Two Words That Matter More Than We Let On

Two words are tumbling in my head. I've had them there before, and no doubt so have you. But when I tell you what they are, it's possible you'll think… “Uh-oh, that thin plank of reason he treads on finally snapped.” But there is method in my madness... or at least
there is a point to this post ....

These two words often mean no harm. They go off like an alarm in our head when we realize that whatever was said or caused the fret isn't worth the worry. We use them to console ourselves that what spilled was only milk, that there are other fish in the sea, that the grapes were probably sour, and no matter what we do or where we go, this may be as green as the grass gets. I've said these words that way before, and no doubt so have you.

The eight letters of these two words can be strung together and spoken in love, passed from hand to hand like fallen pearls from a necklace with the promise that most things mend. They can be whispered in a sigh to soothe like a mother’s voice that lulls “There-oh-there” to the sad and sleepy head upon her lap. They can reassure as does a father's hand upon the trembling shoulder as if to say, "Never mind what they say." They can prompt the deep breath that comes when love helps us remember what matters most. I've said these words that way before, and no doubt so have you.

But these same two words can slap our senses, burst our bubble, and leave our sails slack with no hope of a breeze. They sometimes come from nowhere, hurled in the lake of life like a boulder just as the smooth skipping-stone we saved for last leaves our hand. They can sprout up from failure and success alike but seem ever rooted in the same futility. They can cripple us with the doubt and indifference of false isolation until, looking so deeply within ourselves, we're left without a prayer. Worse yet, they can leave us wondering if in the end anything matters at all. I've spoken these words that way before, and no doubt so have you.

These two words echo 'round the world, and if followed for long they lead to a corner, the conclusion that life is all about achieving--that when all is said and done, only what's said about what is done gives life meaning.
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Repeated enough, these words can belittle into oblivion any moment, any deed, any person that for lack of note goes unnoticed or left uncounted is esteemed of no account.

In this latter sense, these two words are a paradox in that the more loudly we exclaim them the more likely our voice cracks and our shell gives way to show a longing for the answer. These two-words matter more than we let on. They imply that we were created not to live in isolation but communion. They explain why our greatest sense of “achievement” rests not in ownership, not in leadership... but in RELATIONSHIP.

Our lives offend God least, reflect Christ most, and serve our neighbor best when they answer the empty echo of this plea:

Who cares?
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(Today was my mother's birthday. Happy Birthday, Mom! We miss you.)
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[First photo is of Lahu Indian boy taken January 2008, 3 miles from the Burmese border in northern Thailand. Second photo: Do you see carved columns of isolation against a black backdrop... or silhouettes of two pairs of people standing with heads inclined to each other as if in conversation?]