Let us pray,
God be in my head — and in my understanding
God be in my eyes — and in my looking
God be in my mouth — and in my speaking (Repeat 10X)
God be in my heart — and in my thinking
God be at my end — and in my departing.
Words. Words. Words. They can draw us to the highest heights, inspire, coax, compliment, express love, and bring us together. They can also do irreparable damage. We are often afraid to have a “hard” conversation, especially with someone we care about, for fear of doing permanent damage.
Guidance for our speech
For our third line, in the third week of our Lenten journey, we examine the power of speech in its many forms. When we struggle, the Rev. Ken Wilson encourages us to look to our Creator, the one who first breathed life into us, for guidance, comfort, and usually a taming of what we really want to say.
In his book, God be in my Head: the Sarum Prayer, Ken eloquently describes the divine nature of our communication:
This capacity of ours for speech, for uttering an aural code that transplants thoughts from one private mind to another, is a marvel. A wonder. A boundary-expanding spiritual thing if spiritual things are infused among us in our ordinary existence… Maybe speaking is more than a skill. Maybe it’s a gift we’ve been given, a gift of our humanity, a reflection of the One whose image we are. That being the case, turning to this Other-than-Ourselves is one of the most sensible and natural things we might do (48-49, my emphasis).
We can tie that gift back to our Creator when we don’t know what to say, or when we’re afraid that what we’ll say will be something we cannot take back. Ken refers to making this connection in order to speak sacred words. He notes that “[i]nspired speaking has nothing to do with elegance, erudition, or possession of a ‘whopper vocabulary.’” He humorously notes that not having to get it said perfectly is a relief for him. Me, too (54).
Jesus said, “Out of the fullness of the heart, the mouth speaks.”
Speaking from a heart full of joy, compassion, love, encouragement, etc., has so much more power than the most articulate of orators (55).
Speaking up even when we don’t want to or are afraid
Another highlight from Ken’s wonderful observations about our speaking has to do with speaking up when something is wrong (57). It is so easy to stay silent even when we know we should not because something is wrong — bad wrong. I dare say we have all had that experience. This is where relying on the Holy Spirit will help us know what to say when it needs saying. That’s how Moses and Aaron dealt with the intimidating experience of confronting Pharaoh about ending slavery of the Israelites.
The chatterbox
Ken maintains, and I wholeheartedly agree, that we must learn to silence our internal chatterbox — that negative voice in our head that discourages or disempowers us. The chatterbox can also host our negative and unpleasant thoughts about others. Ken rightly asks, “How is the chatter affecting us? What sort of inner paths is our inner speaking carving out in our inner landscapes? (57)”
Word efficiency
Just as many of us aspire to being more succinct in our speaking, I will leave us here to ponder, “God be in my mouth — and in my speaking.”
Blessings on your Lenten journey.+
