Photo by Amador Loureiro on Unsplash
The most impacting discussion on word choice to me was a podcast with the great poet Maya Angelou, back when she had a show on the then radio station for OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network.
She was discussing the words we choose and the impact they make.
To paraphrase, she said that words are things. They stick to our clothes, hang in our drapes, get painted on our walls.
I thought about the impact words have had on me. When I see a person who once ridiculed me, I see and hear and feel those words first, regardless of any amends they have made or any other kind things they have done.
I thought about the impact my words may have had on others. Judgements laid upon people when I was struggling with my own self worth, or comments in passing that were cruel and dismissive.
In my previous life, the one from about age 11-30, I was not a kind person. I’m not proud of it. But I learned from it.
I thought about people that carry words around on their chests or the backs of their cars and how those words impact their lives. If, after all, the bumper of your car, which is literally following you around, shows a distaste for humanity or an unkindness toward a group of people, what impact does that have on the person’s spirit?
Over the years, I thought and thought about words and their impact and their meaning.
I have come to some conclusion that words chosen for certain meanings have been placed in us on purpose; purposeful words of oppression.
Because, after all, we can use words that are commonly considered “swear words,” that literally just mean sex or poop… those words are not oppressive. They actually don’t mean ANYTHING.
Words that are meant as an insult… but mean the color of your skin, your gender, your demographic, race, background, or sexual orientation? THOSE are swear words. THOSE are words of oppression. THOSE are the words we should rethink… and perhaps find and choose smarter words that don’t hurt and degrade.
For that matter, let’s think about how kids have been taught to not “use the Lord’s name in vain.” But in a moment of awe or glory, a child shouts out “oh God!” Well… that’s calling out who He is. That’s not vain. That’s praise.
But using the church, the Bible, or other biblical terms to oppress? That’s in His opposition.
Isn’t THAT using the Lord’s name in vain?
What words can we choose that would lift people? What words can we choose to bring empowerment into the conversation? What words can we teach that elevate children and educate people?
What words can we choose to have impact and real meaning?