For Love of Words

I think most of the people who read this blog have the same passion I do for the written word, or rather, the word written well, carefully edited and published :) My love for books, and lack of self-control has cost me dearly on some occasions, but nothing can quench that incessant thirst for more....more adventure, more mystery, more glory, more sorrow, more true love, more laughter, more of my beloved world of books.

I love Writing books almost as much, if not as much, as I do Reading them. Whatever was God thinking when he put that inexplainable power behind the pen and the word created from it? Why did he choose the written word instead of the musical word, the painted picture or the expressive dance? Whatever the reason, he obviously knew what he was doing, and I am VERY thankful for his wisdom.

When I was younger I wrote tons of stories, many of which are still lying unfinished on my desk. God gifted me with a VERY vivid and crazy imagination. Sometimes this gets me in trouble (actually make that most of the time gets me in trouble) but there are times when fragments of pictures will fold out before my mind's eye. Words will entwine these. Bold, powerful, passionate words like Surge, Gallant, Dread, and Ardor become gold thread that winds around the picture. Soft, delicate, but strong and unbreakable words like Trickle, Near, Concern and Friendship are turned into silver threads that lace themsleves through the gold ones, crisscrossing now and then across the still unfolding picture. Then the eminent words like Run, Grasp, Fear and Love are interwoven through these, crossing frequently over and around the picture like blue, silk thread. In a fit of writer's fervor I rush to my room, snatching one of my numerous notebooks, along with a black ink pen and throw myself on the floor to WRITE.

Maybe I'm the only one who sees words in that way. I've heard them described many times by different people. Some people describe them as birds, flying high and low in an immence blue sky. Other's depict them as a thousand different colored and shades of paints on a large canvas. How do you see them, in your own mind's eye? Whether we know it or not, everyone has their own pictures for them. For some they may be puzzles, a crazy jumble of strange shapes and sounds that sometimes seem to make no sense at all. The only wrong picture, and very sadly often seen, is when the words appear as only meaningless black marks on a white piece of paper.
Words are God's gift. The written word, his very choice to be the holder of his works and plans. An ill used word can be a danger, but the uplifting unused word is a shame.

"Yes, with just the common words
In usage everywhere,
You can capture incidents
Beautiful and rare.
In words you have a weapon
More mighty than a gun;
You can sway a multitude
Or stir the heart of one"

-From "A Jingle of Words" by Elizabeth Scott Stam