Whether it is the sound of a pencil scraping on a pad of paper, or the gentle clicking of buttons on a keyboard, the result is the same…..a note, a thought, a rhyme, a reason.  To put some of these notes before the world, whether a few or many, is a daunting idea.

There is a fear that the very thing that brings pleasure in writing may be what destroys it.  Yet, the quiet placement of thoughts, feelings, ideas, or experiences onto paper relieves the soul.  It also opens the heart and mind to examination by an unknown, unseen “outsider”.  Maybe the outsider becomes an acquaintance, and hopefully over time, even a friend.

Yet words cannot be taken lightly.  Words on a page don’t fade into the distance or dim with a setting sun.  Words stay. They stick, whether for good or bad, for health or hurt, the words stick.  Even a quiet pen speaks loudly, and maybe, maybe even louder than a tongue that shouts its meaning.  There is life and death in words whether they flow across a tongue or flow from a pen.  Words can stay and heal, or sting and kill.   In either case, there is life and death there.  

The power of written words is that the weakest ink lasts longer than the strongest memory.  Written words stay and linger.  They may taste like sugar, and strengthen like steel, or build hope, or capture a soul. On the other hand, words may cut like a sword, and kill like a mercenary.  They can deplete the heart, and destroy an empire.

The power of words is daunting and never to be taken lightly. Words kept silent in the throat or quiet in the pen may be the wisest words of all, but once said, once written, words have the power of life and death and can never return silent until their loud flight is complete.

Guard the tongue. Hold the pen tight.  There is an outcome of words to always first consider, and it’s of life and death importance.