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Use Your Words
Why does political debate not lead to better understanding?
They build, and they destroy. They define concepts. Words construct our world.
Words birth revelations and revolutions. They redirect and revitalize ideas. Hearts are moved and minds are changed by words. The motive force behind words is meaning. It is meaning that distinguishes the word from noise.
Words shape the space within the mind. One who says, “I am a religious man,” is reinforcing a complex and desperately needed view of himself. One who reflects upon, “the world is filled with sorrow,” is not identifying a provable premise but is instead nurturing an inner despair which may be expressed outwardly, but may only be experienced by that one individual: others may despair but not like she has despaired. The words of the outer world influence the unseen inner world.
The power of words is maintained by the human race. The meanings of words will change over time as they are adjusted by those who use them. An older person may suggest that “that event should be taped,” even though we no longer put sound or images on magnetic tape. An astute millennial will say instead that the event should be “recorded,” a much clearer and more inclusive word than the far-too-specific “tape.” In time “tape” as a synonym for “record” will be recounted only by…
