Abstract
The Gift of Words
I have a new favorite word. The word is “recombobulation.” As in “Recombobulation Area”. In the airport in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, there is a large sign hanging above the area on the other side of security screening. It says, Recombobulation Area. 1 There are a few benches, places to sit and collect yourself after the discombobulation of going through security. If you’ve flown in the United States in the past few years, you know the drill. Take your laptop out of its case, take out your Ziploc bag of liquids and gels in three-ounces-or-less containers, take off your sweater and your shoes, and put all these pieces of your life into those grey plastic bins. Push your grey plastic bins onto the belt, go through the metal detector or full body scanner, then stand barefoot waiting for your belongings to come out the other side. Wonder if it’s your bag that’s holding up the line. Wonder if you left a bottle of water in your bag, if you accidentally brought a pair of scissors, a tube of toothpaste, a knitting needle. Wait until you can grab your things from the bins before more bins and anxious people pile up behind you. The experience can be discombobulating, to say the least.
But in Milwaukee’s airport, you look up and see a sign and a place to go get recombobulated. The word “recombobulation” isn’t actually in any of the standard published dictionaries - yet. The security screeners in Milwaukee put it up as kind of a joke, a friendly gesture to acknowledge that they know what the security screening process can feel like.
I like the word “recombobulation” because I think it works outside the airport too. We all need recombobulation areas, places to go where we can sit, get our bearings, see if we have what we need, after a death, after sadness, bad news, a stressful day. A place to get reoriented for the next part of our journey. I think that one of the things church is, is a recombobulation area. If we take the time, we get the pieces of our lives back, purified, a chance to rest, reorient, think about where we’re heading, note that we are not travelling alone. A kind word, a smile, some patience, some humor, and some help make the journey easier for everyone.
I’m talking about my new favorite word here because our epistle reading from James is about the power of words, the power of our speech, our tongue. “From the same mouth,” writes James, “comes blessing and cursing.” James relates the tongue to the rudder of a ship: so small, yet directing the course of the whole vessel. How will we use our tongues, our words? To bless? To curse?
The Letter of James is about Christian practices – the ways we live our faith, put our faith into action. James writes, “Be doers of the word, not hearers only.” So today, we take the time to think about the power of our words and invite you to put into practice some wisdom about words that helps us in our Christian journey. I’m going to offer three things to do in response to today’s epistle lesson.
So here’s the first practice to try: say something. Use your power of speech for good. To build up. To offer hope. It makes a difference. What if the only words we spoke or wrote to another were words we truly offer as a gift, words we intend to have only a positive outcome? Marilyn Chandler McEntyre writes, “to ‘converse’ originally meant to live among or together … to foster community, to commune with … Conversation is an exchange of gifts. Native American tribal wisdom teaches that when you encounter a person on your life path, you must seek to find out what gifts you have for one another so that you may exchange them before going your separate ways … We come into one another’s presence bearing whatever harvest of experience the day has offered, and we foster relationship by making a gift of what we have received.” 2 We have a tremendous power, as James says, to use our speech to praise God and bless one another.
So - Practice 1: Say something. Say something kind. Say something gracious. Say something beautiful. Who needs to hear something good from you? Who needs some encouragement that you have within your power, simply by having a voice and a tongue, a pen and some paper, text messaging, any means of verbal communication, to give?
Here’s practice 2: Say nothing. Our mouths do not come with a backspace key. Words spoken in anger, words spoken to hurt, words spoken thoughtlessly, or to build oneself up at the expense of another, words spoken to curse or belittle – don’t say them. James writes, “How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire.” A mother made this comment to her adult daughter: “My dear, you’ve missed so many opportunities to say nothing.” 3 There are times we need to listen, more than we need to talk. There are times when words cannot express what our hearts feel, and our presence is the best gift we can offer. Sometimes, say nothing.
Practice 3: Commit some beautiful words to memory. Memorize some good words. Put something in your mind that can help shape your heart, shape your future, accompany you, help you get recombobulated. Memorizing words has gotten a bad rap lately, but think of all the words that are in our heads that others worked really hard to put there: advertizing jingles, things our parents always said. As one saint said, ‘What’s in our head shapes what’s in our hearts’. This week, try it: memorize a verse from scripture or a prayer. Just one. Find some words that can keep you company this week, that will bless you or be a blessing to others.
An experience that has touched me deeply in ministry has been to do services at nursing homes. Sometimes people have such struggles, are so disconnected with what is going on around them, so unable to communicate. But then, we will sing a favorite hymn, and all the words come flooding back. We say the Lord’s Prayer, and suddenly speech is clear and strong. We say the 23rd Psalm, and words flow, reconnecting the person with the love that someone taught them is the truest, most eternal thing. “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want …” A statement. A promise. Words of blessing. Words someone may be longing to hear.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” This is how the Gospel of John begins, describing Jesus Christ. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Christ the Word incarnate came to give us life and freedom, so that our words might participate in God’s ongoing creation in the world, bringing light into darkness, bringing hope, healing, joy.
Say something. Say nothing. Give yourself the gift of words to hold in your mind and shape your heart. May God bless our words.
