The Power of Words in Communication

To the People of God,

There’s a National Public Radio program that I like to listen to on my way home from church on Sundays. It is called “A Way With Words” which “examines language through culture, history, and family. . . [the hosts] talk with callers who have questions and stories about linguistics, old sayings, word histories, etymology, regional dialects, slang, new words, word play, word games, grammar, family expressions, books, literature, writing, and more.”(1) It is a fun way to learn about language and as you can imagine the conversations are quite lively and always filled with facts.

During my high school days, students were required to take Afrikaans and English as either a first or second language, and then choose a foreign language. I chose three years of Latin over French. German and Spanish came during my college and seminary days. [Side-bar: By the way, my all-time favorite language is German. What languages have you studied and which one is your favorite?] I bring up the topic of words because words are the primary means of communicating with one another. We string them together to make sentences, and poof, we understand each other.

Recently, I’ve been thinking about the word, “and.” As we know from grammar class, it is a conjunctive. Standing alone this word seems very lonely, but joining with words, phrases and sentences, so much joy, love, and excitement can be brought together. The word “and” is an important word. Think about it. I am a woman, a wife, a daughter, a cousin, an aunt, grandmother and I am a Christian.

Fr. Richard Rohr, founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation, reminded me of the importance of this word in his blog for this past Tuesday. He states, “we are activists and contemplatives.”(2) as disciples in the Jesus Movement working with those in our outreach programs. He also states that as a result of our involvement in outreach, we reap the benefits of the encounters when we reflect on those interactions. We are nurtured and received so much more when we minister to others. Having a mindset of contemplation allows us to base our actions in Christian values which can help us discern and determine how to respond in the reality of today’s world. How is your life defined with the word “and?”

Blessings,

Rev. Anne

Citation:

1. https://www.whqr.org/show/a-way-with-words

2. Richard Rohr, “The Prophet-Mystic”, The Center for Action and Contemplation, 2/4/2025. https://cac.org/daily-meditations/the-prophet-mystic/