"The words we say, each to the other"

William E. Moody

Communication —with our friends, our family, the stranger that we meet for the first time, our co-workers, our neighbors—is among the most vital aspects of human life. For some people, communication isn't always easy. Others speak readily whatever is on their minds. Yet the words themselves, whether they come easily or not, may sometimes be less than we hoped for. What we say might honestly be intended to be helpful or supportive but may instead result in confusion or even turn out to be hurtful. We've all had occasions when the words came out wrong. We were misunderstood, or perhaps what we said was taken to mean exactly the opposite of what we had tried so hard to impart.

Not long ago, something I heard on a television documentary was quite moving. A Native American from the southwestern United States was pointing out how our communication with one another can be motivated in such a way that the words are genuinely constructive and always understood. His message was presented over the background of Native American music and a stirring Navajo chant. He said:

It is not the words of the chant that make the prayer.
It is the way they are said.

It is not the words we say, each to the other.
It is how we say them.

A good chant grows and grows with the singing.

A good talk comes from a singing heart.

From a spiritual perspective, we can speak more often from such "a singing heart" as we recognize that what impels all good and right ideas is actually the divine Mind, which is God. And that this one, infinite Mind is also pure, all-encompassing Love. True communication expresses qualities of God, who is both infinitely intelligent and universally loving. When we communicate with one another, if we're recognizing that each of us is actually the child of God, His spiritual reflection, then the intelligence of our words will be powerfully allied with the love that is our motive. From this standpoint, our communication—"the words we say, each to the other"—can't help but be improved, clarified, more constructive, understandable.

Christ Jesus so deeply realized man's relation to God that the spiritual power behind his words actually brought healing to the sick and transformed sinners. On one occasion he said, "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life" (John 6:63). And they are, even today, nearly two thousand years later, because the Saviour's words express the message and motive of divine Truth and Love.

When I think of good words, healing words—of a good talk coming from a singing heart—I'm reminded of another statement, which was written by the Discoverer of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy. She once wrote: "When the heart speaks, however simple the words, its language is always acceptable to those who have hearts" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 262). Speaking from the heart, knowing and loving each other as the child of God—these are not difficult rules, but they make a tremendous difference. It's an important lesson for better, truer communication.

William E. Moody

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