Let me speak thy words, Ahura Mazda

Zarathushtra, thou Ahura Mazda sayeth, was the first of mortals who heard thy words. He, thy prophet, spoke thy words, unheard by mankind, to our forbears at the dawn of history in Zoroastrian Iran of undying glory.

In thy boundless creation, man is an atom of dust, but the dust that lives and thinks and speaks. The faculty of speech distinguishes man from animals. Man is a thinking and speaking animal. Speech is man's prerogative. It is thy greatest gift to man.

Language is vocalized breath. It is the vehicle of thought. Man clothes his thoughts with speech, and speech is the expression of man's thoughts and feelings. Man communicates his thoughts with the word of mouth or in writing.

Let me speak nothing but what is true and good and pleasant. Let me not speak ill of anyone. Let me not permit false and foul words to pass my lips. Let me not speak words that hurt and wound and stab the hearts of others. Let me not abuse my precious power of speech. Let me not speak words that have more heat and less light. Let me not be hasty with my words. Let not words move faster than my wit.

Let me think before I speak. Let me speak, when I have something to speak. Let me speak words that have more sense than sound. Let my thought take wings in words that make others think. Let me speak words with the tongue of a wise man. Let me speak words that carry conviction. With the sense of expediency, let me speak the right word at the right moment. Let reason rule and regulate my words. Let me speak words that soothe a troubled mind and heal a broken heart. Let me speak with grace. When I loosen my tongue, let it always be to speak good words and kind words and wise words and righteous words. Let only my good thoughts blossom into speech. Let my mouth speak what my heart feels and wishes me to speak.

My thought is my own. My words that give expression to it are no longer mine. I can conceal my thought. My speech reveals my character. Let me speak not then, what on later reflection I feel I had better not spoken. No power on earth or in heaven can efface the ill-spoken word.

Blessed art thou, my God, who dost hear my words from on high. Thine am I to speak as it pleaseth thee. I will speak what is well-pleasing to thy ears to hear. Suffer not my lips to utter Un-Zoroastrian words, Ahura Mazda.

This page was last updated on Tuesday, August 01, 2000.