From Fredrick Buechner, "Wishful Thinking"

"In Hebrew the term dabar means both 'word' and 'deed'. Thus to say something is to do something. 'I love you.' 'I hate you.' 'I forgive you.' 'I am afraid.' Who knows what such words do, but whatever it is, it can never be undone. Something that lay hidden in the heart is irrevocably released through speech into me, is given substance and tossed like a stone into the pool of history, where concentric rings lap out endlessly.

Words are power, essentially the power of creation. By my words I elicit a word from you. Through our conversation we create one another...

God never seems to weary of trying to (Gods)self across. Word after word (God) tries in search of the right word. When the creation itself doesn't seem to say it right - sun, moon, stars, all of it - (God) tries flesh and blood..."


I love this quote. It speaks deeply to what I believe as well...however, I changed all the male pronouns Buechner used for God...the older I get the less I can imagine God as "he"...God for me is God - both male and female and so much more. Yes, I think words are important and speak a truth deep into this world that sends out concentric circles....words that ultimately speak in and through all of humanity.

So, let me say - I am feeling a very fragile sense of hope. Fragile because it lies in the tension between the election of Obama and at the same time overturning Prop 8 in California and approving a change to the Constitution in Arizona defining marriage as between one man and one woman. Which leads me to ask, "What are WE saying in this country? Who do we want to be?"

Fragile because I think Obama opens our imaginations and enables a new kind of creativity - imagine who can be President in the USA. Imagine what is possible here in this amazing country we live in! Imagine. Fragile because in the same breath we say, oh, well, some things are possible, but not this..... And then, once again, we slam the door on what is possible. So, then I ask, assuming God works in and through humanity, "Where is God in all of this?"


Words matter. The words we say to ourselves over and over matter.

We are God's own and God has chosen to live and breathe through us..... Imagine if we really believe that. Imagine if that is the chatter that plays through our heads - "I am God's own, God works through me!" - and then imagine if we act accordingly.

Comments

Gannet Girl said…
OK, that new image at the top of your blog is nothing short of magnificent.

And yes, God is God.

And yes, there's little that Buechner says doesn't completely resonate with me.
I too love your new header.

And I so agree that the wods we say to ourselves matter far more than most of us realize.
Katherine E. said…
Beautiful~! (your post and the new header)
Barbara B. said…
AGREE! Love the new look! (and the post)
Choralgrrl said…
Wow, that's really wonderful.

I think it's interesting that, in the creation story, humans are the only creatures that God didn't "speak" into being, but formed from something else already created.

Maybe that's part of our issue? :-)
Lori said…
I'm chimin' in on the admiration for the new header picture. I just sat an soaked it in for a minute.

I do believe we act accordingly, knowing God's ownership of us. I just think it's not at all relentless enough. Well then, maybe that's what is meant by accordingly then. And words we say to ourselves are definitely the "giddy ups" on our life's trail ride.
Jennifer said…
M'mmm mmmm good. All of it.
Anonymous said…
May your imagination... with determination... come to and out of the congregation in the form of awesome fruitation. OK... I had to make that last word up... for the rhymation of it all... but... you can take the simple road by knowing you are in my prayers as you and God begin to lead them to awesome ministry!!!!
Sherry said…
Gosh I like the new look mompriest, and I think your post was so lovely. My husband collected a bunch of his stories and poetry into a "book" called "ordinary words." He too, as well as I recognize the power of words, and their ability to change us profoundly. Thanks for making me think today!

I deeply think that God resides within, always gratiously awaiting our permission to act in love through us. I shudder sometimes at what God witnesses in my ego moments.
revkjarla said…
Thank you for this post. Just this moring I was reading a line of a prayer that said,
"Eternal Progression,
You who express me at this instant
Open my heart during this day"
(from A Prayer Book for the 21st Century-J. McQuiston II; thanks to revcrystalk for the reccomendation)

Anyway...I was struck...and I though what if I really lived with the awareness that God expresses me in every instant...and that I was aware of how close God is as I navigate a day..an hour...a meeting...a moment.

Thoughtful post. Thank you, again.

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