Words

If you are looking to post your haiku for Haiku Monday, go to the next oldest post.  Thanks!

Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter
anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your
words be few.  Ecclesiastes 5:2 (NIV)

My entire life I have been in love with words.  By all accounts, I was
a linguistic genius speaking early and often.  I learned to read as
soon as possible, no doubt encouraged by a mother who received her
college degree in elementary education only to quit teaching as soon as
she became pregnant with me.  For two years, I was in a classroom of
one, then, two students when my sister was born.  My mom poured herself
into us not only in play, but preparing us for a life of learning.  So,
did my many teachers.  I remember Miss Bratton, my first grade teacher
who promised anyone who got good grades in spelling all year long
dinner with her at Shoney’s.  At the end of the school year, I was one
of a few proudly eating my hamburger and fries with Miss Bratton.  I
loved language.  In second grade, I received poor marks in math, not
because I could not apply myself to numbers, but because I rushed
through my class work, to put my nose back in a book.  I used to read the dictionary for fun.  I still read compulsively.  When in a meeting, I cannot sit at someone’s desk
because I read upside down the papers lying there.   When I start a
book, it is difficult for me to put it down until I am done.  The
ability to read books off my cell phone is both a gift and a curse.  I
never lack for something to do, but I am easily distracted now as the
next chapter is always calling me.  Third grade brought opportunities
for speech writing and public speaking.  Between school and church, I
was often called upon to speak in front of groups, a skill that carries
me even today in my job.  Community Theater also taught me clear
diction and the thrill of using words to change people’s emotions and
perspective.  Yes, I do love words.  But, sometimes, my precocious
understanding of a word’s meaning got me in trouble when I did not know
how to pronounce it.  I remember clearly the embarrassment of using the
word debris my freshman year of college but pronouncing it “deb-ris”,
not “duhbree”.    As I have gotten older, I try hard to use fewer
words.  When I started blogging, I limited most of my posts to five
hundred words.  It forced me to pare down and only say what I really
wanted to express.  I am also enjoying Haiku Mondays because there less
is more.  In seventeen syllables, you can create a mood or express an
opinion.   As we continue to visit with husband’s friend who is in
hospice, I am running out of words to say.  What needed to be said has
been said.  Now, we mostly just sit with him, answering a few of his
questions, but as time grows short, so do our conversations.   It is
easier to remember Who I serve at times like this.  In the silence, God
speaks louder than any words I might say.