Photo Credit: Richard Quick
Words matter. I’ve always believed this oft-repeated maxim, and still do, although I’ve expanded my thoughts on the topic. How we perceive words is what matters. In pondering this, a childhood memory popped up. My parents had friends who visited us often and we spent hours in conversation with them. Mr. Santa Cruz used profanity quite often. Damn, hell, goddam, flowed through his conversation naturally. We also had a relative in Arizona who visited yearly, and we traveled there almost as often. He was the same: talking happily with curses interwoven throughout his wonderful stories. My parents’ home was a profanity-free zone, except where these two men were concerned. It came so naturally to them that it did not seem bad. Looking back, it was charming in its own way. Thinking about their words now, I see it was simply an expression of their joyful spirit. It didn’t seem bad, because it wasn’t. I’m comparing this tale to our society’s interpretation of situations which are foreign to us — such as, same-sex marriage, religious rituals different from what is our norm, the releasing of long-held ideologies, and other changes. I hope we can give ourselves a chance to look behind our prejudices and see the intent of those we are so quick to condemn. My hope for today is that we all see the truth behind actions. Is it love-based — whatever IT is? As an aside, both of these men were Catholic, so I grew up with the misapprehension that all Catholics cursed profusely. See how easy it is to make judgments? Namaste, Friends ...
“By purifying human thought, this state of mind permeates with increased harmony all the minutiae of human affairs.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Miscellaneous Writings Page 204:23-25
“Today you can achieve a state in which you will experience the gift of grace. You can escape all bondage of the world, and give the world the same release you found. You can remember what the world forgot, and offer it your own remembering. You can accept today the part you play in its salvation, and your own as well. And both can be accomplished perfectly.”
A Course in Miracles W-183.9:1-5
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