Just Words

“For it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.” – Luke 6: 45

There’s a popular wisdom that says words don’t matter. It’s actions that are important. You hear it in expressions like, “It’s not what you say, but what you do that counts,” or “Your actions speak so loud, I can’t hear what you’re saying.”

Yes . . . and no. Of course, what we do matters. But so, too, do our words and their integrity. Words may seem fragile yet be surprisingly powerful. Which is what I had in mind in writing this poem, “Just Words.”

They are just words
Not hard things, like guns
Not precious, as gold
But ink on paper
Lines, this way and that
Or sounds invisible, vapors

Words – how many fly, fall, are carelessly flung in a day, in a minute
We are as wanton with words as the dandelion with its winged seed.
But just words are sometimes
The best we have
Sometimes all we have,
And even all we need.

A right word
A true word
A sharpened word
A clean word
A graceful word

Is all we need
To create the world again.

Prayer

O God, whose Word called the worlds into being, may our words which flow from our hearts call into being faith, hope and love. 

About the Author
Tony Robinson, a United Church of Christ minister, is a speaker, teacher, and writer. His newest book is Called to Lead: Paul’s Letters to Timothy for a New Day. You can read Tony’s “Weekly Meditation” and “What’s Tony Thinking?” at his website, www.anthonybrobinson.com.