Words Have Meaning

I was thinking today how language changes, how what we say and write changes as time does. Maybe what we write and say does not change, so much as the meaning of what we write and change changes, the meaning of our language changes. (Yes, I have written about how language is a living organism, a being that grows and changes before, but it is Labor Day weekend, so I give me a break, OK.)
A Facebook friend of mine posted recently about the shift in weather. I paraphrase here, but she basically said something along the lines of "Oh Lord this weather. But since God is perfect, I am blaming Mother Nature." Simple enough. I doubt any of our mutual friends was offended, even slightly by the status update. However, this morning, as I was filtering clips of Rose Hill into playlists that our Crusaders can view as they prepare for our opener on Friday, I started to think just how much irony is hidden in that innocent expression of frustration with 100 degree temps and 70% humidity. Is it possible that sometime in our shared history that this statement could have earned the writer harsh ridicule from her neighbors, church leaders, and even family members. After all, by making the effort to deflect any appearance of dissatisfaction with our Christian God, the writer recognized the existence of a pagan god of nature, did she not? Is this not heresy? Would this not be enough to earn the writer a harsh scolding, or if she was a landowner whose neighbor coveted her north 40, an accusation of witchcraft and the occult?
Ok, so maybe I went a little too far. Not really though. According to History.com, and my preparation to teach The Crucible, a play about the Salem witch trials that was actually about the McCarthy hearings that scoured Washington, Hollywood, and the rest of the country for  communists in the 1950s, 19 people were hanged as witches in Salem, Mass, most because other members of the community had some sort of axe to grind and saw an opportunity to gain an advantage. We see people raked over the coals for saying something with no intention of stirring up controversy.
Words have meaning. Is my FB friend a witch or pagan worshipper of some ancient goddess of the forest who holds reign over the weather? No, and I am sure no one, besides me I guess, considered her statement as any more meaningful than a complaint about the heat. Her status is directed at no one, except maybe the weatherman.  However, history is full of words carrying heavy meaning. Vince Lombardi was once asked what made the Green Bay Packers such as great organization. His response was one word: love. He later said he wished he had never said that because people did not understand what he meant by using that word, especially when referring to an organization as masculine as the Green Bay Packers. He said he regretted the use of the word love, because people did not understand that what he meant was the power of the heart, "heart power" he called it. Heart power is the ability to put something before yourself, so feel strongly enough about another person, about other people, to sacrifice in some way so that that person, that group of people can find success, and in turn, happiness. And, in turn the person who feels that "heart power" gains happiness as well. Football coaches can be pretty deep, can't they. But I digress. Where was I? Oh yeah, innocent facebook statuses. Some statuses and statements have more insidious, although sometimes unintended, consequences. Words have meanings, and using them can inflict harm, just as sometimes they can save a person. Macklemore recently released a song titled "Same Love". I do not care what your political, religious, or moral views are; the song has some meaningful messages. The artist goes out on a limb to express what he feels he must say, and he is willing to accept the blowback.  What I want to focus on is how Macklemore addresses the use of negative language in rap and on the internet. Those words have meaning, and they are thrown about with little thought to whom they might hurt or degrade. Words have meaning. Sometimes, the word you drop into a conversation with the intention of being funny, or flippant, or just trendy, can stab like a dagger. You did not mean it to stab anyone, but the wound is not less deep. The only way to avoid the unintended pain and scars that follow, is to not throw the word out in the first place. A sheathed dagger leaves no wound.

Ok, I will step off the soapbox. I had actually intended this entry to go in a much more humorous direction, but as often happens when writing, ideas flow and you just have to ride the current. So there you go. I thought a little more tonight than I might have intended. I thank the blog for that. Words have meaning, and thoughts have power.