Dear Fellow,
On the night of Christmas in 2021, I wrote to Bloom:
You first told me this: “The world is better with you in it.”
I got this note by reviewing our chat on WhatsApp down to the earliest I could find—that is, on the 6th of November 2021. I was unable to reach the exact text where she first wrote this to me: “The world is better with you in it.” My best guess is that she sent it to me on my birthday (21st August) in 2021. Yet, my mind tells me she didn’t send it on my birthday. That day it felt spontaneous, just out of the blue. And to this day, I have not been able to get rid of the words and the human behind them from my memory. After about two years, it doesn’t just linger; it is like a prominent framed photo in the sitting room of my mind.
Words and people have a strange connection. Little wonder the Bible, in Colossians 4:6, admonishes:
“Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out” (MSG).
Words live longer than people. Bloom is just one out of several other people who come to mind when a particular word or statement is made. Words make an eternal impact.
Speak words that will edify the listener. Speak words that will outlive you. Speak words that awaken joy in another. Speak words that leave you etched eternally on the listener’s heart for good.
As much as we hate the memory of ungracious words, we must make it a personal duty to not speak them out. They seem to persist in the memory better than gracious words have learned to implant themselves. Gracious words are lazy and delicate beings, untrained antibodies needing endless triggering in and from the human mind. Ungracious words, on the other hand, are swift and resilient. Human nature easily accommodates ungracious words. Gracious words, like exotic meals, are scarce delicacies to many human beings. There aren’t enough gracious and memorable words going around this big table of our existence. So, there is room enough for gracious words to fill.
Begin to implant gracious words, like my friend Bloom has, in your neighbour's mind at every given opportunity. It doesn’t have to be deep. Well, you could borrow my friend’s words. Why not? The message applies to your loved ones too: THE WORLD IS BETTER WITH YOU IN IT.
You matter, good Fellow.
Your LetterMan,
Tongjal, W. N.