January 3

The Word becomes Flesh

            In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it…And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.                                                    

John 1:1-5, 14

One of the titles for Jesus in Scripture is “The Word of God.”  Words are how we take the thoughts, ideas, hopes, dreams and desires that live inside each and every one of us and share them with the world around us.  There is nothing inherently descriptive about the letters “C,” “E,” “I,” “K” or “O.”  But if I combine them in a certain way, I create the word “Cookie.”  Now an image just popped into your head.  I can add more words like, “Fresh from the oven, gooey, chocolate chip cookie,” and now you have not only a picture, but perhaps even memories of textures, and flavors and smells and emotions…all from just a few words.  Jesus is the Word of God.  He is the embodiment of all of God’s thoughts and ideas and hopes and dreams and desires.  He is the bridge that allows humanity to understand as much of God as we possibly can.

I never appreciated the power of words until I worked around people who did not have any.  Imagine waking up one day and not being able to speak or write…but still having things that you need from other people or things that you want to share with your friends.  How would you communicate, “It’s a beautiful sunrise,” without words? 

Working in an IDD services center, the biggest fears of the staff, parents and members revolved around aggressive and violent episodes.  What we found was that most of the violent outbursts originated from communications issues.  A young man wants something or is in pain, but his caregiver does not understand.  Eventually the young man loses patience…with his caregiver, with himself, with the world and the daily struggle of his life and just lashes out.  Everyone feels the pain of broken communication.

My son’s first words were “Laadle-laadle-laadle.”  He did not really discover speech until we came across PBS kids cartoons.  It was as if Caillou was providing the script for his life and he quoted the show to communicate what he wanted.  They were not original words, but they were words and they were a start into unlocking the wonderful mysteries of that amazing child.

Words are powerful.  One of the best gifts that you can give to your child is the ability to speak to the world.  Whether that is using an iPad or sign language or a PECS board or movie quotes, helping them find their voice is one of our biggest duties as parents.

A moment to reflect:

It is okay to be tired of the struggle to communicate with our children.  Take a few moments to ask Jesus to give you the strength and patience and hope to continue the process.  It is worth it.

D age 13