What's in a Word?

What's in a Word? A Please, Thank You, My Pleasure? A Yes, No, Maybe. Never, Forever. Always.

Power. The power to heal a wound or slash anew. The power to start a war or make a peace. The power to renew lost love, mend a broken heart, seed a valley of hope where before was only a barren wasteland of sorrow.

The power to uplift, to destroy. To create.

Who has not felt the soaring elation when a Yes defeated the expectation of a dreaded rejection? The sinking of a million hopes by one single little word, definitively spoken. No. The resurrection of a thousand more at the sound of a tentative.........Maybe.

It's a power of which writers are aware, attempting more or less consciously to tap into, to shape and to mould, to procure an image in the readers mind; the emotional response and the emphatic understanding they seek to convey. It is a power of sensory perception, and the use of words an exploration in consciousness, cause and effect - the subconscious need driving every artistic and creative endeavour.

It is a power of neutral charge, subject to a different power, the power of intention; in skillful hands it may be used equally well for good or for evil. And yet, and yet.......the power of a word can invoke the power of Grace, grace in the most mundane, every day words - Please, Thank You, You're Welcome - and elevate them, alone or in the company of an eloquent gesture, to the realm of some otherworldly language where Love resides and Grace blesses with free abandon.

A grace that exists just beyond the reach of our fingertips but informs our kindest words, our most sincere efforts, our moments of naked thoughtfulness devoid of agenda. A grace that culture upon culture has sought to emulate through cultivated manners and codes of conduct. A grace that lends a touch of sweetness to bitter times and pours oil upon the often tempestuous waters we must navigate in our busy, busy lives......

So why today do we scoff at the notion of such manners and codes of conduct? Have we so lost touch with the little things that make the difference, the power of a word, the beauty of a gesture, and the miracle for which they make way  - the subtle exchange of Grace betweeen two sentient beings, an infusion, however slight, of Love between people who may or may not ever meet again.

Some call it a lie, but this is a misunderstanding. A word offered in ignorance may mean little to the speaker, a door held open in simple respect just a habit - but it can be an offer of dignity where little has been found, a touch of kindness a rainstorm in a desert long left untouched by a single drop. And those who understand the power in a word, in a gesture, understand it is Love and Grace in little packages, hand delivered by messengers who sometimes do not even know the precious content of their parcel. Which, of course, makes it all the more precious.