May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing to you,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
(Psalm 19:14)

More Words for Word People:

I have always been a word person. Ever since I was the classic kid who stayed up well beyond bedtime with a flashlight under the covers, reading “one more chapter,” I have had this relationship with words.

Spelling? Punctuation? Diagram a sentence? Grammar in general? Well, not so much; those incidental distractions were something else entirely. But I did love the words; and I still do.

My mother, a voracious reader who tends to appreciate a more stripped-down style of prose, often jokes that, “Derek has swallowed a dictionary.” But not really; my working vocabulary – my functional lexis – may be fairly expansive, but the English Language comprises somewhere in the vicinity of 1,000,000 words, and – ask any well-constructed crossword puzzle – I have a lot of catching up still to do.

• The average English speaker, apparently, knows around 20-35,000 words.
• Most native speakers use 3,000 words (give or take) on a regular basis.
• “Passive” vocabularies can include another 15-20,000 words that are seldom used.
• Vocabulary growth typically (tragically) stops at middle age.

COMMUNICATION: No, it’s not the raw number, nor the complexity, of words that concerns me so much as my ability to employ them in a way that effectively communicates. I’m not so much interested in words for their own sake as finding the words that help connect me, and other people, with truth, hope, promise, possibility, and – above all – love.

This is why the work of people such as Maya Angelou is so powerful. It wasn’t the quantity of words that she used, it was the quality of soul that she shared.

It wasn’t the quantity of words that Maya Angelou used, it was the quality of soul that she shared.

I believe that words are so potentially powerful because they are the raw material of the language that not only connects us to one-another, but shapes the way that we respond to the world.

And, to the extent that we fill our minds with beauty, and poetry, and hope, and encouragement, and words of affirmation, we are also seeding our souls – and our relationships – with the raw materials of grace.

Likewise, when we pollute our cerebrum with foul language, antagonistic slogans, hateful rhetoric, cheap and tawdry talk, and negative imagery, we not only cut off the flow of fruitful goodness, we literally recreate our inner selves according to the spirit of darkness.

We have this opportunity, every day, to choose light over darkness. One of the more profound acts of proactive grace we can commit to is that of opening our souls to healing, challenging, and regenerative words.

May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing to you,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
(Psalm 19:14)

Amen – DEREK