The Power of Words

HS # 12   2016.7.5

The Power of Words

Someone once said,  “You’ll be the same person in five years as you are today except for the books you’ve read, the people you’ve met, and the places you’ve gone.”  Lots of truth to that. I just returned from a long-awaited trip to Scotland, and after visiting a wonderful country, I returned with a new appreciation of this one.  For one significant reason:  The U.S.A was built on the power of words.

The idea struck me while touring Edinburgh Castle which culminated in seeing the Crown Jewels of Scotland.  They are magnificent – a crown, a scepter, a sword, and The Stone of Destiny.  These items have been used throughout the centuries to symbolize the power and authority of the Scottish rulers.  The Stone – a 300 pound chunk of sandstone – was the object on which early kings of Scotland were bestowed as rulers, and it has been part of the coronations of England and Scotland ever since.  After 700 years in Westminster Abbey, England returned it to Scotland in 1996, but still calls it back to be set under the thrown when each new monarch is crowned.

Seeing these revered objects – all protected under thick glass, I was reminded of the novel, “The Lord of the Flies.”  Briefly, a small group of young boys is marooned on an island following a plane crash. Starting out well, rivalries and conflict develop, and a conch shell is arbitrarily used as the symbol of authority. Whoever has it, has the power to speak.

Rather silly, but that has been the method used throughout much of history. Consider the exalted pulpits used in cathedrals, the robe and cap of the pope, and, of course, the crown jewels of the rulers of many European countries. (Likely there are many more examples.)

How radically brilliant it was then for our Founding Fathers to reject all such physical symbols. Instead of a stone and sword protected under thick glass, we have the original copies of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence - words on a piece of paper - protected by bullet-proof glass and ready to descend into a deep vault at the first sign of danger.

Instead of placing a crown on the president’s head and handing a scepter, the President-elect says words - simple words of the oath of office. Repeating those 35 words is necessary and sufficient to become the next President of the United States.

Indeed, our faith in those words is so powerful that in 2009 when Supreme Court Justice John Roberts and President-elect Obama muffed up the oath of office,  they repeated it the next day – correctly.

How interesting this all is! The Founding Fathers are credited with establishing a new form of government – a republic where the power is held by the people, rather than a royal family or ruling class. The method of delegating that power – via elections of representatives and a president and oversight by justices - is also widely known as an historical innovation.  But along with these, it seems, the Founding Fathers also realized that the symbols of authority should not be objects, but  words.  They believed in the power of words.

It might be appropriate then that our two greatest presidents were instrumental in cementing this new faith. President Washington willingly gave up his authority as president after eight years in office when John Adams became the second person to say the oath of office.  This allowed for the peaceful transfer of power, prompting King George III to say of Washington, “If he does that, he shall be the greatest man in the world.”

And 66 years afterwards, President Lincoln reflected back on the previous century and looked forward with hope to exclaim that a nation so founded would long endure. At just one point in that speech Lincoln erred. He said  “The world will little note nor long remember what we say here . . . “ In that statement he was mistaken, since the Gettysburg Address, which I memorized as a fifth-grader and still recite, follows only the Sermon on the Mount on the TIME list of Speeches that Changed the World. Maybe even Lincoln underestimated how much we in the U.S.A. value the power of words. That’s a heritage in which we can all take pride.