theROCK

Stewards of Words

In a recent homily, Bishop Haines said something quite thought provoking. He said that we are stewards of words.

When I was a classroom teacher, I would often remind my students to mean what they say and say what they mean. I would give them many examples from Scripture where Jesus very clearly says what he means and means what he says. Jesus is rather pointed. He needed to be. He doesn't tell people what they want to hear but what they need to hear.

I learned very quickly as a teacher and as a parent that words matter. I have gotten into my fair share of tangles because I didn't use the right word at the right time.

Now that I am the instructional leader of a school, I am even more aware of how words matter. My words have never mattered so much before. To be a steward of words reminds me to follow my father's rule of "measure twice-cut once" all the more intentionally.

Wisdom is in silence and listening, more than it is in talking. Isn't that why God gave us two ears and one mouth? We need to take care of our words; how we talk and the tone we take. We need to mark ourselves as disciples with how we communicate and interact.

Are our words reflecting who we are as followers of Christ?
Words matter.
Pray for me. I will pray for you.

Measure Twice

My dad would often say, “Measure twice, cut once.” As an engineer and general handy man, this had quite a significance for his work. As I’ve grown older, I have come to appreciate the deeper meaning to this phrase.

For me, the literal meaning is true, but also a deeper meaning. The deeper meaning is to take the time to measure a situation before you act, so you don’t make an error you can’t reverse. Once you cut something, there is no going back to fix it. If we spent more time weighing situations, whether it be the words we say, actions we take, or time we use, we would spend less time having to repair the damage. I also thought about how to spend differently. I intentionally purchased gifts for family and friends from independently owned and operated stores vs. big box stores. I prayed for inspiration when purchasing gifts to make sure they were meaningful and personal.

Then I thought about how I needed to spend time differently – to measure twice and cut once. I have been trying to stop and be present in every situation rather than multi-task. Multi-tasking does not allow me to measure wisely. I have made some cutting errors when I am not careful. This is what I have decided to make as my new year’s resolution: to spend less time being in so many places at once and spend more time being present. I owe it to the people around me to do that. I owe it to myself to do that. The work will always be there, but the people won’t. People matter.