No Words
Sometimes, there are just not enough words. Emotion swells within us, and mere words cannot begin to express our deepest thoughts and feelings. I think that's why God has given us tears and hugs and music. When words fail us, we still have effective ways to communicate with each other and with God, himself.
Of everything that God created, only people have been given the ability to speak. Most plants are unable to generate any sounds on their own, and most species of animals utter only one or two characteristic sounds. The words of human beings set us apart from the other living things in our world.
With all of the words that humans can speak, you would think that words would be enough. I am amazed when I think about how instantaneously and effortlessly the human brain can communicate its thoughts, stringing appropriate sounds together to make words and sentences that make sense to the people around us. A newborn child communicates only though crying, but within just a few months, he begins to produce a few basic words, and by the age of three, most children can speak fluently, in sentences. Yet, when words fail them, children resort again to tears and tantrums; parents understand those primitive forms of communication quite well.
When I sit down to write this blog, the words flow from my brain to my fingertips and onto the computer screen almost effortlessly. I don't often think about the process involved in writing, any more than I think about my speech as I open my mouth to let the words come out. When I write, I can check an online dictionary or thesaurus when I am unable to come up with the exact word I'm looking for to make my point. But, as I speak, the words flow freely; I rarely have to stop and say, "Wait! My brain is scanning my inner thesaurus for just the right word!" (Oh, wait! Maybe that's what happens when I stutter!)
I rarely remember to thank God for the gift of words, and, when words fail me, for the gifts of tears and touch, which sometimes express my inmost feelings better than words. And then, there is music, which can add untold expression to the lyrics, the words that make up the center of a song. Music can express feelings that mere words can barely illustrate. There is something about music that makes our spirits soar.
Words are a wonderful gift from God. But God knew that words would not always be enough, so he gave us something more--he gave us the immeasurable gift of music.
Of everything that God created, only people have been given the ability to speak. Most plants are unable to generate any sounds on their own, and most species of animals utter only one or two characteristic sounds. The words of human beings set us apart from the other living things in our world.
With all of the words that humans can speak, you would think that words would be enough. I am amazed when I think about how instantaneously and effortlessly the human brain can communicate its thoughts, stringing appropriate sounds together to make words and sentences that make sense to the people around us. A newborn child communicates only though crying, but within just a few months, he begins to produce a few basic words, and by the age of three, most children can speak fluently, in sentences. Yet, when words fail them, children resort again to tears and tantrums; parents understand those primitive forms of communication quite well.
When I sit down to write this blog, the words flow from my brain to my fingertips and onto the computer screen almost effortlessly. I don't often think about the process involved in writing, any more than I think about my speech as I open my mouth to let the words come out. When I write, I can check an online dictionary or thesaurus when I am unable to come up with the exact word I'm looking for to make my point. But, as I speak, the words flow freely; I rarely have to stop and say, "Wait! My brain is scanning my inner thesaurus for just the right word!" (Oh, wait! Maybe that's what happens when I stutter!)
I rarely remember to thank God for the gift of words, and, when words fail me, for the gifts of tears and touch, which sometimes express my inmost feelings better than words. And then, there is music, which can add untold expression to the lyrics, the words that make up the center of a song. Music can express feelings that mere words can barely illustrate. There is something about music that makes our spirits soar.
Words are a wonderful gift from God. But God knew that words would not always be enough, so he gave us something more--he gave us the immeasurable gift of music.
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