Words have the power to create life

A few of Henri Nouwen's words on choosing to give life through words in relationships (from Bread for the Journey).

Choosing life instead of death demands an act of will that often contradicts or impulses...Our impulses push us to an immediate response: When someone hits us in the face, we impulsively want to hit back.  How then can we let our wills dominated our impulses?  The key word is wait...We must distance ourselves, take time to think, talk it over with friends, and wait until we are ready to respond in a life-giving way.

To choose blessing instead of curses in such of time [of being hurt by another person] calls for an enormous leap of faith. It calls for a willingness to go beyond all our urges to get even and to choose a life-giving response.

It is important to choose our words wisely.
Choosing life and not death, blessings and not curses, often starts by choosing ot remain silent or choosing carefully the words that open the way to healing.
It is not always easy to express our love directly in words.  But whenever we do, we discover we have offered a blessing that will be long remembered.
Indeed, words have the power to create life.