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July 16, 2007 (Cleveland, TN) Strong Words Cards feature
candor, eloquence, and wit. Enthusiastic customers say they are unlike
any other Christian greeting cards they've ever seen. They rave that the
cards use not only strong words, but also arresting, often abstract,
images - designed carefully to complement the cards' messages and speak
movingly, provocatively themselves.
Strong Words Cards are one of the dreams of Barb Olson, a college
professor of English who loves words for a living. She says she has
long been eager to see Christians really "speak the truth" to each other
in love just as St. Paul advised in Ephesians 4. "Often, the language of
Christian writing and greeting cards in particular can be cliched,
saccharine, syrupy sweet. So Strong Words Cards offer a different way,
a more honest way, for Christians to communicate with each other."
She continues: "We all know how easy it is to use language so habitually
that our message gets lost in a fog of familiarity. That is probably why
the psalmists insist we sing a new song. And like new music, new words
can help us hear the old, old story in new rhythms and with new
resonance. But Christian greeting cards rarely give us new, if you will,
strong words."
Olson believes that cliches in the Christian community have slipped into
a sentimentality that "blunts the power of the Gospel and obscures its
relevance." By using simple texts which are by turns poignant in the
impact or funny in their quirkiness, Olson has created a line of
Christian greeting cards which seek to equip the saints to "speak the
truth in love"
"Quotations relieve you from being brave enough to say what feels
unsayable." Olson says, "That wry observation from Margo Jefferson in
the New York Times Book Review explains the appeal of Strong Words. To
change the culture of communication in Christian circles does indeed
require courage, and these greeting cards seek to enable folks to say
what might seem too out of the ordinary, too scary, to speak on their
own."
Some of Olson's cards "speak the truth" in new whimsical ways. Olson's
motto for the cards is "Sometimes sassy, sometimes serious, always
strong." Many draw on the familiar and then infuse it with fresh
significance or cast it in a new startling context. Echoes of scripture
and old hymns and gospel songs reverberate in quite a few of the greeting
card texts. Whatever the approach, Strong Words catch their readers off
guard enough to hear the wonder of God's Word
anew.
An enthusiastic customer, Margot Still, of Waltersboro, SC, explains why
she likes the cards: "A few well chosen words can cut through the clutter
of noise like nothing else. Strong Words speak to the human situation
with focused brevity and beauty. They are that cup of cold water a soul
so needs to find."
Strong Words Cards are
available in sets of ten in a wide variety of categories: Christmas,
birthday, sympathy, wedding, anniversary], get well, thank you, and faith
encouragement. Strong Words Cards] also come in various assortments.
For more information contact:
contact@strong-words.com
Barbara K. Olson