Words are powerful.

Think about it. Those distinct elements of speech or writing have caused war, divorce, murder and other atrocities.

All that mayhem because of words, which are nothing more than sounds that come out of our mouths or squiggly lines and circles and loops and dots connected in different patterns.

Different sequences of words can lead to healing and peace and love.

Sometimes our brains and tongues don’t consult with each other before words come spilling out of our mouths.

I admit to being guilty of that charge at times, and undoubtedly my sanity has been questioned on more than one occasion.

Friends still remind me of a crazy 40th birthday party I threw for my late husband decades ago. Without telling anyone, I booked a singing gorilla to appear during the party to perform.

Unbeknownst to me, friends from Philadelphia, who were at the party, had arranged to surprise all of us with a scantily-dressed stripper from another company who was to show up during the festivities and entertain.

When, mid party, the doorbell rang, I eagerly swung open the front door, expecting my gorilla.

I still can see the shocked expression on the young woman’s face when I looked at her and blurted,” Oh, I thought you were a gorilla!”

I’m surprised she didn’t run away.

Another such lapse of my brain/tongue connection almost led to the demise of a man who tried to escape from me.

As my husband and I sat on a bench in West Park to hear a band concert, I noticed someone at the end of the bench, but figured it was big enough for the three of us.

Acting silly, I patted my husband’s face and crooned, “You’re so cute! Let me pull your beard.”

The man on our bench stumbled as he stood up and hurried away. Only then did I notice his white cane. The poor guy was blind and was sporting a beard.

Then there’s the lesson on what not to say to a clumsy neighbor who falls over a fence into your flower bed.

My sister had just arrived for a visit and began ringing the doorbell repeatedly and banging on my door.

When I opened the door, she was pointing at the flower bed around our tree and sputtering, “Your neighbor, your neighbor.”

I saw the man, his backside in a snow pile and his arms and legs in the air, and called out, “What are you doing in there?”

My husband and I laugh whenever we visit Sears. A few years ago on a rainy day, as we were walking through the store, I felt as though I were barefoot. The floor was cold.

When I lifted my foot, I saw the sole of my old shoe had disintegrated and my bare foot was touching the floor. A trail of sole crumbs (think Hansel and Gretel) led from us to the door.

“I lost my sole,” I shouted. At that we began laughing hysterically, as nearby customers and employees turned to stare.

We headed for the restrooms, hoping to compose ourselves, but succeeded only in driving out everyone in there.

Who wants to be cooped up in a public bathroom with a lunatic laughing out loud in the next stall?!

Mistaken identity can lead to funny exchanges or, in some cases, stunned silence.

The Michelle who works the phone for my heating contractor in Emmaus had arranged an emergency repair for my furnace and had told me to stick close to home because the serviceman would fit me in on short notice.

Meanwhile, there was Michelle who works at the Allentown funeral home which was handling my mom’s funeral. I figured I had time for a quick stop at the funeral home, since it was just a few blocks from my house.

When the heating contractor’s Michelle called my cell phone to inform me the repairman was on his way, I responded, “I’m standing in your parking lot.” Silence.

“Why?” she finally asked. “To pick up my mother’s ashes,” I replied. More silence.

As the BeeGees sang, “It’s only words, and words are all I have/To take your heart away.”

Or to make you laugh. Humor is good for the soul (sole, too).

May the new year bring words that lift your spirits and fill your belly with laughs and your heart with love.