Words...

Letters of the alphabet (of your language) you use form words. The definite number of letters is the building material for an indefinite number of words. Combinations, permutations, symbols, descriptions, originating from one another, following the mysterious web of grammar rules, forming sentences, phrases, stories, poems, prayers...
I love words. My unfulfilled dream was to study etymology really deep, but instead, I wrote my M.A. thesis on comparative grammar. Tough luck :)
But this first love has always been with me, this fascinating interdependence of words between languages, helping me in making associations and understand a new lexical item easier.
Languages. This is how we communicate, by using the systems of structurally coherent rules and applying them in utterances - orally, in written form, as signs and gestures. Ever developing, ever changing, ever improving - or ever deteriorating(?).
What a richness, originated in a punishment, according to the Bible.

Gen 11:1-9
(1) Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.
(2) And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.
(3) And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar.
(4) Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth."
(5) And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built.
(6) And the LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.
(7) Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech."
(8) So the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.
(9) Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD dispersed them over the face of all the earth.

This story is called "The Confusion of Tongues". Punishment. And yet, He works all things for good, and for me it is good, because I make my living by teaching a foreign language. A silly thing to say, really, for if this punishment had not been necessary, I wouldn't have had to worry about my economy... No, this kind of "what if" - thinking is leading nowhere.

But this is not why I am ranting here. Words. They are powerful. They may make you happy, but they also may kill you. They may definitely hurt you. But there are healing words, as well. The words spoken by a doctor at the sick bed, to inform the patient that he is going to get better. The words of consolation spoken to your child, when he or she is crying...
The Word of God - giving the clear knowledge of good and evil, of condemnation and salvation, of Christ and Life...
Which words are yours? Which words do you embrace? Which words are on your lips for the most part of your life?

I have a problem with words, many of them are too harsh, many of them too hurtful, many too judgemental... It is the area in which I need to work on my improvement.

Jam 3:5-10
(5) So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!
(6) And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.
(7) For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind,
(8) but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
(9) With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
(10) From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.

At least, I am not the only one, but it does not mean I may rest and do nothing...
Words. Be careful how you use them. And study THE WORD.