Thursday, May 12, 2016

Words Have Power

As evening fell, the story-teller took his seat by the fire and began.
“Come my children, large and small
I’ll tell you a tale; it’s a good one for all”


“Once upon a time there was a young boy of 9 years.  He was an honest boy, a likeable boy, and a normal boy as most boys go.  But he didn’t believe he was worth much.  He especially didn’t seem to be able to show much initiative.

“He spent his early years being told, ‘Get away from that. You might break it’ or ‘Leave that alone.  You don’t know nothin’ about machinery.’

“You see, he lived in a putdown society and he actually began to believe that he indeed didn’t know much about anything, and perhaps, he wasn’t good enough to try some of the things that caught his interest.

“In his 9th grade year he took shop class.  What a grand adventure that was.  And our young lad proved to have some skill at woodworking.  Rumor has it that even today the bookcase he made 50 or so years ago still stands.  Or so I’m told.

“By now you have a good sense of the kind of training our young boy received.  For him, life was a series of “don’ts, “stop that’s” and “knock it off, boy.  Who do you think you are?”

“And life continued.

“When he married, his memory of the good times he had in shop class revived.  He began buying a few tools – you know - a saw here, a hammer there, a few screw drivers and such.  When the topic came up of him buying a circular saw, you would have thought it was the end.

“He was told, ‘I don’t want you to have one.  Why, you’ll cut your foot off with that thing’, and so he didn’t get one.

“Can you imagine living life like this?  Living in fear of what might be and allowing that fear to keep one from new adventures?

“In spite of some of these circumstances, our hero had some reasonably good career experiences.  His confidence grew, his sense of accomplishment grew, and he watched and learned.

“In time, he did indeed buy a circular saw.  That was perhaps twenty years ago, and he still has both feet, both hands, all twenty fingers and he is a careful carpenter when using power tools such as this.

“Yet some of these early messages lingered.  He still mostly felt like a no-good, can’t-do, better-leave-it-along kind of guy.

“As he grew into middle age he began discovering his can-do spirit.  He grew to trust himself and his sense of good judgment. 

“He read a few books, listened to a few trusted and wise sources and grew in knowledge and stature and understanding.” 

The story teller paused, threw two logs onto the fire and continued.

“The story I just told you is true.  I was that young boy.  The book case I mentioned is the one inside my cabin near the back wall.  It is a most prized possession, for it taught me one of my first lessons in self-confidence and self-worth.  It taught me that I could actually do something worthwhile with proper teaching and coaching. 

His voice rose with a new urgency. 

“Harsh words are killers.  They kill our
 spirit.  They kill our desire to learn and grow and understand.  Harsh words
stop us in our tracks.  They stifle and, and … “

He eased back in his chair.  His voice was softer now.

“Harsh words linger long after they have been spoken, and it takes a considerable amount of work to undo the harm they have done. 

“If I were to say one wise word to you tonight, it would be … never, ever underestimate the power of the right words spoken at the right time.  Words crush … and words elevate.

“Find and use those words that elevate another person.  Always … always … elevate your fellow man.

“That is all I have to say for tonight.”

And the villagers slowly left the fire and returned to their homes.



Words of Hope
Encouragement Inspiration
One Word at a Time


No comments:

Post a Comment