When Words Obscure The Word

Show of hands.

Who has ever heard of Spy Wednesday?
Seriously – please email me if this is a thing.
I literally heard about it yesterday.

It’s the day words betrayed The Word.

High atop the hills overlooking Jerusalem.
A small group gathered.

Elites.
Leaders.
Captains.

And a follower.

Maybe a khamsin blew in.
Making the air outside as hot, heavy, and gritty…
As the mood in the palace’s backroom.

Assumptions discussed.
Perceptions debated.
Preconceived notions deliberated.
Opinions dissected.

Options mulled.

The High Priest, Patriarch, Chief Guard, select Elders, and Judas,
Rehashing…Replaying…Rehearsing,

Until The Truth…
Was traded for tradition.

A judgement.

The cost?
Thirty pieces of silver.
The same as it cost to purchase a slave.

The coins?
Tyrian shekels.
The only money worthy to pay the Temple Tax.

Sacred coins exchanged for The Shepherd.

Habits haven’t changed.
Only the geography.

The Word continues to get obscured with words.

And the price went up.

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We were warned.

“The tongue has the power of life and death…” (King Solomon)

Words spoken to others.
Words passed on through generations.
Words shared digitally.

Words we’re told.

Words we tell ourselves.

Narrowed into labels.
Compressed into scripts.

“That’s not how…”
“That’s not what…”
“That’s not why…”

“That’s not who…”

Wordload, forming our identity.
Writing choices, performance, and relationships.

Shaping outcomes.

Sometimes elevating.
Oftentimes escalating.

Much of the time…
Stagnating.

Because the words we’re taught also prevent us from…

Discussing assumptions.
Debating perceptions.
Deliberating preconceived notions.
Dissecting opinions.

And our options?
Pre-selected by wordload we carry.

____________________________________

We’re offered an open invitation,
“Come unto me all you who labor and heavy laden…and I will give you rest.”

And we filter The Word…
With more words…
“If…”
“But…”
“Remember…”

“I’m not…”

A promise denied.
Not with coins.

We’re betrayed by our own wordload.
It’s no wonder we’re exhausted…

To make it worse?

We keep trying to add more words.
Mental gymnastics with positive thinking, motivation, and systems.

That turn into mental hurdles the moment
“I’ve got this,..” collides with ”I’m struggling…”

Wreckage that becomes mental happy hour.
“What’s wrong with me.”
While we scroll.

Instead of more.
We need to move.

Instead of words.
Letters.

An R and E.

A fraction of the alphabet.
With a promise.

RE simply means, “back” or “again.”
The mental pause we need.

To become more.

Instead of complexity.
Clarity.

RE| isn’t a repeat or replay.
Because some things shouldn’t be re-lived.
Others can’t be.

It’s the recognition of things we’ve been told.
Things we’ve heard.
Things we’ve said.
Things we see.

It’s the realization that words become what we do.

And what we don’t.

“I’ve always been a perfectionist.”
“If I say no, they’ll think…”
“I’m better than this.”

RE| is the real time edit.
The interrupt.
Where who we wanted to become meets who we are.

And gets introduced to who we want to be,

And after we take our pen back?
It might be time to turn it over to The Author.

The one who knows every hair on our head.
Knows everything we’ve done.

He didn’t write,
“…be more…”
“…do more…”
“…say more…”

Our Redeemer wrote,
Be still.

My name is G. Scott, and I write about the power…and burden of the words shaping people, organizations, and outcomes. I’ve served over thirty years in the corporate environment scaling operations and sales initiatives and teams regionally and nationally.

I have been blessed with my wonderful wife Alyson, three great kids and my first granddaughter.

The most important part of my work? You.  I hope you share your story!
If this has been tough, please reach out to a trusted friend, pastor, or counselor.