In the beginning was the word

or why the Pen is mightier than the Sword.

Dec 08, 2024

In the Beginning Was the Word” - John 1 ...

We humans are communicators and for that we need words. Language is the glue which binds us together, unites our souls, knits our hearts, and weaves our minds as one.

Whether spoken, particularly by great orators, written by lyrical writers and poets or offered in song, it is words which inspire us to follow, to lead, to achieve, to endure, to survive, to thrive, to live, to love and sometimes even to hate.

This is why the pen is and always will be, mightier than the sword. It is why ancient battles and leaders are barely remembered by most and why great literature and glorious songs are still remembered by many.

To quote the great Welsh British poet, Dylan Thomas, 1914-1953:

In The Beginning

In the beginning was the three-pointed star,
One smile of light across the empty face,
One bough of bone across the rooting air,
The substance forked that marrowed the first sun,
And, burning ciphers on the round of space,
Heaven and hell mixed as they spun.

In the beginning was the pale signature,
Three-syllabled and starry as the smile,
And after came the imprints on the water,
Stamp of the minted face upon the moon;
The blood that touched the crosstree and the grail
Touched the first cloud and left a sign.

In the beginning was the mounting fire
That set alight the weathers from a spark,
A three-eyed, red-eyed spark, blunt as a flower,
Life rose and spouted from the rolling seas,
Burst in the roots, pumped from the earth and rock
The secret oils that drive the grass.

In the beginning was the word, the word
That from the solid bases of the light
Abstracted all the letters of the void;
And from the cloudy bases of the breath
The word flowed up, translating to the heart
First characters of birth and death.

In the beginning was the secret brain.
The brain was celled and soldered in the thought
Before the pitch was forking to a sun;
Before the veins were shaking in their sieve,
Blood shot and scattered to the winds of light
The ribbed original of love.

This of course draws upon the Biblical teaching, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The earliest attempts by humans to understand themselves and the world was with words. No doubt language began with grunts and sounds to identify this or that person or object, but the human brain is hardwired for language in ways animal brains are not, and it was inevitable that Word would evolve significantly.

And before writing was invented, and literacy became a part of the human condition, we had Bards. These professional storytellers, poets, singers, and composers existed in many cultures in various forms. Some of the greatest could recite for days at a time, word for word, having memorised the stories the society valued. When writing was developed, it is believed around 3,400 years ago in what is now Iraq but was then Sumeria, the Bardic tradition began slowly to dissolve.

When the printing press was invented, in Germany, around 1440, by the goldsmith Johannes Gutenberg the Word took off. However, it would be many centuries, not until the 19th century, before literacy was common and the written Word was of use to most people, in the developed world at least. The Printing Press was a revolution of great magnitude but today’s technological revolution with the internet makes the Word more powerful than it has ever been before. We can communicate not only with those who speak our language, but with those who do not, thanks to computerised translations online and publishing translations for books.

To that degree, technology has brought down the Tower of Babel so we can use our words with people around the world. We should endeavour to use them wisely and to defend those words which make the world a better place, and us, better people. There is also good fortune in that while humanity does not have a common language, it does have a commonly shared language, English. Thank the British for all their colonising around the world for that, and the influence of the Americans economically for unwittingly driving English as a common language.

We, as humanity, are the Word, and for believers, something I respect but do not practice through any religion, the Word is also with God. To clarify my position, I have studied many religions but follow none. I value the best of all their teachings and see them as human efforts to explain the concept of God and the reality of this world. I find it perfectly sensible, and there is much evidence for this position, that an entity most commonly called God, is at work in this world. Just not configured or practising as most religions would have it. Conscious intelligence, that which has meaning and purpose, is evident in this world, in us and in all that is. I call that God.

And that conscious intelligence, that entity, force, energy, being which is all things and in all things, is powerfully expressed through Word. While Words can hurt and be harmful, they can never be as destructive as the Sword. We are called to that understanding. Our capacity to read, write, speak and protect words is huge. It is possible to kill humans but not ideas and it is in words that ideas are expressed and in which they endure. Some words are worthy of more honouring than others but all are worthy of respect because they reflect who and what we are, the best and the worst, the most wise and the most foolish, the most ugly and the most beautiful, the most desperate and the most fulfilled.

And for most of us, horrified at the suffering and atrocities at work in the world, the Word is all we have and we should never underestimate its power. When we are silent we become complicit. When we speak we defend justice, rule of law, human rights and common human decency. That makes for a very loud voice even as the powers that be seek to silence it.

Poetry is a form of wordmanship which at its greatest, brings together the best of our being and nurtures our souls. There has been a resurgence of poetry in recent decades, much of it mediocre, but still worthy of respect for those who strive to express themselves. And within that great woven pool of words, among the shopping list poetic form, which is sadly far too common, there are also great words and glorious expressions of our human state.

This is why the book of poetry and prose, by Palestinian poet, wordsmith and academic, Refaat Alareer is so important. It is soon to be released but is already experiencing rocketing sales around the world. Anyone who cares about justice must buy this book. And read it. His already famous poem, If I Must Die, written not long before he was murdered by the Israelis, has been heard and read by many.

If I must die

by Refaat Alareer (1979 - 2023)

If I must die,

you must live

to tell my story

to sell my things

to buy a piece of cloth

and some strings,

(make it white with a long tail)

so that a child, somewhere in Gaza

while looking heaven in the eye

awaiting his dad who left in a blaze–

and bid no one farewell

not even to his flesh

not even to himself–

sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up above

and thinks for a moment an angel is there

bringing back love

If I must die

let it bring hope

let it be a tale

Refaat Alareer, was assassinated by the Israelis along with his family. They knew where he was and dropped a bomb on their house. The Israelis have murdered more academics and purposely destroyed more universities and schools than in any other conflict in human history.

They want to destroy Palestinian culture, the culture of a brave, noble, often well educated and sophisticated people and buying this book helps to stop them. The most evil army in the world has targeted academics, doctors, journalists in ways never before seen.

They also wear the mantle of being the greatest intentional mass murderers of children in history. They must be stopped. And one way to further that cause is by using the words written by this young man who died solely because he was a Palestinian non-Jew and because he was educated, accomplished, brilliant and that challenged the Israeli narrative that he and all Palestinians were subhuman.

Let us honour his words for his sake and for our own.