by the Rev Dr Jonathan Pritchard, Keighley Town Chaplain

DO you remember defiantly calling out as a child, "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me".

It's not true, of course. It wasn't true then, and isn't now. What we say matters. Words are powerful things. They can be very hurtful. They can leave us feeling isolated, wary, turn in on ourselves. Othered. They encourage other people to join in. And before we know it, events spin out of control and someone is harmed.

It doesn't have to be this way. Words can heal too. Encourage. Support. They can open up our imagination. A word of kindness to a stranger, a word of welcome. It makes a difference. And it

also makes a difference to us and our sense of well-being and wholeness too.

Words connect or words divide us. The choice is ours. But words are never disembodied, never disconnected from the people who say them or hear them. What about our response to EU nationals after the Brexit vote? The kinds of things we are saying? After all, we voted to leave the EU – not for EU nationals to leave the UK.

Can we imagine how EU citizens might feel about living in a country that suddenly doesn’t seem to welcome them?

Rabbi Jonathan Sachs (in Not in God’s name) suggests that empathy – being able to imaginatively put yourself in someone else's shoes – lies at the heart of the religious world view of the Hebrew Scriptures. It's a powerful thought, and one I find echoes my own Christian faith. Jesus teaches us to see our need of people we don't expect to. The parable of the Good Samaritan tells the story of a man helped by

the person he least wants to help him; discovering how this man is neighbour to him. And this question of Who is my neighbour? takes us into the heart of living out our faith.

Choose your words wisely and well. Choose to hear how they impact on other lives, different people. And don’t let otherness get in the way of your compassion or your humanity.