Speech

“We are looking or listening here for speech that will affirm and open the way to life, for a speech that can be playful and not just useful, for words that disturb and change us not because they threaten but because they ‘fit’ a reality we are just beginning to discern.  If communities of faith took language this seriously, they would be extraordinary signs of transformation.”

–Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury
Where God Happens: Discovering Christ in One Another
New Seeds Books, Shambhala Publications, Inc.
(c) 2005 for A World Community of Christian Meditation

Williams writes this in the middle of a section on fleeing from the tongue, from one’s own mouth and words.  He equates silence with those moments when the sun is rising and we don’t want to say anything for fear of ruining the beauty.  He also relates fleeing and silence to the process of writing poetry.  Truly, I have seen poets wait in long bouts of silence for the most direct, most penetrating words in order to miss triteness and hit truth.  This is a stark reminder to me to be ever thoughtful of my speech so that I can indeed be blessed with new reality for myself and my neighbors as my days proceed.