Words’ Worth - Ella Wheeler Wilcox

1850–1919

A poet, lover of life, musician, and eternal optimist—all these terms could describe Ella Wheeler Wilcox. A prolific American writer in the late 1800s and early 1900s, penning more than five hundred poems in her lifetime, Wilcox earned a healthy income from the sale of her simple poetry. She had a knack for putting complex thoughts and feelings into accessible rhymes and stanzas.

Much of her poetry dealt with the spiritual—God, faith, and human kindness. One of Ella’s well-known quotes conveys the biblical principles of treating people (including oneself) with kindness and respect: “A pat on the back is only a few vertebrae removed from a kick in the pants, but is miles ahead in results.”

The Bible puts it this way: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Ephesians 4:29, NIV).

The words we say and hear matter. Wilcox understood this. Over and over, she used words to encourage people to embrace life and see the good in it. To those who saw the earth as only veiled in sin, she said, “I and the bees, and the birds, we doubt it, / And think it a world worth living in.”

When starting the morning with prayers, she advised to “ask for your divine inheritance / Of usefulness, contentment, and success. / Resign all fear, all doubt, and all despair.”

Whether it’s the words that come out of your mouth when you’re trying to build someone else up or the words that you allow into your mind when you need to be built up yourself, it might be wise to take a lesson from Ella and make sure those words are a pat on the back, not a kick in the pants.

The apostle Paul challenged believers to make sure their conversation was “full of grace, seasoned with salt” (Colossians 4:6, NIV). Pleasant, tasty, lip-smackingly good. Ella Wheeler Wilcox spent her career putting language together in delicious ways. But you don’t need to be a bestselling author to deliver appetizing words.

Encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.

1 Thessalonians 5:11