Words

Reflecting on some earlier posts, I wonder if I've left the impression that I don't think words matter. Well, I've put quite a few of them on this page, so I guess that's evidence I think they are of some importance.

Also, I think that in saying what we believe, we are often issuing something of a challenge to ourselves. Once we let the words out, perhaps we feel a higher obligation to live up to them. That why wedding vows, oaths of office, etc.

I often talk in my history classes about the challenge that America has to live up to the words in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. We've often failed. But, the words have never left us, always remind us of what our goal is, and they make us think about what need to do to get closer to our ideals.

Part of my personal objective in putting all these words on this page is to get them out there, to challenge myself to live up to my beliefs. Just like it has been a tremendous challenge for the US to try to measure up to its ideals, I have a lot of work to do in order to live up to mine as well. I hope I will give my words substance with actions that increasingly reflect them. That is my challenge to myself.

GP