Paint me a Picture.

Sometimes I want to add pictures to my blog. Pictures of me, the places I have been, the beautiful people that I have come across. Sometimes I scour through the thousands of photos that Adam and myself have taken over the past 6 months, thinking of which ones I could add here. And every time I come to the same conclusion: There is no photo that I have come across that is adequate to accompany the words I write. And please believe me, this is not out of arrogance. In fact I also believe that the exact opposite is just as true. I have yet to be able to write words that justly portray what can be captured by a camera. Take the photo at the title of this blog for instance. At the current time it is a beautiful photo of a small Romanian friend of mine, Raul, and myself playing basketball, captured by Joni Allardyce (www.joniallardyce.com, Credit given where credit's due). I have tried to write words to bring out the personal meaning and joy of that photo. It hasn't worked. I mean I can't. The picture says everything that needs to be said.

I thought about this for quite sometime the other day (I had a 17 hour bus ride to help) and I began to list in my head the way that pictures and words compare and contrast:

Pictures can raise emotions
While words can steal the heart.
Pictures can show you everything
While words can give depth to everything.
Pictures can share a moment
While Words can bring two moments together.
Pictures can help us relive the past
While Words can change the future.
Pictures can tell a thousand words
While 10 words can paint a beautiful picture.

So, I realized that, despite my fairly new found passion for the art of photography, this isn't about pictures at all. This is about words. And it isn't confined to the ones I write. It includes them, along with the ones others write, the ones I speak, the ones others speak, the ones I see, read and hear. All words. The ones you use, AND the ones you don't

I have come to realise that the power in words is huge. No, it's humongous. They are both an amazing tool and a massive burden to everyone who uses them. And that's everyone.

It causes me to reflect on my own words of choice. What are the words that most commonly pop in my day to day conversation? How careful am I with my words? Do the negative words I use outweigh the positive ones?

As Adam and I have studied the book of Matthew over the past month, I have come to realise that Jesus really had a passion and a peculiarness for words. In Matt. 12:34, Jesus responds to the negative words of the Pharisees by first drooping the classic, "You brood of vipers!" line before saying, "How can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks." He then reiterates this in chapter 15 by saying, "What goes into a mans mouth does not make him unclean, but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him unclean"..."But the things that come out of the mouth, come from the heart, and these make a man unclean."

Isn't it kind of funny how in a day and age where human rights (In Western society at least) have reached new heights, that we still use the language we use? While we waltz around pretending to love everyone equally and honestly, we drop phrases such as "This is gay" or "Don't be a Jew", amongst many others. Our excuse is that we don't mean anything negative against those people, it's just a phrase, something people say. But if you believe in Jesus, and believe in the words he spoke and is saying, then you most certainly must also believe that these words are much more than just simple words. They are the overflow of our hearts. They are much, much more than just meaningless phrases. They are who we are, in the deepest way imaginable.

So this goes much deeper than the outward lashes of negative language. It goes far beyond telling someone that they "suck" or using language that marginalizes and suppresses certain people. This goes for the words that no one ever even hear. The smallest of utterances. Under our breathes. In the most private of places. These are what determines what we are, inside out.

But this is only half the equation. Later on in Matthew (ch.25) Jesus tells the disciples the oft-quoted phrase, " I tell you the truth, whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine you did for me. This implies that not only do the negative words we use reflect our hearts, they fall onto Jesus himself as well. Heavy. But here's the big thing. Look a little further down that passage and you'll find Jesus flip that sentence around. "I tell you the truth, whatever you did NOT do for one of the least of these, you did NOT do for me."

So It's not just about the words we use, It's about the ones we don't as well. How often do we not give credit or praise to others because we are too selfish? How often do we just walk by the homeless guy asking for money, pretending we can't hear what he is saying? How often are we scared to say the things that we know need to be said?

Words have the power to hurt, suppress, and even bring death, but they also have the ability to bring joy, love, and they can even breath life into people is used truthfully. Key word being truthful. It doesn't mean every word we ever speak will be fluff, it just means that everything will be spoken out of faith, love and unselfishness. I believe that we are a generation confused about words. We need to look deep into ourselves, our hearts and begin to use words that reflect the love, joy, and truth that we know. Words can bring darkness, but they can just as easily make that darkness tremble.

I know this sounds like the most accusatory and condemning blog entry I have written, but please believe me this is written first to the self. Myself. I am talking about me here, because I know there are things I need to change. However there is also the hope that I am not alone in this conviction, and that maybe my words will fall on the right ears. And if that happens, then these words won't be wasted.

I'd like to hear what you have to say about this. So if you agree, disagree, have a comment, hate me or like me, please, paint me a picture.