"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver" (Proverbs 25:11). John, the gospel writer, puts it this way: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God ..." These verses of scripture speak of the power and beauty in rightly-chosen words, and therefore speak of these incomparable words from the ninth chapter of Isaiah, the text for this Holy evening, Christmas Eve. Isaiah tried again and again to express the stubborn hope and dream of shalom, peace, which is at the heart of God. "A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse ..." (Isaiah 11:1-2). "... and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks" (Isaiah 2: 2, 4). Ah, just words they are. Just words. Yet, we read, "In the beginning was the W…