Sticks and stones...

This thought started weaving through my mind early this morning as I began to wake up. I have a feeling this may take a while. Bear with me.
As kids we had all heard and most likely said, "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me." Even as those words came out my mouth as a child I knew better. Words are powerful!
In the first chapter of Genesis, there are 11 quotes of God speaking. Most of them, "And God said..." The world began with words spoken by God. The sun, the moon, the stars, the earth, the water, the land, the plants, the animals...all spoken into existence.
John's gospel starts with, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."
I am not so presumptuous to believe my words have the same power as God's. I do not have the ability to create life into existence only by speaking it, but I do have the power to make or break someone's day. We all do.
The words I/we choose can have an enormous impact. I know I am not the only one who believes this. A while ago, my friend Kelly shared a story about how her coach's encouraging word following a swim meet made the whole difference in how she felt that day. It still impacts her years later. Another friend, Lor, shared a vulnerable moment in which she realized that the things she said during her son's wrestling match really bothered her. (YOU ARE NOT ALONE, LOR!) Jeff almost banned me from A.J.'s soccer games a couple of years ago. We can compare tapes later. Dennis, my pastor, spoke just today about the importance of the "red-letter" vs. "black-letter" words in the Bible. (Anyone wishing to hear it can go to www.churchofrockrun.com for the podcast for today.)
The things we say can help someone feel comforted, beautiful, loved, encouraged, important, proud...
On the other hand the things we say can also make someone resentful, rejected, small, unloved, hurt...
So much for "sticks and stones." They may be able to break bones, but words have the power to cut deep or to heal.
I am going to leave this thought here for now. Another thing about words is sometimes there are just too many.