The Channels of the Soul

We are used to thinking that our words express what already exists within us. Rav Kook teaches that they also create. Every word we speak opens a 'channel' in the soul. When a person speaks much of truth, faith, wisdom, or goodness, he not only affects the one who hears him. He also expands his own inner world. And when a person becomes accustomed to negative, cynical, or dismissive speech, he too opens a channel – only this time, in Rav Kook's words, 'mire and mud' flow through it. In the same way Rav Kook explains prayer: in every prayer, every blessing, and every word of faith, another story is opened in the soul that until now was hidden within it. The words we choose do not only tell who we are. They also shape who we will become. When we speak optimism, we build such a story within ourselves; when we speak pessimism, we destroy such a story within ourselves.