Books and Words.

I ordered some of my textbooks just after Christmas. One of them has arrived, two are well on their way, but one has not yet been sent. I bought it from a Barnes & Noble affiliate seller with a high rating, but I now know there is no way I'll have it for the first week of class, and maybe will not have it for the second; that would be if it was sent today. Not well pleased, as they were paid almost two weeks ago, and my product still isn't on route.


I'm really looking forward to this semester, as it is the first when all of the classes I'm attending are classes that I really wanted just for their own sake. Not just to fill out the bureaucracy approved checklist, but because I thought each class would be interesting.

I start my morning with Poly-324/Hist-325, Modern Political Theory, which will be taught by my favourite professor that I have had thus far, Elliot Bartky. We will be reading Hobbes, Locke, Machiavelli, Spinoza, Rousseau, Marx...and two other books I cannot remember right now. Tasty.

From there I have Poly-200, Political Crimes and Trials, with Prof. Ulmschneider. I hear that she is challenging and rather interesting, so I'm looking forward to this. I also love legal and political analysis, and it looks like we will be taking a close look at the trials of Nazi war criminals.

Then I will continue to Mus-101H, which is an Honors music for the listener class, and as stultifying as that might sound to some, it is a hole in my education that I am only too aware of, and which is the more glaring because I hang around with those who actually understand the music to which they are listening.

German is next. I will have Lee, which means it will be fantastically well structured and orderly...and probably a touch easier than it should be. I do not, however, object to being more sure of my A's. ;-p

Finally, the pièce de résistance, I have Hist-222, Renaissance and Reformation, which is taught by Dr. McKenzie. The good doctor not only has enthusiasm and wit, but is also a history professor at CTS, which means he has real strength when it comes to the theological minutiae of the reformation and will not talk about it as a matter of pure class struggle.

I'm going to have so much reading and writing to do for this semester, but this is as it should be. Last semester was a constant procession of piddling little--but remarkably time consuming-- assignments of no revealed purpose.

*cough*theater*cough*

I have my own ritual for preparing for return to school, besides the obvious German vocab and other such pursuits. The internet is a teeming and mired net of idiots; there is always an ample array of asinine arguments awaiting annihilation. This time it was--what sounded like--a young man who claimed that words have no power. I would not usually bother, but everyone else who posted agreed with him. It had to be stopped.

Needless to say, after about a week, the opposition and his supporters had allowed that the comment was fallacy, but I have to wonder what brought him to that point in the first place. I have this horrible feeling that it is a virulent mutation of the old "Sticks and Stones" fallacy. Broken bones heal, as a matter of course. Doctors expedite the process, and can ensure that the healing goes well. One cannot make the same guarantees when it comes to a bruised psyche.

Words hurt, and the damage is a lot harder to diagnose than a broken bone, but just as debilitating. There was a time when I never sang if I thought someone other than my mother might hear me, this lasted from the time I was 5 to well into my teens. This came out of the fact that one kid told me that I had a bad singing voice. Now I would be able to shut that voice out because I know differently and the voice was not one that I would respect.

Think, however, of what it would do to you if someone you loved dearly told you one day that they didn't love you anymore. I have never, and never expect, to be subject to that pain, but I cannot imagine how that would hurt. Harsh words from a friend that you expect to be on your side are sharp enough, but coming from someone you look up to...they are necessarily devastating.

Even working retail, harsh words from random members of the unwashed masses have the effect of leaving me red faced and struggling to hold on to my civility. I do, but my face is burning as though it was slapped. There is no attachment between us, but their words still have the power to cause me internal disquiet and physical discomfort.

Strong enough words are sufficient to drive men to the belief that murder is right. No dictator or tyrannical regime says "yeah, that's right, we are the bad guys and are just basically evil." Words were the engine of the Maoist Revolution, of the Bolshevik Revolution, and of the Nazi rise to power; noble words about egalite and fraternite. All that is required for this perfect society is to remove the obstacles....

These promises fell through; it could be no other way. This is not where men may see perfection on earth. The people of China, Russia, and Germany suffered terribly. Earthly rulers promised them brotherhood, goodness, and justice, but brought them death.

Words are more powerful than sticks and stones: Thanks be to God.

Many fall to wicked words, yet by the Word are all men made alive. Our Lord claims us in Holy Baptism, drowns and destroys the old man in a torrent of water and word, and places His own name upon us; that we might have true fraternite with Him before the Father in heaven. It is by the Word that we are given the Body and Blood of God, for us sinful men to eat and drink in order that we might live.

There is no life outside words, for it is through His Word that Our Lord makes himself known to us. And in Him alone are found the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.

Words have power. By word are bones, bodies, hearts, and minds broken. By the Word will they all be made whole and perfect in Jesus Christ.