Words

Words are important, not just spoken words but written words. Which came first, words or concepts? If there is no word for a concept is the concept real? Recently a friend posted on Facebook a question that her nephew asked. “If a person is born deaf, what language do they think in?” In such a case, I wonder if words are not words at all they are concepts. Remember the amazing, true story of blind and deaf Helen Keller, The Miracle Worker? When I first saw that film starring Patty Duke, I thought how impossible it must have felt for Helen to not even understand that there are words to convey concepts. Her only way to communicate was with her behavior which was incorrigible and often violent. Until that miraculous day when her teacher, Annie Sullivan finally got through to her that concepts and realities like water had corresponding words. Annie was then able to teach Helen sign language into the palm of her hand. Under Annie’s tutelage, Helen remarkably learned to vocalize words and even enjoy music! Amazing miracles in the life of Helen Keller.

Helen wrote, “I had no concepts whatever of nature or mind or death or God. I literally thought with my body. Without a single exception my memories of that time are tactile. . . . But there is not one spark of emotion or rational thought in these distinct yet corporeal memories. I was like an unconscious clod of earth. There was nothing in me except the instinct to eat and drink and sleep. My days were a blank without past, present, or future, without hope or anticipation, without interest or joy. Then suddenly, I knew not how or where or when, my brain felt the impact of another mind, and I awoke to language, to knowledge, to love, to the usual concepts of nature, good, and evil. I was actually lifted from nothingness to human life.” Helen Keller, Light in My Darkness

What brought meaning into Helen’s existence? Words. Words didn’t change her reality, she was still, deaf and blind. But words brought her life. The Bible says in the Gospel of John there was no reality without the Word, the Word was in the beginning, without the Word nothing was made. The Word spoke and everything we know as reality came into being. The Word brought light into the darkness. Like the title of Helen Keller’s book Light in My Darkness. The Word then became a human being, in the body of Jesus Christ, God’s precious Son.

There is no wonder why I am fascinated with words. Not just any words but the Word, the Word of God. I am fascinated with the concept of having a relationship with, The Word. The Word of God is alive, it is powerful because He is powerful. Meditating on God’s Word is not the same as picking out a certain word from a passage of scripture and repeating it over and over in your mind. Meditate on the meaning of the word, the concept of the word the reality of the concept. Meditate on the person-hood of the Word of God.

Over the years there have been many Biblical words that have caught my attention, single words and words in phrases. Preachers often go to the original language to pull out greater nuances of words that are found in the passage they are preaching on. I don’t think of myself as a Bible scholar, but I love to learn the etymology of Biblical words. My fascination with words in the Bible has more to do with trying to understand how a specific word or phrase reflects the nature of God. How might this word (the meaning of it, the concept of it, the reality of it) enhance my relationship with God?

Today, I had in mind to write just a paragraph or two on three words. I was going to title this post “R” Words Redemption, Restoration and Relationship. But then I got caught up in the word WORD. Here you have the results. I intend for the next few blog posts to be reflections on several “R” words. However, I have to admit that once I pray that God would guide my words while writing he often takes me in a complete different direction. I love that about writing, letting it take me off into a world of musing. So, which came first, words or concepts? My conclusion, The Word. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1

Stay tuned, and if you are so led, mention it to others who might be interested in the musings of a wannabe writer who aspires to bring glory to God through whatever I write.