Sometimes just playing with words and phrases, or looking up the meanings of words and how they relate to other words is a refreshing brain play.

I know when I’m reading, I will become mystified by an author’s skill at putting words together. I mean, the words can be just words, but how they are woven can be magical. Especially if they are ordinary, common words, but dancing on the page in a way that sweeps me up and pulls me into another sphere, that is a gifted writer. And I will stop, and hold the book to my chest, and sigh, and hold onto the moment for a moment. This writer just made a new neural pathway for me, just sparked an entirely new way to see something or say something, and I am dizzy with gratitude.

For me, this morning, it started with, “It is well with my soul.” The phrase popped into my head, and I know it’s from a hymn. There’s quite a backstory of horrific loss and pain. And yet, in the midst of the writer’s pain, because of his faith and the love and comfort he felt from his God, he was able to still say, “It is well with my soul.”

The Touching Story Behind “It Is Well with My Soul”

When I went looking up other words similar to “It is well,” I came across the Hebrew word, Shalom, which is a greeting meaning Peace. In the same definition were the phrases, “I’ll be waiting for your call,” and, “Au Revoir,” the French phrase which is used for a short, not forever goodbye – “Until we meet again!”

While these may not seem exactly similar, this morning, the phrases and salutations dance in my mind with hope and beauty. Great loss being comforted to the point a writer can pen the song, “It is well with my soul;” friends calling out, “Shalom!,” for Peace, or, “I’ll be waiting for your call;” and the pleasant farewell of “Au Revoir,” – “Until we meet again!” All bring to mind a very hopeful, contented frame of mind.

I hope that you find these phrases meaningful and beautiful for you today, and that these words dance for you as they did for me.

Cover photo by Ilyuza Mengazova on Upsplash