Words Are Medicine

My job is to listen and to speak. When I do my job well, the words come easily, from my heart to the listener’s ears. It’s not easy to craft words into medicine. There are many jobs that require it. Those of us who endeavor to make remedy from language typically go through a lot of training. We have academic degrees. We labor to learn how to listen and to speak with skill. So often what we say does not land the way we want it to, but when it does, the expression in the eyes of the listener is relief. Peace, maybe. Gratitude. Love. Healing.

Words are medicine.

The words are usually simple: “You are loved.” “You are safe.” “I see that you are hurting.” “I’m sorry.” “This is a really tough day.” “It’s okay to feel sad/angry/upset/overwhelmed…”

“It is okay to feel.”

Simple words said truthfully at the right moment are forever etched in our memories. Each of us has that story when a pastor, teacher, friend, parent, therapist, stranger, or partner said exactly what we needed to hear. Their words were medicine for whatever hurt, harm, illness, or injury was causing our soul to suffer.

We do suffer. Each of us. A person with all the resources they could wish for can agonize over their powerlessness in changing a brutal outcome for a loved one. A person with not a resource in the world, aside from the breath they draw, can suffer at how helpless they feel to determine their destiny. An old man can turn away in resignation at the inevitability of decline and death. A young woman can become despondent when she knows that a disease will take her life before her children are grown. The suffering of the human condition takes my breath away.

And so, we need medicine.

Medicine becomes poison when it is used incorrectly. Too many, too few, or the wrong words work the same way. Speech becomes poison to the mind and soul when it is delivered with emotions of hate, indifference, irrational fear, and hopelessness. Words have been regularly weaponized by humans since we developed the ability to speak; but it feels worse lately. Perhaps the amplification of social media technologies is the cause of toxicity in our communication. But perhaps not. Regardless of the cause, we must each be responsible for the words we use, and how we use them.

Words are medicine that can heal a person to their core. Words can also be poison that intentionally causes harm and diminishes human goodness. Patience, care, and sensitivity are foundational to helping others- when spoken, these graces transform us.