WORDS

     "In the beginning was the Word." One man said to another, "Word."  "I give you my word" has been a sign of honoring one's commitments and statements throughout the ages. Words are the pathways through life, be they spoken, written or signed. The first word is awaited with bated breath by parents. We express love through words - and hate. Today, a day of mourning by the Jewish people for the destruction of their Temples, is when they remember that words, words of hate, words of falsehood, words that divided the nation, was one of the main causes of the destruction itself.
     Throughout  history we have passed down the wisdom of the ages via words. These words were of even greater value when they told the honest and open truth about the people of these histories, for then we learned from them and hopefully, did not repeat these same errors. Words transmit the truth of society and a truly advanced society will have and defend the freedom of that speech, the use of words. Speech, in all its forms, words, in their various formats, are what can make us great or take us down. The Book of Revelations equated lying to idolatry and murder. Pretty heavy stuff. The value of truth in words plays a formative role in the trials and justice of mankind.
    So what do we do, then, when words are challenged or when they are used in a damaging and harmful way. Fact: Trump and his minions lie as easily and naturally as taking a breath. Fact: Their corrosive words eat through the fabric of our society, leaving great damage behind. Fact: Trump acts to demean and suppress free speech whenever and wherever possible. Fact: He has taken the next step of suppression of speech, of words, in his filing to revoke the certification of the National Association of Immigration Judges.
     Where does all this leave us? It leaves us in a tense and dangerous situation. That occurs when words are used to hide, to incite, to obfuscate, rather than to tell the truth. It changes our behavior and not for the good. Speech, articulation, is one of the blessings that elevates man, but at times we forget and must remember what Montaigne said. "Here we sit upon the highest throne in the world, yet here we sit upon our own tails."
     The choice is clear. It is a choice of our own making. What do we do with the privilege of words and what do we not do, for omission and commission are equally guilty. All this is within our power. We are either going to reach for the stars, use those words to be worthy of our high position in this world, or we are going to use the very same power of words to fall, to devolve, to imitate the cruelest beings in Nature - us.
     Words can be protective as well. We can learn from them as we study them, as we internalize the words of those who preceded us or those who maintain that they are the leaders of our times. They determine what we make of the history revealed by these words. Eduardo Galeano, a famous journalist and poet reminds us,  "History never really says goodbye. History says, 'See you later." . We forget that at our own peril. He also reminded us what is most important to us at these perilous times. To be

" grateful to journalism for waking (me) up to the realities of the world."

  Forget that truth, as some people are trying to do  now, and we forget too much of our past,  endanger our present and shut down our future. Remember that truth and its corollary, that which speaks to the power of words, and we will give ourselves a chance to correct our mistakes and work for a better world for all.
      Words give us great wisdom, understanding and even humor, much of it self deprecating. It has been said wistfully, that, "If youth knew. If age could." We humans need to get together, to combine the power and strength, the idealism of youth with the wisdom of the ages. If we could infuse some of that strength in the old, and some of that wisdom of life in the young, then what words of power they would have. What glories we could achieve.   We all need to use our words carefully, with more wisdom and positive thought and goals. We can be so wonderful, the human race, but then again, we allow other aspects to come through too often and those nasty aspects often come via the misuse of words and the power of words. Isaac Newton said, "I can calculate the motion of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people."
     Those are words of wisdom, of hope and despair. We can figure ourselves out if we use our words properly. We can also destroy ourselves with misused and violence inciting words. Our choice - and our Fate. Word!