But with great power comes great responsibility. Do we use words to build up or break down? To encourage or to intimidate? To empower or to enslave?

As the psalmist wrote, “O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.” In the Proverbs, Solomon mused, “death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.” And in the New Testament we hear Jesus respond to the tempter by saying that, “man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” In all of these examples, we are reminded of the power of language, of speech, of words: we live with words, work with words, make with words, and are made by words.

Tim Blackmon, chaplain of Wheaton College, comes to Upper House to explore our use of language, reminding us of our calling to speak life into a broken world.