The Word

“Every one should consider his body as a priceless gift from one whom he loves above all, as a marvelous work of art, of undescribable beauty and mastery beyond human conception, and so delicate and frail that a word, a breath, a look, nay, a thought, may injure it.”
Nikola Tesla

Do we really have the freedom to say what we like or even to think what we like? How often do we stop to consider the impact of our words on another person before we speak? If we are angry with them then, probably rarely. Yet, we only have to think about our own response to the way some people speak to us to realise the truth of Nikola Tesla’s words.

Harsh words, words said in anger, insults, all create wounds in the soul. We could even say that if we let an insult fester in us, we assist with the wounding.

If we look at the true meaning of the word, ‘word’ we will have greater understanding of Nikola Tesla’s ideas. The Word, in New Testament Greek, means Logos and it is an important word in the Bible. It is so important that St John uses it to begin his Gospel. To the Apostle John the Word or Logos means much more than a simple word; in the Logos word and concept become one. This means that if we experience the Logos, we live in the concept the word describes, and we experience a full understanding of it. This is an, ‘aha’, moment. Unfortunately today the world is drowning in words that are mostly misunderstood.

When St John speaks of the Word, the Logos, he means a spoken word that creates something.

When does a spoken word create something today? Perhaps when it inspires, for example, during a motivational talk, or at school when the words used by a teacher ignite the life path of a student. Although, as Nikola Tesla says, the word can also be destructive.

With these ideas in mind we can look at the words used to begin the Gospel of St John. They are not usually translated accurately. The following is a more considered translation.

In the beginning was the Word (Logos), and the Word was with God, and the Word was a God. The same was in the beginning with God;
all things entered into existence through it and without it nothing entered into existence. In it was life, and the life was the light of mankind.
John 1:1-4

So if this Word, this Logos, was a God, what exactly was it? We can gather some helpful ideas from St Mark as he reports on the parable of the sowing of the seed. After he told the parable of sowing the seed on rocky ground, among thorns, or on good ground, he said privately to his disciples that the “sower sows the word (Logos).” Mark 4:14

This parable explains that the word is a seed and how it is planted matters. While the word remains a seed it is mute, the seed only speaks when it becomes the plant it is destined to become and bears the fruit it is intended to bear.

This also tells us of a creative process, a birth process. When we speak we give birth to words, we conceive them, then we form them, and then we let them go.

It follows that when we become aware of this primal Logos resonating through us, we are in touch with the creative impulse of the Universe. We could also say that this word is a universal form of communication, a universal language we must awaken within ourselves. We know that words are what connect us to each other, when one speaks and the other hears we are joined by the Word, the Logos. When the Word is expressed in its purity, out of love, we experience grace.

As St John tells us, from the very earliest beginnings the Word, the Logos, filled cosmic space with the sound of creation. If we think of sound as a note, we know that a note must have a perfect tone otherwise it is discordant. If we can hear the original sound, we know that through it we can make sense of the mysteries that underpin human life. This is our challenge, to get in touch with the Creative Word, the Logos - that which was in the beginning.

First published on Huffington Post