Words
29/01/14 05:16
I live in a world of words. I write every morning and then continue to write throughout the day. In addition to this blog, I write letters, e-mails, articles for our newsletter, magazine articles, training documents and lots of other materials. When I am not writing, I am often reading. I read books and articles and on-line research and lots and lots of other words. I don’t know how many words I use in a day, but it has to be in the tens of thousands.
And then there is talking. I am, after all, a preacher. I use words as my primary instrument for leading worship. Often I rely heavily on the words of the ancients. There is great beauty in words that have revealed meaning for many generations of people. At other times I try to create fresh combinations of words to prove expressions that are unique to our circumstances.
My world is so filled with words that I often become confused about the meaning and power of words. Sometimes a simple trip to the dictionary can ease the confusion. The other night I was working on some training materials for the Sheriff’s Office. In a document that I had previously written I found the word “diffuse” when I meant “defuse.” The difference in the homonyms is fairly easy. Defuse means to make more safe. The classic example is defusing a bomb. In the old days of bombs with fuses that were lit and burned toward the concentrated explosives, removing the fuse from the bomb prevented it from being ignited. In a more modern setting, defusing a bomb involves understanding the electronics and preventing the electricity from getting to the ignition. Diffuse means to spread out. The document on which I was working was discussing defusing as an informal process that surrounds the formal process of debriefing after a critical or potentially traumatic incident. We defuse to increase safety. The process helps to avoid potentially dangerous physical and psychological symptoms that come with stress that is not properly managed.
Then I realized that both defusing and diffusing are helpful in the process. By spreading out the knowledge of the incident and its effects, the community is able to absorb more violence than any individual. Defusing is also diffusing - spreading out the knowledge and information within the community.
I could keep going on and on but I think I’ve made my point that clarity and meaning can emerge when we think about and wrestle with words.
But there are other errors I make with words. Probably the biggest mistake that I make on a regular basis is to think that words can contain the truth. I was reminded of that fact last night when I read an essay by Dr. Alan Rabinowitz, one of the world’s leading big cat experts and a leader in habitat conservation. It happens that Dr. Rabinowitz is a stutterer, a reality that in no way diminishes his contributions as a scholar and researcher. He wrote, “the truth of the world, the reality, is not defined by the spoken word.”
It is critical for theologians to remember this important truth. There is an external reality that is beyond our words. God is not contained in our writings about God. We can use words to seek the truth, but the truth is never captured by our words.
Another stutterer taught me a great deal about truth and words. I first met this particular colleague in one of my first classes at theological seminary. I had very little experience with stutterers although in those days I often stammered when trying to express myself in words. At first I misjudged my colleague. I thought that words themselves were more difficult for him - as if his brain somehow couldn’t come up with the right word to express the meaning he wanted to speak. After learning and sharing with him for a while, however, I realized that stuttering is not a matter of not having the words. He had all of the words, they just wouldn’t always come out. When he stuttered, he knew exactly what he wanted to say and did not need my help in finding the word.
He taught me a more important lesson as well. We too often use too many words. In some ways the challenge of getting the words out made him a more effective speaker because he had to limit the number of words and use his words with care. I often treat words as if there was an unlimited supply. When I am not being clear, I add more words in an effort to explain. I craft sentence after sentence when perhaps silence is a much more appropriate response.
It is this economy of words that the poets know best and for which I am convinced that reading poetry is an important discipline for one who writes essays. Sometimes fewer words communicate better than many words.
While the truth cannot be captured by our words - it is always beyond - it does not follow that our words are somehow unimportant. Words can make all the difference in the world. Words may fall sort of capturing the glory of God, but God is incarnated in the beauty of language. The prologue to the Gospel of John says it best: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it.”
Words that are embodied - that become flesh - carry truth. We, of course, embody our words in actions. Even for a preacher it is insufficient to speak the truth. We are called to live the truth.
It is true that actions speak louder than words. But saying those words does not constitute telling the truth. To engage the truth we must reach beyond the words.
The best our words can do is to point toward that which is beyond.
And then there is talking. I am, after all, a preacher. I use words as my primary instrument for leading worship. Often I rely heavily on the words of the ancients. There is great beauty in words that have revealed meaning for many generations of people. At other times I try to create fresh combinations of words to prove expressions that are unique to our circumstances.
My world is so filled with words that I often become confused about the meaning and power of words. Sometimes a simple trip to the dictionary can ease the confusion. The other night I was working on some training materials for the Sheriff’s Office. In a document that I had previously written I found the word “diffuse” when I meant “defuse.” The difference in the homonyms is fairly easy. Defuse means to make more safe. The classic example is defusing a bomb. In the old days of bombs with fuses that were lit and burned toward the concentrated explosives, removing the fuse from the bomb prevented it from being ignited. In a more modern setting, defusing a bomb involves understanding the electronics and preventing the electricity from getting to the ignition. Diffuse means to spread out. The document on which I was working was discussing defusing as an informal process that surrounds the formal process of debriefing after a critical or potentially traumatic incident. We defuse to increase safety. The process helps to avoid potentially dangerous physical and psychological symptoms that come with stress that is not properly managed.
Then I realized that both defusing and diffusing are helpful in the process. By spreading out the knowledge of the incident and its effects, the community is able to absorb more violence than any individual. Defusing is also diffusing - spreading out the knowledge and information within the community.
I could keep going on and on but I think I’ve made my point that clarity and meaning can emerge when we think about and wrestle with words.
But there are other errors I make with words. Probably the biggest mistake that I make on a regular basis is to think that words can contain the truth. I was reminded of that fact last night when I read an essay by Dr. Alan Rabinowitz, one of the world’s leading big cat experts and a leader in habitat conservation. It happens that Dr. Rabinowitz is a stutterer, a reality that in no way diminishes his contributions as a scholar and researcher. He wrote, “the truth of the world, the reality, is not defined by the spoken word.”
It is critical for theologians to remember this important truth. There is an external reality that is beyond our words. God is not contained in our writings about God. We can use words to seek the truth, but the truth is never captured by our words.
Another stutterer taught me a great deal about truth and words. I first met this particular colleague in one of my first classes at theological seminary. I had very little experience with stutterers although in those days I often stammered when trying to express myself in words. At first I misjudged my colleague. I thought that words themselves were more difficult for him - as if his brain somehow couldn’t come up with the right word to express the meaning he wanted to speak. After learning and sharing with him for a while, however, I realized that stuttering is not a matter of not having the words. He had all of the words, they just wouldn’t always come out. When he stuttered, he knew exactly what he wanted to say and did not need my help in finding the word.
He taught me a more important lesson as well. We too often use too many words. In some ways the challenge of getting the words out made him a more effective speaker because he had to limit the number of words and use his words with care. I often treat words as if there was an unlimited supply. When I am not being clear, I add more words in an effort to explain. I craft sentence after sentence when perhaps silence is a much more appropriate response.
It is this economy of words that the poets know best and for which I am convinced that reading poetry is an important discipline for one who writes essays. Sometimes fewer words communicate better than many words.
While the truth cannot be captured by our words - it is always beyond - it does not follow that our words are somehow unimportant. Words can make all the difference in the world. Words may fall sort of capturing the glory of God, but God is incarnated in the beauty of language. The prologue to the Gospel of John says it best: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it.”
Words that are embodied - that become flesh - carry truth. We, of course, embody our words in actions. Even for a preacher it is insufficient to speak the truth. We are called to live the truth.
It is true that actions speak louder than words. But saying those words does not constitute telling the truth. To engage the truth we must reach beyond the words.
The best our words can do is to point toward that which is beyond.