We live in a world full of words! The media constantly feeds us with a torrent of opinions and commentary on local and world events. There is an endless supply of books written on every conceivable subject. Keynote speakers at countless conferences expound their views. Conversations are had to discuss new ideas, and words flow back and forth, exploring, discovering, concluding!

Words obviously require speakers and listeners. Similarly, authors need readers. Communication can be negative or positive; either way, words are influential! Indeed, life and death are in the power of the tongue! Words have so much potential; they can build up or they can destroy. Whether by print or audio we now have this incredible information highway of the World Wide Web. All of us are soaking up knowledge and communicating. Our devices are in constant use, be it our desk top computer, laptop, iPad, or mobile phone.

But well before the days of the IT revolution, when all we had was a radio, there was one other fascinating bit of technology, the CRYSTAL SET! It needed no power and consisted simply of a tuning coil, headphones and cat’s whisker (quartz crystal). The antenna captured energy from the radio waves coming from a nearby radio station. Then a little twiddling of the cat’s whisker gadget and hey presto the radio broadcast could be heard. Like myself as a youngster, many would remember the mystery and excitement of headphones on and listening to a favourite program in bed at night. A simple device but it was one of the earliest forms of radio that enabled the receiving of radio waves.

Putting this subject of communication in a spiritual perspective, it seems not unreasonable that God can also talk to us, and we can talk to him. Recently, a Bible passage got my attention, ‘ Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to him: Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips.’ Hosea 14:2 NIV. The opening clause ‘TAKE WORDS WITH YOU’ really made me curious, what did it mean? We can meditate, pray, repeat a liturgy, sing a hymn, but this is somehow different! This is not some casual word spoken to God, but a very personal set of words spoken with total conviction. We know what we want to say, so we bundle the words up as it were, and TAKE them with us. They are words personally prepared for God to hear!

Taking such heartfelt words to God is to have a conversation with him; we are making a connection of eternal consequence. Our words are like unstoppable ripples that travel in space time and reach their destination. Whether it is that initial confession of faith in Christ or our ongoing prayers, the words we speak are incredibly powerful!

Ref. Prov.18:21, Hosea 14:2. NIV.

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