Visual Silence...ISN'T

I spent the week before last at the Echo Conference in Dallas, TX and had the opportunity to hang out with some of the Visual Worship tribe. There's a term that gets used frequently in this community that's bothered me ever since the first time I heard it.

It's VISUAL SILENCE.

Visual Silence is described as a time during our worship services where we take a "visual break" by scaling back the lighting and visual media that we use.
A dark room.
Black screens.
A moment of "silence" visually.

The problem I have with this term is that I don't think there is such a thing as being "silent" visually.

At first when I started processing my struggle with the term, I told myself I was only approaching it from a semantics angle. But the more I thought about it (and prayed about it), I realized that I wasn't. I think that sometimes a dark room or a black screen says as much or more than any colored light or motion background we could use.

In other words, it speaks.

It's NOT silent.

An audio guy once said to me that there is nothing more important than audio because "you can still hear in a pitch black room." It's true. You can.

But, if you're anything like me, sounds conjure up visual images in your mind. Your imagination is NEVER silent. Even while you sleep.

A few weeks ago, I was in Arkansas and I visited the Mystic Caverns. It's a pair of beautiful caves in the northwest of the state. There were a couple of times during the tour when the guide asked "Do you want to see what 'cave dark' looks like?" and she turned off all the lights. It was so dark! Like no darkness I've ever experienced before. I literally couldn't see my hand in front of my face.

But in that darkness, I could hear, smell and feel the environment around me and all of those other senses immediately made images of the cave (or what might be lurking inside it) pop into my head. Definitely not visually silent. And the images in my head may or may not have been accurate.
But they were mine.
And they were there.
In that darkness.

I believe that even if we put the congregation in total darkness, we aren't being silent visually. We may be speaking VOLUMES. And while we may have an contextual reason behind stripping the color, blacking out the screens and bringing down the house lights, we have no idea what images our content may stir in the imaginations of the people we serve. Our worship tells a story and we have to be careful how we tell that story.

We also have to be careful of what I call the "Ta Da!" factor. When we take these visual breaks, it has to happen in an almost imperceptible manner. The last thing we want is for people to say "Oh, did you see what they did there? Black room...I get it."
It should be experienced, but not noticed.

Now don't get me wrong. I think there are very good reasons to use less color, less motion and less light. But,  it has to be done subtly and intentionally in context of the story we're telling. We can't just throw the switch because it's cool and we can't make drastic changes from our normal practices and slam the congregation in the face.

I get really nervous when I hear churches say they are going to shut everything down for a season, but they don't really have a reason for doing it other than to change things up. That's okay on a given week if it fits (we've had week's at The Crossing where we've used very little technology and gone completely acoustic and raw for a service, but again...it's very intentional and fits with that particular weeks message), but it's not okay to do it just for the sake of doing it.

So, what am I saying in all of this?

I'm saying that the concept of VISUAL SILENCE is a good one when used with purpose and in context.
I'm saying that it can be very powerful in the telling of the story of the gospel.
I'm saying that we have to be careful how we employ it in our services.

But, mainly I'm saying that it needs to be called something different because it's NOT silent.

It speaks.
LOUDLY.

What should we call it?

There's a two word phrase that shows up in scripture several times.

BE STILL.

My take is that we are being visually still when we take these breaks.
Strip the color.
Blackout the screens.
Turn down the house lights.

Be still...

VISUAL STILLNESS.

Much thanks to Eric McClerren (@ericmcclerren)

for discussing this topic with me

and leading me to listen to the stillness.

You can check him out at storybooktheology.com.

Forsaken?

So, I fell of the wagon again. It's been almost 3 months since I've blogged. No excuses. Just haven't dedicated myself to writing, but I'm writing now to answer some questions I've received on Twitter and Facebook about a tweet I shot off this afternoon which read:

"Well, that was a discouraging phone call."

A couple of weeks ago, I received a phone call from our landlord informing me that he was thinking about putting the house we rent up for sale. He's apparently very property rich and cash poor right now and the economy has caught up with him (Join the club!) and his accountant is suggesting that he liquidate his rental properties. I told him we really wanted to stay and we discussed some possible solutions. He was open to possibilities and said he'd get back to me.

I prayed.

It was one of those prayers that you pray one time. I gave the situation over to God and I was at peace.

I sent up a prayer request to the prayer warriors at The Crossing. That's something I rarely do...ask others to pray for things in my life. I always feel like there are other people that need prayer more than me, but this time I figured it couldn't hurt. My prayer and the prayer I asked for was for my little girl to not have to change schools. She loves her school. She loves her friends. I didn't want to force change on her life...again.

Last night I got another call from our landlord. He's selling the house. We have to move...again.

I prayed.

Again, I gave it over to God and felt that same feeling of peace.

I got online to start looking for houses for rent. I went to Craig's List and right away found 4 houses in my daughter's elementary school boundaries. They were all in our budget range and I felt very encouraged. One of them was really appealing and I admit I started getting my hopes up.

I called the property management company this afternoon and was immediately shot down. The credit score requirement disqualifies us and the gentleman I talked to said that the rental market has changed quite a bit recently and indicated that, in his opinion, we'd have a very difficult time qualifying for anything in this market.

That was the discouraging phone call.

Now admittedly, it's just one phone call. It's just one attempt. We didn't get into our current home with just one call. But, nevertheless, I am discouraged. I'm starting to feel afraid.

I'm feeling like God isn't listening.

It was a simple prayer and it wasn't for me. It was for a little six year old girl. It was a prayer that her life not be turned upside-down. That she have a sense of stability in her life. That she not have to sacrifice.

I know that God hasn't said "No!" to my prayer yet, but tell that to a little girl.

A little girl who has to give up her "Tinkerbell" room. The one she waited patiently for for almost a year before her daddy painted it the right colors. A little girl who is afraid of what first grade is going to be like and if her friends will be in her class. A little girl who is facing the possibility of giving up her kitty cats because the next house we move to might not allow them to come with her. A little girl who named our house "Allison."

It breaks my heart.

And all I keep asking is "Why, God?" 

I believe He has us right where He wants us and so I just can't believe that this is happening. Are we being forsaken or is He going to come through right at the right time? When is the right time? Tomorrow? Next week? Next month? I don't know how much time we have here.

I'm afraid...and I don't want to be.

So, I'll pray.

But this time I'll pray for myself. I'll pray that He help me to trust in Him. That He return that feeling of peace I get when I know that He's got us in His hands. That I not be afraid.

And I ask that you pray too.

GaryMo Monday - How I Handle Negative People

How do I handle negative people? The short answer is...not well.

The truth about me is that deep down...really deep down...I am a negative person. I don't think most people would say that about me, but I believe that those closest to me would say that I can definitely be negative at times. A grouch.

I hate that about me.

I've worked really hard to change that...to be more positive. To look on the bright side. To take pleasure in the little things. To not sweat the small stuff.

And to remember to turn things over to God because as Paul says in Philippians 4:7, "the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

I know that peace. I've felt that peace.


It's glorious.

Our pastor at The Crossing has been doing a series on Philippians since January. Last weekend his message hit me right between the eyes. It was about anxiety...worry. One of my biggest weaknesses. I sometimes worry to the point of paralysis. I let myself get so overwhelmed with anxiety that I don't know what to do next.

So...I often do nothing.


Except worry.

Paul tells us that we should not be anxious...we should pray...giving thanks to God and turn over our requests to Him. I realized last weekend that I haven't been doing that. Sure, I've been praying, but not the real, raw, from-the-gut prayers where I tell God what's really weighing on me...what I need help with.

Those are the prayers that bring wisdom, discernment, comfort...peace.

When I'm in that place of peace with God, I'm not negative...I'm not worried. I know God's got my back. I know He'll lead me and use me.

When I'm in that place, I handle negative people well. I don't let them pull me down into the hole...I instead lift them up out of it. I'm a light in a dark place.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8

Paul's reminding us to be positive...to think excellent thoughts. To find joy in every situation...'cause it's there. Always.

Our attitude is a choice that we make. We can choose to see the crap in the world and let it pull us down or we can choose to see the glory of God in everything and allow Him to raise us up above the crap.

Which will you choose today? I'm going to choose to pray hard, think excellent thoughts and let the peace of God guard my heart and mind.


I hope you do too.

This is the 7th of 20 posts that I'm calling GaryMo Mondays.

For more background on this series, read this post.

This or That

I love this...



That is all.

GaryMo Monday - The Intersection of Art & Leadership

I spent the first part of this week at the Gurus of Tech conference in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. It was at the Willow Creek Community Church McHenry campus. It was a great 3 days spent with lots of other technical artists from churches all across the country. It's always good to connect with people and to take my online relationships offline and spend some face time.

One of the keynote speakers was Harvey Carey, the senior pastor from Citadel of Faith Covenant Church in Detroit, MI. He really had an encouraging message for all the technical artists in the room. But there was one question he raised that really resonated with me:

What would happen if you took your talents and asked the Holy Spirit to get behind you with your spiritual gifts?

I think this is the intersection of art and leadership.

I wrote several months ago about the difference between talents and spiritual gifts. Talents are the things we are naturally good at...things we have a proclivity for. Spiritual gifts are given to us when we surrender to Jesus and accept the Holy Spirit. They're different...and we all have different talents and gifts.

I have talents that I bring to my job with the production team at The Crossing. My creativity, my photography, my attention to detail, my technical skills...to name a few. My key spiritual gifts though are leadership, helps and administration.

When I let the Holy Spirit guide me, my talents become tools that allow me to use my spiritual gifts to serve the Kingdom and suddenly my job becomes my ministry.

I could use my talents in a lot of other places...and probably make a LOT more money. But I wouldn't be advancing the Kingdom, seeing hearts opened and lives changed. I'd just be doing a job.

I am CALLED to ministry.

I am called in this time and this place to use my art (my talents) to serve the Most High God (to lead His people).

The intersection of art and leadership.

This is the 6th of 20 posts that I'm calling GaryMo Mondays.

For more background on this series, read this post.

UPDATE - Katie Wins!

Back in November, I asked ya'll to check out a contest that Advent Conspiracy was having and to vote for my friend Elizabeth's daughter's video. I don't know how many people saw that post or how many were led to vote from my request, but I'm excited to tell you that Katie won...she may get to go with Living Water International and dig  a fresh water well.

Way cool.

Here's her original video:



And (I'm not sure if this will work, but...) here's a link to a video posted on Elizabeth's blog where she tells Katie the news of her winning the contest.

So AWESOME!

Thank you to all of you who voted for Katie. I am so excited for her and to see the work that God will do through her with this little video contest.

He is SO GOOD!

GaryMo Monday - What the Kingdom of God Really Looks Like

I took a couple of weeks off from GaryMo Mondays. I'm not sure why, but the words just wouldn't come.

February has been weird in the Lou'. There was the Snowmaggedon that wasn't, but it was COLD...really cold on Groundhog Day 'cause we spent the day with no heat in the house. It's fixed now. And now we don't need it because we're having unseasonably warm temperatures.

Oh...and my mother passed away on Groundhog Day too.

I don't mean to be flippant about it, but that's just kinda how it happened.

It just...happened.

I knew she had been sick. I knew it could be serious. But...I haven't spoken to my mother in over 4 years. And I just didn't know what to do. I was paralyzed. Numb.

Then I got word that she died.

I'm still generally numb.

I've been struggling with feelings of guilt and regret for the last two weeks. Some might think "Good...you should feel that way." But hold on...I'm not feeling guilty for the reasons you might think. I feel guilty because I don't feel...ANYTHING.

NUMB!

Maybe it's because we hadn't spoken in so long. Maybe it's because there were also 2000 miles that separated us. Maybe it's because my relationship with my mother changed dramatically over 10 years ago and I've dealt with the loss already.

I don't know.

Why am I writing all this under the heading "What does the Kingdom of God really look like?" Because while I've been dealing with this, my friend Katie posted her take on that question. As I read it, this quote struck me:

Quite simply: the Kingdom of God is His presence. It is a Holy God choosing to dwell in the hearts and lives of unholy people. It is love. It is grace. It is relationship.

She's right. I am surrounded by unholy people with the God of the universe dwelling in their hearts. And they have loved on me so well...and shown me the Kingdom of God.

In all my brokenness, with all my faults, whether they agree with how I've handled my relationship with my mother or not...they still love me. They still accept me. They've reminded me that guilt and regret are not from God. They've spoken truth to me about what I need to do now and how I stay true to the person that God has called me to be.

THIS is love. THIS is grace. THIS is relationship.

THIS is the Kingdom of God.

And I'm so thankful to be a small part of it.

GaryMo Monday - Let Me Introduce You to My Hero

he·ro

 noun \ˈhir-(ˌ)ō\

plural he·roes

Definition of HERO

1

a : a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or abilityb : an illustrious warriorc : a man admired for his achievements and noble qualitiesd : one who shows great courage

2

a : the principal male character in a literary or dramatic workb : the central figure in an event, period, or movement

3

plural usually he·ros : submarine 2

4

: an object of extreme admiration and devotion : idol

It's week #4 of GaryMo Monday's and I've been thinking about this topic ever since Gary posted his list. I actually started writing this post about 3 weeks ago and have really been struggling with what I think a hero is...to me.

Then this morning as I was reading through my Facebook news feed, I saw this:

"Heroes don't leap tall buildings or run around in capes. They bleed, they bruise, they listen, they love, they reach out their hand. Heroes are ordinary people who even if their own lives are impossibly knotted, take the time and care enough to help untangle yours."

Wow! That's it.

COMMUNITY!

Last week, I wrote that church = community.

I guess this week what I'm saying is community = heroes.

There are so many different people that I could single out that have been personal heroes to me...people who have picked me up when I was down or celebrated with me when things were good or cried with me when I was suffering. My heroes.

But these heroes don't do what they do to be singled out. They do it to be part of the community and to build and preserve relationship. They do it because they just can't NOT do it.

I only pray that I can be a hero to someone in my community...daily. Not because I want someone to think of me as a hero, but because I just can't NOT step into that story and have a positive impact. Because the Spirit won't let me not be a hero.

Who are your heroes? Who are you a hero to?

GaryMo Monday - Why Church Is Relevant for ME

rel·e·vant

 adj \ˈre-lə-vənt\

1

a : having significant and demonstrable bearing on the matter at handb : affording evidence tending to prove or disprove the matter at issue or under discussion <relevant testimony>c : having social relevance

This is the third installment of GaryMo Monday's where I take on the list of 20 topics that Gary wishes people would write about.

Relevant is one of those words that gets thrown around A LOT in today's churches. It's usually teamed up with authentic and humble. I feel a real butt-scrunch whenever I hear a church announce that they are relevant.

What relevant should mean when coming from a church is showing how the message of the gospel applies in our everyday lives. How we can live it out and spread the message of Jesus to the un-churched, the de-churched, or the over-churched...the lost.

What relevant increasingly means is providing a product that people will consume...something that is "hip" or "cool" or different than what people perceive church to be. There's nothing wrong with providing a different offering in church services, but when the gospel takes second place to the production value then the message of Jesus gets lost in my opinion.

I think authentic has become equally distorted and should mean staying true to the clear message of Jesus, but unfortunately too often means staying true to the what's-in-it-for-me mentality of today's society.

And humble? Well, that could be a whole post in itself, but suffice it to say, if someone is telling you they are humble...they aren't. Jus' sayin'.

So, why is "church" relevant to me?

I have a t-shirt that on the front says "Don't go to church." And on the back it says "Be the church."

Church is not a building. It's not a worship style. It's not a liturgy.

It's community.

A community of broken people doing life together. With all their brokenness. In all their messes. Through the good times and the bad. In celebration and in sorrow. It's people who aren't afraid to have someone else's mess splash on them a little. Who aren't afraid to speak truth, to love, to encourage, to support and who aren't afraid to have truth spoken to them, to be loved, to receive encouragement, to ask for support. It's people who gather together and humble themselves to worship authentically the God of the Universe.

It's what He made us for and it's what He calls us to.

And I am blessed to live in a community like that.

Yeah, it's messy and yeah, sometimes it splashes around. But somehow God moves through us and in us and He always gets the last word. And there's a peace in knowing that He's not finished with any of us and there's a joy in knowing that we are doing this together humbly and authentically...and that's relevant to me.

"Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you."

Romans 12:2 (The Message)

GaryMo Monday - My Prayer for My Daughter

This is #2 in my series of GaryMo Mondays, writing on the 20 topics that Gary would like us to write about. So, here goes...

A couple of days ago, I wrote about the big questions that my daughter had about God. Our time together exploring those questions and reading the bible together has been heavy on my heart since that day. I've been praying for all sorts of things with regards to my daughter.

I pray that she keeps asking questions.
I pray that she gets the answers she needs.
I pray that she always knows that it's okay to have those questions.


But mostly...

I pray that she knows the love that God has for her no matter what questions or doubts she may have.

And I pray that she gets a little taste of that love and how BIG it is...from me.

I didn't have a very close relationship with my dad growing up. It wasn't entirely his fault. He worked in the construction industry and was up before dawn and usually home after dark. I really only saw him on weekends and like most boys, I had stuff to do on weekends. Baseball, skateboarding...girls. The usual.

So, we didn't spend a lot of time together. We didn't talk about things other than sports or cars. Girls...not so much. Certainly never God. I don't even know if my dad believed in God. I'm pretty sure he wasn't a follower of Jesus.

I talk about my dad in the past tense because I haven't seen or heard from him in about 20 years. He and my mom divorced when I was 27 and he pretty much divorced me, too. I have no idea where he lives or if he is even alive. He has never met my wife and I'm quite sure he doesn't know he has a granddaughter.

I could look for him, I suppose. But, I won't.

I just don't want to be like him.

I want to be the father to my daughter that is ALWAYS there for her. That will talk with her about anything she wants to talk about...dolls,video games, fairies, boys (as my stomach churns)... and God. I want to sing songs with her and dance with her and go to all her talent shows and, and, and...

So, I guess my prayer for my daughter is that she has the father that I feel like I never had. And by the grace of God, I pray that I can be that father. And I hope that by being that kind of father, my little girl will get just a small sense of the love that our Eternal Father has for her.

Are you convinced of the Father's love for you? What shows you the love of the Father?

Child-like Faith

This morning I was greeted by my daughter (who will be 6 years old in five days) with this question:


"Daddy, how was God born and if He is our ultimate Father, who is our mother?"


We spent the next 45 minutes reading and discussing the creation story in Genesis 1-3. It was a holy moment. One I won't soon forget. She asked some really tough questions and some of the answers led to more questions. I praised her for asking and told her to never stop asking. God can take it.


I don't know if I can, but God can.


He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

Matthew 18:2-4

I used to read that verse and think that my faith was something that I should just accept. Without question. I always thought that little children listen and obey their parents. They do what they're told. They don't question authority. They submit.

They certainly don't ask "Why?"

Then I became a parent and now I realize that little children constantly test their boundaries. They ask questions...A LOT! And start almost every sentence with "Why?" And it's okay. If she wasn't constantly asking me questions...I would worry.

Another question my daughter asked was "Why did Eve listen to the snake?"


I thought about it awhile and then said, "I guess she didn't trust God enough to go back and ask Him if the snake was telling the truth."


And suddenly, I realized that God expects us to ask questions, too. Tough questions. A LOT of questions. If we didn't...I think He's concerned. Like a Father would be.

What do you do when you have questions about God? When you have questions for God? Do you seek the answers? Do you dig deep? Do you trust that you can ask? Or do you just accept what you been told or taught?

Obsession Confession

Sometimes I feel I am just a statistic...


Via: www.onlineschools.org

I am truly bothered by the one that says: "57% of people talk to people more online than they do in real life."

Are you taking the online off-line? I pray that you are.

GaryMo Monday - The Most Difficult Thing About Working at a Church

So, it's GaryMo Monday and this is the first of my posts from the "Twenty for Twenty-Eleven." I've actually been struggling with this topic for quite some time. I've started to write about it a couple of times...but I always wimp out and delete it.


I don't know what I'm afraid of. I know and have said many times how blessed I am to work at the church I work at. It truly is one of the healthiest churches I've ever seen or heard of. I know because I've talked to folks who do what I do in other churches. I'm blessed. Really.


The difficulty I have has nothing to do with the job I do. I love my job. I can't wait to go to work in the mornings. I can't wait to be in the booth for the weekend services. I've never felt more at home at a job.


So, what is it that I struggle with?

If I'm being honest...I have trouble keeping my job separate from my spiritual journey.


Hey, I work for God, right? Isn't that enough?


I know the answer...it's obviously "No."


God wants more from me than the job I do at the church. He wants more from me than how I serve His people when I facilitate a class. He wants more from me than the way I lead and pour into volunteers.


And can I just say...I want more from Him too?


God wants MY heart. God wants to spend time with just ME. He wants to talk to me...through His word, through my prayers, through my family and friends. He wants me to hear Him.


I want to hear Him. I think.


But I'm too busy...and I stay busy...and sometimes I think I do it so that I won't hear Him. So, I won't hear the truth. A truth I already know.


I know I haven't fully surrendered to Him. I know I'm still trying to do some things my way...not His (even though I keep telling myself that everything I'm doing is FOR Him).


But I want to fully surrender...I want to trust Him. Completely. But I know that means I'm going to need to change. I going to need to let go. I going to need to let Him.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

John 15:5

What gets in the way of your spiritual journey? What kinds of things do you do to avoid hearing the still small voice of God? 

Twenty for Twenty-Eleven

I met Gary Molander briefly at Echo Conference in Dallas last July. Looking back, I wish I'd taken some more time to get to know him better. If you haven't heard of him, check him out. You'll be glad you did.

Gary's blog has been an inspiration to me on a lot of levels, but he has really knocked it out of the park this week. It's as if he is writing specifically to me especially when he posted about the 20 things he wants people to write about.

Those of you that read my blog (all 3 of you) know that I run "hot" and "cold" in my blogging activities. I hope to change that and I'll use Gary's list as my motivation. For the next twenty weeks, Mondays will be known as GaryMo Mondays and I'll drop a post on one of the topics on Gary's list (in no particular order). Ironically, some of the topics I already have posts started on and others are things that have been rolling around in my head for some time that I've just never sat down to organize my thoughts on.

I'm excited about this. Some of the topics are things I've been dying to talk about and some of them scare me to death. It's time that I use this blog the way I intended from the beginning:

To ask the hard questions. My questions. To acknowledge that I have them. To let it be okay. To engage in the conversations. The difficult conversations. To speak the truth. To have the truth spoken to me.

To move CLOSER to God.

It's a new year, so it's time for a new...WORD?

I'm not a New Year's resolution kinda guy.

Never have been.

It's always seemed to me that most people set themselves up for failure when the make resolutions. They choose lofty goals and then when they find out that change is hard all they can see is how far away from the end game they are and don't focus on the little victories right in front of them.

And then they give up.

And they do it again the next year.

I went to a small get-together on New Year's Eve and there was a discussion about making more goal-based resolutions. Instead of saying "I want to lose weight." say "I'm going to run a half-marathon in April." It kinda makes sense. You'll probably lose weight if you're training to run a half-marathon, but the cynic in me says what do you do when you find out you hate to run?

I started thinking that it would be better to just pick a theme, a word maybe, that could define the new year for me. Genius, I thought. I even had the word picked out. Then, my friend Katie posted on New Year's Day her One Word 2011... post.

Wow...she beat me to it.

or

Great minds think alike! Heh.

It turns out that Katie was inspired by this post from Alece and after reading it and a few other things on Alece's blog...yeah, so am I. Inspired. Completely. Once again, God comes up with a way to show me how blessed I am when I'm wallowing around in my junk.

So, that said, what's my word? Just like Katie, I'm going with SURRENDER.

It's the word that everything else follows. If I surrender to Jesus, nothing else can get in the way. If I do it His way, there can be no question in the choices I make or the actions I take.

But there are questions...mostly in me. And that tells me that I haven't truly surrendered. I haven't let go. I'm still doing a lot of things my way.

That's the truth about me.

What about you? Will you take the "One Word" challenge for 2011? What's your word?