of our national, spiritual, or personal borders. Simply because someone disagrees with our worldview or personal ideals in some way ought not demerit them as human beings. It is heartbreaking to me that this seems to have become the case. But think about it! What are we even fighting against but ourselves?
Whether foreign-born or U.S-born, LGBTQ or heterosexual, black, white, Latinx, Asian, or anything in between, whether liberal or conservative, male, female, or non cisgender, people are people. No matter what we think about the other person's identity or choices for self-expression, we all have one thing in common:
We are human beings, and the very nature of being human demands dignity because we were created in the image of God! (Genesis 1:26-27).
Denying respect to these people through our language by creating negative labels creates a ideology of winners and losers. People are placed on a spectrum from deserving to undeserving based on a snap judgement of their character, and this does nothing to restore the innate brokenness of the situation, but only perpetuates a community of fear. Our words are tearing us apart. Whoever said "sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me" was seriously mistaken. Words are life, and they are death. Let us be vividly conscious of the words we use, because all humans ought to be treated with care and respect, no matter what physical, mental, personal, or ideological differences may seem to separate us. We are all beloved in the eyes of the Lord, deserving of dignity in interaction. We can disagree, but we still ought to value one another and the diversity of being.
"The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit." Proverbs 18:21