Words

     Words are  a very powerful thing. At least I've heard it said and I've been thinking about why I've always believed that to be true. I'm a writer, or at least I try to be, and with every word you craft your message. Every word tells something about you, the way you express yourself tells a lot about who you are. I'm of the opinion that every person expresses themselves through some art form. I have a good friend who paints and draws. She very literally expresses herself through art. There are a lot of people who write music and that's their way of expression. Some people speak. Doesn't sound like an art? Think about the last time you spoke in public, it's an art. But now I'm all off track, let's come back. I like to use the written word to express myself, as I'm sure you've gathered. Recently I've been thinking about the things I say and what I write and what ever single word does for me and for everyone around me. Then on the way to the Temple the other day I discovered Christian music on the radio. It was delightful. But I also discovered the song Words by Hawk Nelson. And it kind of struck me. Made me think.

     At the very beginning of this song he talks about what words can make you feel. Like a prisoner, a criminal, set free, a king. He says

"Words can build you up, words can break you down, start a fire in our heart, or put it out."

I've seen it with words. What they can do to people, do to all of us. And we need to be careful with our words, but more importantly than just being careful with our words we need to commit to using our words to benefit as many people as we come into contact with.. My favorite part of this song is his line,

"I don't want to say a word unless it points the world back to you."

     And I guess I like that because it's kind of how I feel. I worry about my words and what they'll mean to people, but I don't want to speak unless I can be the representative of Christ that I know I want to be. I haven't always been a good example of using your words in the best way, of pointing to God with my words. But I want to be. I want to exclaim to all the world what I know to be true and I want to speak the words of God. One of the most wonderful girls I've ever met received her mission call this last week and she is so excited to go and to preach the gospel to everyone she meets. But, like they tell you in primary, you don't have to be a missionary to do missionary work. Every word we say should show the world the kind of people we are and what we stand for and who stands behind us. Our words should show the world who we promise to represent. In all that we do, I hope that we try to point our peers, our friends, our neighbors, our co-workers, and the strangers that we come into contact with to Christ. Even for people who don't believe as I do, I hope they believe in whatever they believe strongly enough that they want to share it with the world. Because that's how it should be isn't it? If you have this amazing message of joy and happiness, shouldn't you be dying to tell the world? I want to share it with the world. And right now, while I'm still in high school, I'm going to try to share it with the world through my words.

So Much Bigger On the Inside

Idris: Are all people like this?
Doctor: Like what?
Idris: So much bigger on the inside!

    Many of you know, many of you don't, that I have become quite the Doctor Who fan. To all of you who haven's seen it, I recommend it. This is a couple lines from one of my very favorite scenes. It's like the very first reason I was ever drawn to the show, another quote, of the inspiring variety. There are so many things I love about Doctor Who but one of the things I love most is when there's a moment that says so much more than people realize and probably so much more than the writers intended to say. This scene is one of the most beautiful and this woman, Idris, is not just an ordinary woman. As I'm sure you've gathered. However, she finally, in all her years of traveling with the Doctor, is able to speak her mind. All she wants to do the entire episode is say "hello" to this Doctor that she's come to love very much. But she's overwhelmed with so many other things. Being stuck in human form for one.
    The real reason I loved this part so much was because a few episodes later the Doctor uses this as an insult when he tells a villain that they are "so much smaller on the inside". To me that speaks of character. What Idris was experiencing was what it feels like to be a person, to be human. And she hadn't expected there to be so much inside of such a small creature.
    We are small. People look up at the sky and marvel at how tiny we must be in God's vast universe. Galaxies and worlds with creations beyond number. How do we ever feel anything but small? Then I remember the first quote that drew me to the Doctor.

"Do you know, in 900 years of time and space I've never met anyone who wasn't important." 

    It was one of those nights when you feel so alone, so tired of everything in life, and suddenly it's like you're given this great, glorious gift from God to fix your very temporal need. But He loved you enough to help you anyway. And that's how this quote came to me, when I needed it desperately. That's also how the tv show came to me.
    Now back to the quote up top. Feel free to read it again and keep thinking about it. I'm about to tell you why I love it so much. This quote is speaking of the human heart and mind, emotion and thought, even our godly capacities. We could be so much! We have such potential!! And we are not as small as we may seem to others or ourselves. No. On the contrary, we are far bigger on the inside. We tell each other everyday of our ability to do whatever we want so long as we "put our mind to it". How then can we ever say that anyone is small? That anyone is ever unimportant?
    No. No, in God's vast universe that we all look at in wonder we are very, very important. We are all so much bigger on the inside. Remember, everyday, when you have to make the choice, remember what you can be. What you are. And please, please remember that you are so, so much bigger that all of that.