The thought first came to me on the campaign trail. Psalm 19:14 isn’t meant to be just the postlude to a wonderful Psalm, or the prelude to a sermon. It is something we should be praying without ceasing.

“May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.”

I think about the beginning of John, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

I think about the beginning of Jeremiah, “Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "I have put my words in your mouth.”

I think of Matthew, “But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”

I tend to shy away from these thoughts. Too often, those whom I hear claiming to speak in the name of God are saying words that don’t fit with how I understand the Gospel, how I understand God’s love for all of us.

Yet God touched my heart, and perhaps my mouth, in unexpected ways a couple months ago, and now I need to struggle with my words, or are they God’s words, and pray without ceasing that they may be pleasing in the Lords sight.

There have been times that I have been called to comfort the grieving, and there is more than enough grief to go around. I feel awkward doing this. I feel like I don’t know the words. I’ve written eulogies on my blog, and have been thanked for that, but that is just a regular part of writing, or at least, that’s how I’ve looked at it.

Yesterday, I received a message on Facebook that caused me to think more about my words. It is one thing to try to do no harm with my words, something I wish we’d see more of in politics. It is another thing to comfort. Yet can words bring healing? Can words save lives?

The Facebook message repeated, “Your article saved my life”. It is frightening to think that my words, our words, God’s Word has that much power. Please pray that my words, that all our words, may be pleasing in the sight of our Lord.

Buen Camino