Thought for Today

Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.  

Micah 6:8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Matthew 5:21 "You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, 'You shall not murder'; and 'whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.' 22 But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, 'You fool,' you will be liable to the hell of fire.  

“We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” (Preamble to the Constitution of the United States)

Somewhere recently (television? book?) I encountered the phrase “Words matter!” Words do matter in every arena of life. I suspect I am not the only child who was told often and emphatically, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” It is a nice sentiment. It did discourage my younger self to ignore slurs and insults, to eschew retaliation for them and to pursue my goals undeterred by the discouraging words of others. However, the truth of life is that words can and do hurt.

We are currently in the midst of a celebratory year in our nation’s history. We have also just heard the opening salvos of the first battles of our mid-term election campaigns. Sadly, campaign advertisements seem to always include ‘obligatory’ negative words and ideas.

The trend seems to me to have become even more prominent during my adulthood. I did once read, however, an article by a historian claiming that the most negative political campaign in U.S.A. history was the presidential campaign of 1800 when Jefferson ran against and defeated John Adams. The campaign was vicious and virulent enough to wreak  a close personal relationship between those 2 Founding Fathers. Sadly, that relationship did not mend until shortly before they both died on July 4, 1826.

Words do matter. This 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding is an appropriate occasion to reflect on those words of the Preamble, maybe especially “a more perfect Union.”  Is the Union of today perfect? From all of the negative advertisements, from all of the political ‘blather’ we read and hear, our Union is extremely imperfect  . . . and can only be made “more perfect” by supporting this or that cause and candidate.

Accuse me of being a skeptic it you will, I am definitely skeptical of almost everything I observe, hear or read about politics. I am acutely aware of the size of both of our nation’s legislative bodies and wonder how a single representative or senator can singlehandedly enact any piece of legislation. Neither do I honestly believe that either of our political parties can singlehandedly repair the divisions in our country.

Words do matter. I see the same issues of negativity and contentious language in everyday life. I read and hear hurtful words offered carelessly and thoughtlessly with little or no regard for their impact on the recipient or observer. In fact, much of what I observe suggests to me that our society is encouraging (demanding?) more misogynistic and damaging rhetoric.

I wish we all would adopt the practice of offering that prayer from Psalm 19 before we say or write anything. I wish we could make every politician read Matthew 5. I wish we all could focus our lives on Micah 6:8 and devote our selves, our resources and our energies to justice, kindness and humility. That would make our Union much more perfect!

Let your heart meditate on the words of God, think before you speak or write, trust God,

Pastor Ray