Words....
How many words do you reckon you've spoken today?
How many of them were neccessary?
How many of them were kind, and gentle, encouraging and loving?
How many of them were selfish, greedy, narrow minded and unkind?
How many would you like to take back, to never have said?
How many things DIDN'T you say, that you wish you had?
"For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." Matthew 12:37
Today, I haven't said many words, having spent the day in the house by myself, I had a phone call with my Mum and a brief skype chat with friends, but other than that, its been a pretty quiet day, yesterday however was even quieter, I do believe I spoke approximately 5 words in the whole of the 24hours-sounds impressive doesnt it.
You see, I did a sponsored silence, and it was hard-I like to talk...a lot!! Why did I do it, you may ask? Well I raised money for 'The Christie' a cancer charity where my Dad recieves his treatment....but that was a secondary reason. Initially, I decided to not, because I felt that myself, and us as a culture have forgotten how to listen, to ourselves, to one another, and to God...and I wanted to pause for a moment, and just listen.
I wonder, if you stopped for a moment and listened, what would you hear?
If Adam Lanza had paused for a moment and listened, to the screams of terrified children, the sobbing of innocent victimes, to the heartfelt pleas of frightened teachers...would he have carried on?
I wonder, in todays world, how much of the messed up junk could we get rid of, could we fix, if we just took a moment to listen, to think about others....doing a sponsored silence made me feel good about one thing-the fact that what I found most difficult, was not being able to use my maners verbally...one thing, which, for some reason or other many people don't do-yet I found it difficult to not do it!!
Yesterday made me feel so blessed, because I can tell you know, it's so frustrating to sit in a lecture, and not be able to put your view point forward, to listen to a conversation and not make your voice heard-yet there are so many people out there, who do just that, everyday, there are so many people out there who cannot speak, for medical or physical reasons, or through pain, sadness and fear.
A quote I found:
'I once read that a word is like a living organism, capable of growing, changing, spreading, and influencing the world in many ways, directly and indirectly through others. I never thought about a word being 'alive' but then I thought of words spoken 3,000 years ago, written down and passed through many generations, and they seem quite alive when read or spoken today, having lived 3,000 years. As I ponder the power of the word to incite and divide, to calm and connect, or to create and effect change, I am ever more cautious in what I say and how I listen to the words around me.' (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/susan-smalley/the-power-of-words_b_81918.html)
So I ask you, just take a moment to pause, to listen, to consider your words, and those of other around you.
I've posted this video before, and in this case the words are written, as opposed to spoken, but it made me cry-think about how powerful your words can be-use them wisely, or not at all
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzgzim5m7oU
Amen <3
Go in peace, for the Lord is with you, always and forever
How many of them were neccessary?
How many of them were kind, and gentle, encouraging and loving?
How many of them were selfish, greedy, narrow minded and unkind?
How many would you like to take back, to never have said?
How many things DIDN'T you say, that you wish you had?
"For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." Matthew 12:37
Today, I haven't said many words, having spent the day in the house by myself, I had a phone call with my Mum and a brief skype chat with friends, but other than that, its been a pretty quiet day, yesterday however was even quieter, I do believe I spoke approximately 5 words in the whole of the 24hours-sounds impressive doesnt it.
You see, I did a sponsored silence, and it was hard-I like to talk...a lot!! Why did I do it, you may ask? Well I raised money for 'The Christie' a cancer charity where my Dad recieves his treatment....but that was a secondary reason. Initially, I decided to not, because I felt that myself, and us as a culture have forgotten how to listen, to ourselves, to one another, and to God...and I wanted to pause for a moment, and just listen.
I wonder, if you stopped for a moment and listened, what would you hear?
If Adam Lanza had paused for a moment and listened, to the screams of terrified children, the sobbing of innocent victimes, to the heartfelt pleas of frightened teachers...would he have carried on?
I wonder, in todays world, how much of the messed up junk could we get rid of, could we fix, if we just took a moment to listen, to think about others....doing a sponsored silence made me feel good about one thing-the fact that what I found most difficult, was not being able to use my maners verbally...one thing, which, for some reason or other many people don't do-yet I found it difficult to not do it!!
Yesterday made me feel so blessed, because I can tell you know, it's so frustrating to sit in a lecture, and not be able to put your view point forward, to listen to a conversation and not make your voice heard-yet there are so many people out there, who do just that, everyday, there are so many people out there who cannot speak, for medical or physical reasons, or through pain, sadness and fear.
A quote I found:
'I once read that a word is like a living organism, capable of growing, changing, spreading, and influencing the world in many ways, directly and indirectly through others. I never thought about a word being 'alive' but then I thought of words spoken 3,000 years ago, written down and passed through many generations, and they seem quite alive when read or spoken today, having lived 3,000 years. As I ponder the power of the word to incite and divide, to calm and connect, or to create and effect change, I am ever more cautious in what I say and how I listen to the words around me.' (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/susan-smalley/the-power-of-words_b_81918.html)
So I ask you, just take a moment to pause, to listen, to consider your words, and those of other around you.
I've posted this video before, and in this case the words are written, as opposed to spoken, but it made me cry-think about how powerful your words can be-use them wisely, or not at all
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzgzim5m7oU
Amen <3
Go in peace, for the Lord is with you, always and forever
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