Journal of Sacred Work

Today’s meditation was written by Cathy Self, Senior Vice-President for the Baptist Healing Trust.   

     In my mail yesterday I received the gift of a reflection that was written by using only one-syllable words. I confess I read it first with an eye and ear to what seemed to me a very unusual approach to writing. The words were simple and clear, and on second reading beautifully reflected the simplicity and clarity of the message itself. It turns out that writing this way is an old practice and discipline. For example, hymn writer Isaac Watts (1674-1748), who has been referred to as a poetic genius, is believed to have preferred writing hymns in words of one syllable. His hymns are simple and straightforward, yet still able to express a profound experience of God. A professor of English literature and writing has noted the power of one in the structure of the sonnet. In Shakespeare’s time, the sonnet was considered the proof of a writer’s talent, and in the sonnet we can experience the power of one beat, one word, one sound, one syllable.

     There are those who have estimated that from 70 to 78 percent of the words used by W. Somerset Maugham, Sinclair Lewis, Robert Lewis Stevenson, and Charles Dickens have only one syllable. Sermons preached by the notable evangelist Billy Graham have been analyzed, and 76 percent of his words were found to be one-syllable words. 73 percept of the words in Psalm 23, 76 percent of the words in the Lord’s Prayer, and 80 percent of the words in 1 Corinthians 13 are also one-syllable words.

     In the movement practice of Aikido, every one-syllable sound is believed to have its own spiritual vibration. Those who have studied and practiced the disciplines of meditation and centering prayer have focus on and use one-syllable words. In the anonymous fourteenth century Christian spiritual classic, The Cloud of Unknowing, prayer is defined as "nothing else than a devout intention directed toward God." This "intention," suggested the author, is expressed through the use of "but a little word of one syllable."

     Words carry great power, as we’ve been sharing this week in this pages; perhaps that power is felt most of all when we use simple, one-syllable words. With our words we can create harm and hurt, or help and hope. It appears that many great things are named by very small words – life, death, truth, lie, laugh, cry, hate, and love, all small words but with the potential for big impact. The reflection I received yesterday was written by Rabbi Albert M. Lewis titled "On the Journey Towards Becoming a Peacemaker," and yes, every word is a one syllable word:

     What if God were to speak to us now; to give us a fresh look at what’s real, true, and the core of our world? Might God say, "Be just, be kind, care, share, give, take, love, laugh, cry, feel the pain, and dance in the time of joy?" And what would we hear? Would it be what we want to hear, or what was said? Could we each hear in our own way? Must we all be of the same mind? Must the one who hears at twelve feet fight with the one who hears at twelve yards? Will the black one and the white one and the child of the land all know God in the same way? And if not, will they then fight?

What if God said, "I grant you a gift: a world full of peace, health, and food for all. I give you a time, now, when each may sit by his vine and by her fig tree and none will cause you fear?" Would we heed the words? If God came to each of us in a dream, would we hold the dream in our hearts and souls, or would we cast it off as just a dream? What would it take to look deep with in, where we live and know truth, and there to find the one God, who cries for us and waits and hopes and says, "I am here. Do not fear. Live, love, talk, and walk hand in hand with me. Let no child learn war any more, but let each bring what is right and just in his home and in her land!"

The power of one – one syllable, one word, one hope, one Love. You carry within you great power. May you know and experience the power of one in your life today.