“Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me.” How many times did we say this to someone growing up? How many times have you heard it before? When I said this as a kid, it was because someone had said something hurtful and mean to me, and I said it to cover up the fact that those words did hurt.
Formations 05.16.2021: Louder than Words
May 9, 2021 by
Ralph Waldo Emerson is said to have quipped, “Your actions speak so loudly, I cannot hear what you are saying.”
Formations 08.02.2020: Taking Words with You
July 26, 2020 by
There have been times when I have done something wrong, realized my fault immediately, and blurted out an apology, a sincere but entirely unrehearsed expression of regret. When you let your anger or sadness control your tongue, that kind of apology is definitely the way to go.
Formations 06.16.2019: Choose Your Next Words Carefully
June 9, 2019 by
I am an adjunct university professor, which means I assign research papers. I am also an editor, which means I often regret assigning research papers.
Formations 09.16.2018: Words of Wisdom
September 9, 2018 by
My grandmother Joan taught me, as she did with all of her grandchildren, to pay attention to language. She had been an elementary-school teacher, so she taught us with sharp, repeated, and mostly frustrating questions.
When Words Catch Fire
February 21, 2018 by
When I remember the Saturday that my seven-year-old self spent in the church library while her father worked on his sermon down the hall, details are missing. I don’t know how long I was there, the name of the book that moved my imagination, or who its author was.
Try Writing with Friends for Lent
January 31, 2018 by
Writing in groups creates that kind of wonder. I’ve seen it show up around classrooms tables when people who had spent their lifetimes in the same congregation share their longing for a deeper faith for the first time.
Connections 01.07.2018: God’s Words, Our Words
December 31, 2017 by
The first words God speaks in the first words of the Bible are creative ones: “Let there be light.” “And,” the narrator reports, “there was light.” God speaks. Something happens. And so it goes through all the days of creation.
Praying When You Cannot Find the Words
March 7, 2017 by
“Prayer is a conversation, a ‘little talk with Jesus.’ Anyone can pray and everyone should pray.” While no relationship can survive without communication, we talk about prayer as if it is always simple and easy. We suggest that anyone can do it and at any time.
Beyond Church Chat
June 2, 2015 by
“Here’s the church and here’s the steeple, open the doors and see all the people.” Remember that preschool fingerplay? If it had cute hand motions to go with it, we might add an extra verse: “Here is the church, and here are the pews, and here are the holy words that we use.”
Formations 01.25.2015: Writers Decry Removal of Nature Words from Dictionary
January 18, 2015 by
More than two dozen prominent writers, including Margaret Atwood and Andrew Motion, have written an open letter to Oxford University Press expressing alarm with the publisher’s decision to drop a number of words associated with the countryside from its children’s dictionary.