There were words in the wind.
For those who could hear them, they spoke compellingly, softly, insistently; sometimes clear, sometimes just beyond reach, they were always there. They rustled through the leaves in autumn, blew across prairie grasses, howled over desert sands. They rattled and sighed as they left the bodies and bones of the old ones, or sparked life into the wails of newborn babies. The words were active, creative, breathing life still into the world, guided by the thought and will of the Word speaker.
The darkness was also present. It cast its clawing, fearful shadow across the lands. In it was the utter silence of the crypt, the hollow, empty places buried far below the ground in caverns where the air is stale and cold, and mountains of granite press down from above. It was the lonely, suffocating silence in the middle of the night when all one's fears come to life.
Words. Breath. Life. Silence and darkness. Death.
Few had the power to hear the words on the wind; even fewer had the power to breathe it in, focus it, comprehend it, and breathe it out again as the language of power, of growth, of life. But the words were calling Will. They had a purpose for him, and others from different places and times, but he didn't know it yet.
2 comments:
I finally read your answer to my comment from 2 posts ago and feel compelled to answer. Having things in common with people you grew up with. Was it a weakness for me to not relate to them? I always felt that it was but the catch is, if I would have celebrated my own stregnths instead of trying to fit in with these people, my life may have been much different. Well, I guess everything happens for a reason, but this has been the a bit struggle for me, it was very defining.
I like what you wrote in this post too. If I go back and read it again so that I can make a more relevant comment, I will lose this one. I find the concept that the word is God very interesting. I also find the concept that words are what create reality interesting. I suppose these are the same ideas from different angles.
BBE,
Great to hear from you again. I was thinking about the strengths/weaknesses of childhood, even after I responded to your last comment. In high school I saw people not care if they fit in any longer. They usually became the most interesting people. As I've gotten older, I've begun to feel that way as well: more comfortable in my own skin, happier with the things I enjoy, etc. I definitely think there's something to be said for finding our own voice and being the best us, not trying to be someone else. I think I saw it as a weakness in the sense that I could have also polished some rough edges sooner.
Thanks for catching the two ideas about words. I've always been fascinated by the "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God" in John 1. I tell my writing students that words have power. In some cultures words were seen as magical. Jewish cultures saw a blessing or curse as taking a life of its own, traveling around until it fulfilled what was said. Could words backfire? You bet.
There's also an idea, a bit postmodern, that believes that our words shape our reality, or how we see it (Sapir-Whorf theory). The theory has largely been discounted, but I still think it's interesting.
I'd like to keep playing with this idea, the power of words and their ability to shape/create the world around them, almost in a magical or supernatural sense, but also from the theological perspective that God spoke into the world and it was created. Take that idea further and what if there's ongoing creativity in those words if we know how to listen? What if this were part of the struggle between good and evil, the magic and power of words and how they impact creation/reality?
Post a Comment