Notes from An Alien

Most writers have heard the maxim, “Show Don’t Tell”.  And, even though action in a book can keep most readers turning pages, I find it oh, so ironic that those actions are being conveyed with words :-)

Language is strange! And strange means “foreign”. And, a blog written by someone who’s first language isn’t English prompted me to write this post.

Before I talk about that, I want to explore this Words/Deeds issue.

I’ll leave the strange situation of writing’s challenge of expressing deeds with words for a possible future post. Here, I’ll ask a number of questions:

Which do you feel more comfortable using to convey your heart-felt principles: words or deeds?

Even though many Holy Texts hold deeds above words, do you find certain situations demanding words more than deeds?

Can deeds “say” things better than words?

What do you do when you find a person’s deeds saying something different than their words?

Which can you trust more: deeds or words?

As I write this post, I’m performing a deed. I have to use words to create the result of the deed (this post). The affect of the result of my deed is different for different people. Some folks will respond to the result with other words in the comments. That’s the result of one of their deeds…

Are you starting to feel a bit of the bedeviling wonder I’m experiencing as I explore the interrelationship of words and deeds?

…

“But, he said he loves me!”

“Right, honey, but look at what he’s doing.”

“I know… But I love him…”

“Just watch yourself, baby.”

…

So, I started writing this post because someone started following me on Twitter and I checked the link they had in their profile and it led to their blog. It became obvious they weren’t very familiar with expressing themselves in English. I noticed they were from Indonesia but much of what they said let me know that, when it came to their daily deeds, they engaged in things nearly identical to people who grow up speaking English.

I have to say that a person “misusing” English is not reason enough for me to ignore what their trying to say. I have a friend from Lithuania. His art says way more than his words but even his words–crafted more from the structuring of his native language than from English–his words are deeply artistic and actually can say more to me than many who write “good” English…

One day, it’s likely our world will have one language that everyone learns, along with their native tongue, from their earliest years. [It won't necessarily be English.] Everyone will be fluent in two languages–one that can create challenges of understanding for others and one that will unite our entire human family in the never-boring task of exploring the relative worth of Words and Deeds.
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