Last year, Austin was in a therapy session with his amazing, gifted therapist. He goes to her to discuss his feelings and to learn to better express the frustrations and anxiety common with his challenges. I’ve tried to describe Austin, but a heart like his defies description. He is deep-thinking and deep-feeling and has a connection to God that I’ve rarely seen. In this particular session, they were working with magnetic poetry. These are just random words, on a single square magnet, in a package. There must be hundreds of these little squares and a popular thing to do is make sentences or poems on your refrigerator. In this exercise, Austin was to use the squares to express his thoughts or feelings, at that time. It’s a great idea and one would think that single words, here and there, would be what he’d choose. Instead, Austin put this astounding poem together, and his therapist and I were absolutely floored! These words were so profound! It’s as if an angel guided those squares…well, I think he is an angel, of course!
Let every grace that’s from above
Create every gentle being
Accept wisdom still new
Think of that! I have read those words over and over for a year. They are God’s words. We have to allow the grace of God – every bit of it. Grace is the unmerited favor of God – it’s not deserved or based on performance, it is simply given. Then, we have to let that grace create, in us, the gentle nature of God. Next, we have to accept and embrace the truths of God’s word as relevant. The wisdom, in those pages, is ageless and timeless as though written yesterday. People argue doctrines being Old Testament, pre-New Testament, old covenant, new covenant, and so on. We don’t get to pick and choose the parts we want or like. If that were true, I would choose that “wives submit yourself to your husbands” verse to tear out of my Bible! The wisdom of God is what Proverbs encourages us to seek, above all else, and is the pervasive theme of that entire book. Austin’s words tell us to accept God’s wisdom, often referred to as the “wisdom of old”, as new again. What a message!
All God needed were some magnets to create magnetic words. What power we have with words, both to bless and to curse (James 3:10). Moreover, our words don’t just have power, they have staying power as seen in Proverbs 18:8…”they sink into a man’s heart”. Another translation says that hurtful words “go down into the innermost parts of the soul.” Words go there and stay there…they are magnetic. Another verse says that, “the words of a man’s mouth are as deep waters.” (Proverbs 18:4) Haven’t all of us drowned a few people then, if that’s the case! On the other hand, our words can bless others, hence; Let every grace that’s from above, create every gentle being. Our gracious words can create better for ourselves and others. We can become more like Him if we choose our words carefully.
Early on, in Austin’s treatment, doctors and therapists told us to be very careful with our words. The wrong tone or word could cause a major upset or meltdown. Consequently, we’ve always been so careful and guarded, with what we said to or around Austin, and it was a great lesson to all of us. Because of that, Austin gets the best version of everyone and the results are crystal clear. What would it happen if we could be like that with everyone? What would happen if we bridled our tongues as James commands? There’s a reason for it and it’s simple – good words produce goodness. Goodness is perpetual…it keeps going and going if we keep it going and going.
Out of all those hundreds of magnetic squares, Austin chose to put together those words and that sequence. That message is for all of us. Those were his thoughts and wishes for people everywhere he said…it was his prayer and it is our hope.
