{"id":3826,"date":"2024-07-15T21:58:10","date_gmt":"2024-07-16T01:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=3826"},"modified":"2024-07-15T21:58:10","modified_gmt":"2024-07-16T01:58:10","slug":"gracious-words","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/15\/gracious-words\/","title":{"rendered":"Gracious Words"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0<\/em>click here<\/a>

No one has ever written in the English language as marvelously as William Shakespeare.\u00a0

Shakespeare\u2019s brilliance is reflected in the fact that most of us quote him every week, but don\u2019t even realize it.

Have you ever felt footloose and fancy free?\u00a0<\/em>
Been left high and dry?<\/em>
Passed a test that was a piece of cake?<\/em>
Have you ever sent someone packing?<\/em>
Or refused to budge an inch?<\/em>
Been tongue-tied?<\/em>
Known someone who was a tower of strength?<\/em>
Suspected you had been hoodwinked?<\/em>
Found yourself In a pickle?<\/em>
Or knitted your brow?<\/em>
Have you ever slept not one wink?<\/em>
Laughed yourself into stitches?<\/em>
Realized it was high time <\/em>you did something?
Explained that this is the long and short of it?<\/em>
Believed the game is up?<\/em>
Embraced your own flesh and blood?<\/em>
Found yourself laid low?<\/em>
Worked, talked, or slept till the crack of dawn?<\/em>
Kept a commitment through thick and thin?<\/em>
Suspected foul play?<\/em>
Eliminated a problem in one fell swoop<\/em>?
Wondered about a situation for which there is no rhyme or reason?<\/em>
Bid something or somebody good riddance?<\/em>
Become a laughingstock?<\/em>
Declared that something was dead as a doornail<\/em>?
Said for goodness\u2019 sake?<\/em>
Declared that it\u2019s all Greek to me?<\/em>

If so, then you\u2019ve been borrowing the words of history\u2019s greatest playwright.\u00a0Not that Shakespeare would care in the least.

Literary critic Elliot Engel observes that his phrases were \u201cso perfect and clever in their expression that people recognized them as works of genius, stole them on the spot, used them in front of their children, and they became part of common parlance.\u201d

Most of us are considerably less confident in our own ability to find just the right words to express our deepest sentiments.

That\u2019s why Hallmark exists, right?

Or, far better still, we can surrender our hang-ups about originality and profundity and speak to others with kindness and sincerity.\u00a0 Here are some all-time winners:

Thanks.<\/em>
I\u2019m so glad to know you.\u00a0<\/em>
I\u2019m grateful we\u2019re in this together.<\/em>
What can I do to help?\u00a0<\/em>
You always know how to bring out the best.<\/em>
I so appreciate you.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>
I love you.<\/em>

As the writer of Proverbs puts it, \u201cGracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones\u201d (16:24).

The effect of such simple affirmations on other human beings is impossible to overstate.\u00a0

Especially if (as Shakespeare first put it) they come from the bottom of your heart.<\/em>
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0click here No one has ever written in the English language as marvelously as William Shakespeare.\u00a0 Shakespeare\u2019s brilliance is reflected in the fact that most of us quote him every week, but don\u2019t even realize it. Have you ever felt footloose and fancy free?\u00a0Been left high and dry?Passed a test that was a… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3827,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[241,770,737],"class_list":["post-3826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-kindness","tag-literature","tag-words"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3826"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3826\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3828,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3826\/revisions\/3828"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}