The Gift of Words
Rebekah Wierenga
I love lists. I have them written in my office and saved on my computer, and I make good use of the list function on Amazon. As I get older, certainly a good list aids my memory in various ways, but it also helps me to set daily goals, feel a sense of order in life, and function more efficiently and effectively.
I joke with my high school students that I have a list that I’m hoping to take to heaven with me. In our study of linguistics, we read Genesis 1 and 2 together and wonder about the origin of language - and I share with my students part of my “Questions for Heaven” list:
When God spoke the world into existence, what did that sound like, and who heard it?
What did it look like as the world responded to his commands?
Did Adam and Eve have belly buttons? (Not language-related, but I still wonder!)
How did they initially start talking to one another: did they have a fully formed language, or did they “invent” a language together, or did God teach them one?
When Adam was given the task of naming all of the creatures, did God organize a massive parade for him to view and name? Or did Adam and Eve have a really big scavenger hunt to find and name everything?
When God talked with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, what was that like: could they hear an actual voice? Was it more like telepathy? Did they feel more of an internal prompting?
These are some of the things I wonder about, and while I realize that I “can’t take it with me,” I sure hope that eternity provides me the opportunity to discover answers to the questions on my list.
Pondering these “Deep thoughts” with my students results in some fun and even enlightening classroom discussions, but what’s the point? My hope is that students read a very familiar account - one that many of us have read or heard multiple times per year throughout our lives - with new lenses that focus on the beautiful, miraculous, gift of language. God gave us this amazing gift of language, the ability to use words and symbols to communicate with those around us and with him, and it was an essential part of the creation process.
He spoke the world into being and then called it “Good.” He gave things names, which then gave those things an identity, and then he gave the humans the responsibility to give things names and an identity. This Creator God of the universe communicated regularly with his beloved humans, and it was all good. These musings in no way answer the specifics of the questions on my list, but they do lead me to pause and stand in awe of an Almighty God who included words and symbols in his majestic creation.
Of course, sin has crept into his area of life, as it has everywhere else, and we often mess up in our communication. We say the wrong things to people; we can’t express ourselves clearly; we misrepresent someone or something with our words; we hurt people’s feelings…and the list goes on. But God forgives and still wants our best words offered back to Him and in service for His Kingdom. What a wonderful challenge to work every day at putting truth, clarity, and beauty into our use of language and offering it back to our amazing Heavenly Father!
“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart by pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” - Psalm 19:14