On the Word and the Deed

 And this was another year where I didn't post much, but now in 2026 I want to get back to doing it on a more regular basis, and interestingly this aligns well with the title of this post.

As we're starting a new year, a common thing people do is set goals and they have usually been thinking about them since early December at least, and talking about how much they'll change and do going into 2026. We also know that, generally, by the time February comes along most have forgotten all about it or decided that it's too hard. nowhere is this more prominent than in health and fat loss related goals,  but applies equally to everything else.

So, let's get into the actual message I wanted to write about today, which mixes theology and philosophy.

In the Christian Bible, specifically, John 1:1, we read "In the beginning was the Word" (Logos in Greek). Goethe, a German philosopher who lived between 1749 and 1832, wrote a play / dramatic poem called "Faust" in which he interprets John 1:1 in light of his Philosophy (post-Enlightenment, often called Romanticism) in which Faust says "No, at first there was the Deed". And especially today, in our world of distractions, content consumption and living through our devices, this is a particularly important thing to take note of, Rafael.

What Goethe did (long before Nietzsche "killed God") was set us up for a post-God world, where the Word (which John means to tie this story from the Creation to Jesus being made in flesh) is not what comes first, the Deed is. He does this for a few different reasons. Word is too abstract, meaning / thought is too inward (happening in our own heads), power is just potential for action and not action itself. Deed is where it's real, living, transformative.

// "Truth is not in saying or thinking, but in doing" // "Reality begins not with saying or knowing - but with acting //

He replaces divine authority, with human striving. 

But the problem with our world today, is that we talk too much and do too little. And it's easy for our brains to mistake Word with Deed, because when we talk about it FEELS real. It FEELS as if we've done something, as if we've started our paths to becoming something we wish to have or someone we wish to be as part of that human striving. This is usually done in pursuit of happiness ("I want and have a vision of a bright future") or in avoidance of pain ("I'm tired of feeling lonely / fat / unhealthy / poor").

The lesson here is that Words are fleeting, non-committal and lull us into a sense of achievement when there's none. When it's all Word and no Deed. And it's also worse than that, because the more that happens the less we trust in ourselves and our ability to change, improve and strive because if every year we say we're going to do it, and then we never do, it gradually builds doubt that we can actually do it, which is exacerbated by the fact that the Word is SOCIAL in nature. You say / told other people you'd do it, so now you feel ashamed when you don't because your words are now not meeting your actions, and it's out there for everyone to see and judge.

Seneca, a Stoic philosopher, put it best about 2000 years before Goethe. "The fool is always getting ready to live". Instead of living, of being, they're using the Word about how they're getting ready to a tomorrow that, often, never comes.

So the lesson here, is that the order matters. Do not start with the Word, start with the Deed. Start first by showing yourself, in yourself and by yourself, that you're choosing actions which are consistent with your goals. And after you started down that path, after your brain and your body knows that you're one of action, then you use the Word if you feel you must. Do the little things that add up, show yourself your commitment to improve and change what you decide needs changing and improving. Leave the Words for the others, after they see your Deeds and wonder why you have what they don't.