Four Letter Words

FOUR LETTER WORDS: Have you every thought about the power in those small words with just four letters? Some have the power to comfort, to cheer up, to offer support, and to show kindness. I’ll call these words the Good Four.

Four letter words can also destroy, create anger or sadness, ruin relationships, and can’t be taken back. I’ll call these words the Bad Four. My goal of this blog page is to hopefully encourage people to replace the Bad Four with their counterpart of the Good Four.

Until I started this page, I never really realized just how many four letters words there are, and how often we use them in just one day. We may not even realize we are using them. Sometimes we don’t have to actually say the word. Our actions are the words.

It’s that time again when feelings and beliefs, your side or my side are about to be ripped apart. There will be a lot of the Bad Four uttered In anger, frustration, ignorance and many other reasons. Political discussions bring out the trash.

I remember as a youngster, after saying a Bad Four, although one of the milder ones, my grandmother literally washed my mouth out with soap.

I got embarrassed when my younger brother came running into the house one day wanting to know what a four letter meant that had been written on a neighbor’s porch. My mom told him to ask Dad.

The Bad Four: It seems to be easy for people to throw around those Bad Fours. We hear them in too many of our favorite shows, all the while trying to figure out why that word is necessary, especially as many times it gets said. Do people really talk like that in real life? This could be a long list. There’s the one that seems to be the most frequently used, and the one word I literally hate hearing – the F bomb. Number one of the Bad Fours. The other Bad Fours almost pale in comparison to number one. Damn – that was the word that got my mouth washed with soap. Milder form of that is Dang , even milder is Darn. Kids loves these: Poop, Poot, Butt and Fart. Then there is the graduate word – Crap, and the granddaddy of those – S**T.

Some of the Bad Four might not actually be said, but instead be shown by actions. Take Hate as an example. You could actually tell someone you hate them, but most likely you just show them you hate them. You can be mean without saying it, but your actions speak it for you. You may think it and tell someone they are a fool, likely due to difference in opinion. Then there is harm, which using a lot of the already mentioned words can lead to.

My wish and prayer is to hear more of the Good Four these next two months, to be more gentle and thoughtful when I need to be.

The Good Four: these are the guys we need to carry with us to fight against the temptation to turn to the Bad Four. We need to show someone we care, and be willing to help those in need. The Bible tells us to love one another. We are to be kind in actions and words. We need to pray for each other. We need to try to be the calm in a stormy situation.

Can you see how many times a four letter word was used in this blog? They are in every part of our conversations, every day. Let’s practice the Good Four. Let’s make the Good Four more powerful than the Bad Four. Maybe by doing so, we can HELP the person who has been HURT by someone being MEAN, or has known HATE. Maybe we can be the reason they HEAL, by being KIND, showing we CARE, and practicing LOVE.