Part 3, Chapter 27
Words! There are so many words, and words can have many different meanings. They can even have meanings that we never intended them to have. Words are used all over the place to giving meaning. I use words even in typing this blog. They convey many different things. We need words, and they are important. In communication with people, we use words, but we want to be careful with our use. There is an expression that I remember being said, “Say what you mean, and mean what you say.” This is so true, otherwise we might be fibbing. Sometimes we will avoid using a word because it has a double meaning which could be taken the wrong way. Words are powerful; still we need to be picky when it comes to using them.
One of the more important places for word is in conversations. We should be always careful to say what we mean in conversations. “Beware most watchfully against ever uttering any unseemly expression; even though you may have no evil intention, those who hear it may receive it with a different meaning” (Introduction to the Devout Life, 126). This has happened to me, and it has taught me to be a little more careful in my words. We want to use our words to build people in virtue, or to help them to grow devout. But words can be used to destroy. I really hate that saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” I wish this was true, but we are so often hurt by comments that people made. Sarcasm is very dangerous in the devout life as it usually involves making fun of someone else. “One of the most evil dispositions possible is that which satirizes and turns everything to ridicule” (Introduction to the Devout Life, 127). Thus, we should be choosey in what we are going to speak out loud.
“But…let our recreation always be so spent, that we may win all eternity through devotion” (Introduction to the Devout Life, 127). What else do I need to say, nothing because it has been said so well by St. Francis De Sales.