Words have power, and by giving shape to thoughts, can determine the tenor of a person’s life. Whatever the purpose and whatever the form — written, spoken, or silent – thoughts, as words, leave their impressions on the mind. And in so doing, they become the primary force in the shaping of our lives. Consider the words of Charles Haanel, the author of The Master Key System:
The word is a thought form, and a sentence is a combination of thought forms, therefore, if we wish our ideal to be beautiful or strong, we must see that the words out of which this temple will eventually be created are exact, that they are put together carefully, because accuracy in building words and sentences is the highest form of architecture in civilization and is a passport to success.
To the extent that we can perceive truth as truth, understanding the spiritual laws supporting life throughout all of existence, in the physical, subtle and mental worlds, will we penetrate the deeper realms of being. To the degree of this perception is the degree of the success.
Only a small minority of people understand this principle and I call them the hunters of invisible game. They wake up hungry, not for food, but for the words of insight and wisdom.
Ask such a person what he had for breakfast and he will quote you some lines of poetry from Hafiz or Rumi, or philosophy from Plato, or a parable from Solomon, or a proverb from Jesus. He or she is a connoisseur of invisible food for the invisible body.
To such a person words are the foundation of being. Such a person realizes that the subtle supports the gross.
Such a person understands that thought precedes action, that the choice of a word can impact a lifetime. Ignorant thoughts lead to ignorant action. Intelligent thoughts lead to intelligent action. Just as an ignorant action without an ignorant thought behind it is not possible, it follows that intelligent action without intelligent thought isn’t possible.
Words, the ambassadors of thought, govern our lives. They alone determine the beauty or ugliness of our world, its happiness or misery, its peace or anxiety, its heaven or hell.
Most everybody takes the time to bathe daily, but how many take the time to bathe their minds in the light of inspired thought everyday? Everyone is accustomed to going out shopping for food to maintain the physical body, but how many go out shopping for words of wisdom that inspire wise action?
I bet you never saw a scene like this on TV before:
A man come homes from work, takes off his coat and puts down his briefcase. His wife comes over and greets him.
“How was your day, Honey?”
“Great! I found a new essay by Emerson that I had never seen before.”
“That’s wonderful dear. Maybe you can read it to me after dinner.”
Why is that scene so implausible? I think it’s because most people are not aware of the spiritual laws that govern life. They don’t realize that the choice of words, the embodiment of thought, creates impressions on the mind. These impressions, through the forces in the subconscious, create perfect reflections in the outer world in proportion to the intensity of the thought. They don’t realize the obvious, that beautiful thoughts create beauty. If they did, they wouldn’t entertain ugly ones.
The fact is we can’t entertain sublime thoughts at the same time that we entertain the coarse. We have to let go of the old before we can embrace the new.
Even our identity is in the form of words. Try to describe yourself or someone else without words and you will see what I mean. Words may not be who we are, but they animate us with energy and ability that otherwise would never manifest. Ask yourself what words you have chosen to describe yourself. Would Muhammad Ali have been the greatest if he had not been able to put “I am the greatest” into words? What was true for him is true for you and me. Words give life to the potential. Our truest self is beyond words, but words are the key that unlock the veils of old form, taking us deeper into the mystery of who we are, to the truth of this moment in time.
If we are holding onto the old energies that animated our lives in the past, then the new energies cannot come. That is the essence of mysticism – a death of the false self so that we can live in the real self. Growth is an exchange of the old for the new, of throwing out the old batteries so we can put in new ones.
We see it in nature. We see it in the metamorphosis of the caterpillar into the butterfly. We see it in the snake shedding its old skin. We see it in the leaves falling in autumn paving way for the new leaves of spring.
We see this process when we eat our food. We also see this when we breathe. Out with the old, in with the new. It’s the same for the energies that animate our being. What we require for our growth today is not what was required in childhood.
Tomorrow we will learn what we were not prepared to learn yesterday, but only if we absorb fully the lesson of today. The thoughts of today unfold in words that perhaps were meaningless yesterday, but that will, with new perception, inspire new action tomorrow. Such is the nature of growth.
Like the bird that goes out in search of food each day, each day we can go out in search of new thoughts, new words, new meanings. By undestanding that words have power comes the possibility of journeying into the deepest realms of being and expression.
