Ah, words.

These beautiful little building blocks of conversation. They hold the power to beat down, lift up, honor, discourage, confuse, portray and tell a story. Words are such a creative and wonderful gift with which to communicate. We can use them lazily or efficiently.

We think them, throw them at people (or in expletive cases, at inanimate objects), dream them, ponder them, learn from them, ignore them. We dissect them, analyze them, worry about them and, at times, receive our lifeblood from them.

And throw in the tone in which they're given or received, the attitude to which they're attached, and you've got a virtual smorgasbord of material to critique.

Words have changed nations, history, lives and self-esteems. And an individual letter can alter a meaning.

I just started reading Brendan by Frederick Buechner and found this nugget this morning...

Beg not, refuse not, she said. One step forward each day was the way to the Land of the Blessed. Don't eat till your stomach cries out. Don't sleep till you can't stay awake. Don't open your mouth till it's the truth opens it.

As we make our way through the days, my hope is that I will consider every
dotted 'i' and crossed 't' to mine the truth from the untruth.