At a Loss for Words

What do you do when you don't have the words? Especially when it's your job to come up with words the educate, enlighten and inspire other people. What happens when the words won't come?

There's any number of reason that words might fail you: shock, grief, pain. But the results are the same. The words aren't there. What do you do?

Stay Silent - even though you might want to find words, in the midst of pain and grief, your words will probably be the wrong ones. Just sit. Hold onto your words. The moment will pass and the words will flow again. Just not right now.

Borrow Words - find the words that have supplied others ahead of you. Look to the Psalms or Lamentations. Read out the words of sorrow and redemption that have sustained people for thousands of years. Meditate on them, read them or shout them.

Speak Truth - Use your moments of wordlessness to find truthfulness. When shock strips away all of the built up barriers that we typically carry with us, the truth can be exposed. It's raw and sensitive. It will hurt to touch it, let alone speak it, but speaking the truth of your situation can free others to join in the story with you and begin to find healing.

What do you do when the words won't come?