Words and Thinking

By the time we are 3, many of our neurological pathways are already firmly in place.  Ways of processing sensory input are all but locked in.  So as we grow and start learning language, we must realize that words connect to these pathways and ways of processing data.  It only takes one session of marriage counseling to realize that two different people can assign radically different meanings to the same word.  While husband and wife may share the same definition of a word, the emotional charge attached to it can be 180 degrees different.

Words are the bits that program our minds, as they connect to real objects and experiences.  The word “dog” can create physiological reactions in someone who has been bit by one.  It does not necessarily matter if an actual dog is present, the word is sufficient to create experience.  For another person (hello Robin) the same word, “dog” can produce peace and calm.

So as we try to learn about the central and anchoring issues of living life, as we pursue God, and His plan for us, the words we use have incredible power.  Words that are healing to one, may frighten another, while words that bring life to one, may produce guilt in another.  Is it any wonder God found it necessary to make “The Word” a person.

Is it any wonder The Person spoke in stories and said things like, “you have heard it said….(religious tradition) but I say to you…(the heart issue)”.   He had a lot of neurological pathways to re-route.  Even the word “repent” which refers to the change of these ways of processing, has come to mean something completely different to many.  Many people are put off by the word, because of what it has come to mean.

I might say, “you have heard it said that “repent” means to feel bad and clean up your life, but I say to you, repentance is a way of opening your mind to a whole new way of seeing the world”

Today open your eyes, slow down, breathe.  If you were still and peaceful how would you see the world differently.  Consider that some words contain life but they have seemed undesirable to you.  Like green beans.

Listen to my friend Kevin Weaver, who does an awesome job of re-programming some over-used, or misunderstood words. Click on his name to hear.