Back To Home Page To Archives - Spring of Life - H. Roger Bothwell Words Are So Important Attending faculty meetings on a college campus is amusing. There seems to be a rule that says, "Never say anything in two syllables when you can use five." I overhead someone say he had a hematoma on his tibia. I wanted to tell him I was undergoing chemotherapy. I had just taken an aspirin for an aching patella. Sometimes we do this in church. We take the Gospel, which is simple enough for a child to understand, and complexize it. Before you retort there is no such word as "complexize" let me say there is now. I just made it up. Now I do believe words are important. Words heal or wound. Words bring life or death. Words start wars and cause people to hate. By the same token words can also bring peace and cause us to love. Words can make us sound stupid or smart. I think that's why all the five syllable words at faculty meetings. Everyone is afraid not to appear overeducated. In that social setting it is better to be overeducated than to be undereducated. I love it that Jesus is called the Word. John begins with "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God." Jesus is the message. He came to communicate to us God's thoughts. Jesus is the most important word ever expressed. He put an end to the idea that salvation is earned. He trashed the concept that God was an unapproachable being eager to make us pay for our sins. He told us that His Father so loved the world that He gave us His son. I'm Roger Bothwell and my address is roger.bothwell@verizon.net or 151 Old Farm Rd. Leominster, MA 01453. Thank you for your support of our faith ministry. Past devotionals can be accessed at Archives