Words Are Windows (or They're Walls)

I just started reading a life-transforming book: "Nonviolent Communication" A Language of Life, by Marshall Rosenberg.
I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Our words are so powerful...they can heal a heart, or start a war. If we speak with more compassion, there will be more compassion in the world.

Here is a poem from the book, written by Ruth Bebermeyer:

"I feel so sentenced by your words,
I feel so judged and sent away,
Before I go I've got to know,
Is that what you mean to say?

Before I rise in my defense,
Before I speak in hurt or fear,
Before I build that wall of words,
Tell me, did I really hear?

Words are windows, or they're walls,
They sentence us, or set us free,
When I speak and when I hear,
Let the love light shine through me.

There are things I need to say,
Things that mean so much to me,
If my words don't make me clear,
Will you help me to be free?

If I seemed to put you down,
If you felt I didn't care,
Try to listen through my words,
To the feelings that we share."

We must always remember that everyone is hurting in some way. Make your words ones of healing, not of pain.