Under Construction - MHWA Retreat

How powerful are words? Are people responsible if their words are used for insidious purposes? Words are powerful and dangerous. In the The Kitáb-i-Íqán, Baha'u'llah tells of the danger and power of words we use. "...For the tongue is a smoldering fire, and excess of speech a deadly poison..."1 Words can be used to start a war, break a heart, destroy a reputation, or incite a mass murderer. Since words are so dangerous and powerful, we are responsible for the way we use them. We can use them to comfort and inspire or we can use them to aggravate and escalate a situation.

How would you define "good" communication? When people communicate with you, what communication style do you prefer? Good communication gets the idea across without using emotionally charged words or tones to communicate the information or idea. I don't deal well with emotionally charged words or tones of voice. At one time I would respond in kind, but I've learned better. Now I will attempt to change the subject (if I think that will work); however, normally I either hang up the phone (I won't answer if the person calls me back on the same day as the confrontation), or I will walk away leaving the person standing (it's the other person's choice to follow or drop the subject).

Can you think of any specific situations where you used words to fix a problem? What about a situation where your words caused more harm than good? No, I can't think of a specific situation where my words deescalated a situation. As for my words escalating a problem, I have found that when the other person is emotionally attached to the issue nothing I say will deescalate the situation. That's why I normally choose to walk away or hang up the phone.

Footnotes
1  The Kitáb-i-Íqán: The Book of Certitude, Part Two.