In many ways, the most powerful place in any community is not the police station, the electric company, or the military base, but the public library!
The power of words is undeniable. Words can inspire us, challenge us, discourage us, or scar us. If you and I were asked to recall a spoken word that cut us deeply as a child, we could most likely do so within a few seconds; in moments, the entire setting and mood of the hurtful incident would come flooding back into our emotional landscape. On the other hand, we could also easily remember those choice words from a parent or teacher that blossomed us, gave us hope, or inspired us to press on toward higher achievement. Words carry great power.
When we are young, words from authorities bore special meaning. As a parent, I have become keenly aware of how my words can make or break my child’s day. But as we grow older, we often grow numb to the affect of words in our lives, perhaps due to busyness, or maybe self-protection. Though some self-protection is necessary as we grow with experience, I cannot help but feel that our layers of emotional scar tissue keep us from the blessed inspiration and stirring insights that may be the vehicle for great change in our lives. My most dramatic life lessons have taken place, both drastically and subtly, through the words of God and others written or spoken in my times of struggle or trial. Sometimes tracking me down. Other times patiently hanging out within a familiar text and turning on gradually like a small light in a darkened room. Mulled over within my head and heart, savored, relished, prayed about, acted upon.
One of my favorite authors speaks with great passion of how his life was forever changed in a revolutionary way while standing, in all places, within a used bookstore. He was in graduate school at the time, and one afternoon he walked into an old used bookstore simply to browse. He happened to pick up a torn copy of C.S. Lewis’ book, Reflection on the Psalms, and begin reading at random. One particular paragraph in Lewis’ book—an explanation of what true fulfillment is all about– shot off of the page, piercing his mind and heart like a laser. He said his life path was forever changed by this encounter. All stirred through the intense power of good words!
As a lover of history, I have always admired a passion for the lessons and ways of the past. In fact, I never enjoyed history as a subject in high school, primarily because it was conveyed yawningly by some teachers who believed the dutiful memorization of dates and political figures constituted the entirety of historical treasure. But, in my first year of college as a chemistry major, I took a large, generally-required class in American history and my academic life changed. Why? The professor loved history, with a joyful passion. For Dr. Goldberg, It was the words of those in the past, the stirring actions, the ways of living, that intrigued and challenged us in the present. I promptly switched my major to history and have been an avid fan ever since. One of my favorite movies is National Treasure. In the movie, Benjamin Franklin Gates, a history-loving treasure hunter steals the Declaration of Independence to save it from another, ruthless treasure seeker who may destroy the Declaration if he gets it first. At one point in the film, Ben, played by Nicolas Cage, quotes with awe-inspiring passion one of the famous lines from the Declaration. It is refreshing to see such a love for good words portrayed on the screen today. Being stirred by true and good words is inspiring. And rare. Do we allow pain from the past, busyness in the present, and apathy and fatigue rob us of the joy and inspiration found in good words? Join me in hunting down words that shape us today.
