The Gift
of Language
“May
my musings be pleasing to him.” (Psalm 104:34 NJB)
As far as I know, human beings are the only
creatures that use language. I'd have to be Dr. Doolittle to know how much
animals comprehend, but, though they use and understand sounds and signals,
they do not seem to understand language as such.
I say to our dog, "Do you want to go riding in
the car?" She wags her tail and runs to the back door. What awakens her
interest is the sound of the word "car." If I say, we’ll go riding in
the car tomorrow," she will still run to the back door. The subtleties of
language—words, grammar, and syntax—make no sense to her. They do, however, to
us.
Have you ever considered the sheer power of
language? We conceive an abstract thought, connect that thought to a word and
communicate by means of ordered written or spoken symbols. The symbols are
arbitrary—I may think "dog" or "perro" or "hund"
depending on my native language—but assuming a common understanding of the
meaning of those symbols, I can communicate a series of abstract ideas in my
mind to others. The process for my communicants is exactly the reverse: they
hear and understand my words and turn them into thoughts that become part of
their thought processes.
That’s a blessing and a curse of course. Bitter,
angry thoughts can become harsh words that leave indelible marks on another
person’s soul. On the other hand, kind thoughts about others and the words that
convey those thoughts can bring healing and wholeness. Is it not a wonderful
thing to cast a hopeful thought into someone's mind?
Jesus
said, “The good man brings good things out of the
good stored up in his heart (mind), and the evil man brings evil things out of
the evil stored up in his (mind). For out of the overflow of his (mind) his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45).
Words
are formed in our thoughts deep within us. Good words come from the good in us;
evil words flow from the evil thoughts we’ve accumulated in our minds. If we
want to deal with our words it’s not enough to control our words; we’ve got to
get our minds right.
I think of those occasions
when I have spoken in harshness. The root of my sin was the ugly thought in my
mind: I was angry with my brother and unwilling to forgive. Words flowed spontaneously and unrehearsed from my thoughts.
How then
can I get my words right? Not by merely controlling my tongue, but by filling my
mind with God’s thoughts—thinking about my brother as God thinks about him.
That said, I do well to fill my mind with God’s thoughts about his children: “thoughts
that are true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not
the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse”
(Philippians 4:8 The Message).
DHR
