The Power of Words

 Words have the power to flow like liquid sunshine into the shadows of our hearts.

 The perennial test, to decide whether a person is a pessimist or an optimist is to show them a glass of water similar to the photo and ask them to describe it. They will answer either that the glass is half full or half empty. This exercise seems ridiculous at first glance but our answers really are telling and can give us a wake-up call.

Do I wear clear, rose or mud coloured eye glasses when I look around? Therapists believe that failure to recognize our foibles and faults is 90% of our problems. If we are brave enough to look at ourselves with clear, fully transparent eye glasses, we can change. When we are desperate enough, we take our feet off the brakes that prevent inner growth and jump-start a process that takes on a life of its own.

Words, especially descriptive words are powerful. What comes out of our mouthes really does help bring sunshine or shadows into our lives and those around us. Even without applying cognitive therapy, by simply catching ourselves using overly negative adjectives, we really can change our emotional reactions to life. Let’s pay attention to the words that come out of our mouths, especially to our children. We are helping shape not only our future but the future of the next generation.

 Words have the power to flow like liquid sunshine into the shadows of our hearts.

Ant Like Behaviour

I have often thought that much of my life resembles the life of an ant, a worker ant, not the queen.

Ants scurry about, eyes trained on the ground in front of them, hauling loads of food that are bigger than they are. They are completely oblivious to the world around them, fixated solely their own tiny society. Often this narrow viewpoint leads to disastrous results, with whole colonies wiped out of existence when the macrocosm surrounding them crashes into their little world.

Unfortunately, it is impossible to communicate with an ant, or to warn an ant of danger. Any offer of help frightens them because an ant perceives anything that intrudes into their microcosm as a threat. I cannot help an ant because I cannot communicate with him.

I have often thought that much our life resembles the life of an ant. I run around busy with tasks, keeping my nose to the proverbial grindstone, oblivious to the realities of the rest of human society never mind the universe.

When nature or the Spirit tries to break through to help me, I panic, feel threatened and run away, returning to labour in my little microcosm where I feel safe. ..My earnest striving is counter productive because it isolates me from larger realities that surround me.

Fortunately, God is better at communicating with me than I am at communicating with ants. He only needs a sliver of an opening in my heart, a quick glance in His direction or a fleeting thought to make a connection with me. In fact God became one with all of us, in a sense he became the equivalent of an ant, so He could speak, touch, love and become visible to”ants” on earth.

So everyday, I am choosing to turn to God and break out of my ant behaviour. He has healed me enough. I AM free enough to choose now