What words to live by

Watching the news the other day, it occurred to me that people who "have a word for a living" often begin to attack or even kill others. I thought of my angry youth, when I could easily use words to justify violent thoughts that could turn into violent acts. Words are tools, but they can be more dangerous than gunpowder. Imagine two men walking past each other facing each other. One signals an approaching hurricane, the other shows a raging fire heading towards them. Each sees his own truth and gets angry when he sees the other's hand. Each feels that the other's hand is "wrong". This may seem silly, but replace the hurricane and fire with any modern problem and hands on words and this scene explains how we often try to communicate. We pass each other with our words, arguing as if we were looking at the same facts and experiences. Instead of learning to look at what other people's words show, we want to prove that our words are true. Words are seductive, and for all their undeniable utility, they can distract us from understanding when we focus on them, making them more important than the facts they should point to. No Words to Live It's not just about communicating with others. We focus on the web of words we use to explain the world to ourselves and we get trapped. For example, we call things "right" or "wrong" based on how they compare to our "definitions." Unlike math, word formulas and definitions can never be more precise. They cannot cover the whole truth of reality. For example, with minimal effort, you can create a situation where it is right to "steal" and wrong to "help" someone. This is not an argument against the use of language or logic. It's just that both only go so far. They are useful like a car that takes you around the country or the world, but like a car they are only useful in certain ways and you have to get out of them when you arrive at your various destinations. Driving to the lake is not a problem, but taking it to the lake is a problem. This is what we do when our words and logic lead us into dangerous situations. Can it be dangerous to have words for a living? Definitely. I once heard a compassionate person say that he was against animal cruelty laws because he couldn't come up with a logical and defensible set of words to defend them. If he saw a new machine, would he refuse to believe it existed until he explained and described it? Truth and the reality of right and wrong exist outside of words - they are not words themselves. I saw a man on the evening news say that we have the right to drop a nuclear bomb on Iraq and that we should. As she explained why, you could see that whatever compassionate impulses she had, her dedication to her words, her reasoning, and where it was taking her was overwhelming them. It had never occurred to her that there might be a truth beyond her words and logic. It's great to have guidelines like "don't lie" or "we have the right to defend ourselves". It is even better to remember that these rules will one day fail us and we will have to make new ones. Words are just tools. There are words to die, but no words to live.