Tag Archives: words

Words

24 Tuesday Oct 2017

Posted by in Humanity

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Words can get us into trouble.

Words can reconcile us.

Words can tear us apart.

Words can bring us together.

Words can be painful and hurtful.

Words can bring relief and forgiveness.

Words can cause war and violence.

Words can be a means of peace.

Words can tear away someone’s dignity and humanity.

Words can restore humanity and dignity.

Words can bring judgment.

Words can offer grace.

Words can ignite hate.

Words can be love.

Words can be many things.  The words themselves are tools that are used by our hearts and heads to convey our true selves.  Instead of a hammer for all situations, let us consider what tools we should use and with whom.

Covfefe is all the rage-fefe

01 Thursday Jun 2017

Posted by in Humor, Society

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Ever since POTUS came up with an alternative word – covfefe – the internet has been all abuzz with it.

It’s made it into memes, and posts, and used for humor and ridicule.  And since the POTUS never makes mistakes this obviously isn’t a mistake either.

At any rate, I kind of like the word.  I’ve been thinking about its meaning though.  We need to have a consistent meaning so that this word can make it as the word of the year for 2017.  I think it’s pretty symbolic of 2017 as a whole and is a great candidate for word of the year – the best one ever.  And just think, we didn’t need anyone to pay for it either.  Then again, maybe it’s already the best word ever tweeted.  Plus, we need a consistent way to say the word.  Maybe the POTUS can clarify for us.

At any rate, here’s my shot at what the word covfefe means.  I welcome your definitions:

Covfefe – slang for a favorite type of coffee

Covfefe – slang for a favorite covert operation

Covfefe – “cover your dog Fe Fe”

Covfefe – Tweet for “we’ve covered that, you now you have to pay two fees.”

Covfefe – Tweet for “I like the music album cover with Fe Fe on it.”

Covfefe – Tweet for “That corvette is so expensive I can’t afford all the letters.”

Covfefe – Cover all the fees, yes, even the hidden ones.

Covfefe – The sound someone getting ready to sneeze.

Covfefe – a new swear word for anyone who disagrees with POTUS.

Covfefe – the name for the super secret club that only a few people are a part of.  The tweet was telling them to come over to POTUS’s tree house for the next meeting where they will be trading super hero cards and baseball cards, and talking about that yucky girl Jenny in fourth grade.  She has some serious cooties!

Covfefe – a new translation of the Bible.  (Just think of the possibilities here.)

Here’s something else to consider – maybe covfefe is so great of a word that it has more meanings than any other word that ever existed.  Isn’t that just great!  No wonder our world has been so screwed up – we’ve been living without this incredible word for all this time.  Now that covfefe has been tweeted, there will be peace and prosperity.

Or maybe covfefe doesn’t actually exist and it’s all been a worthless distraction because some of us can’t admit a mistake and some of us can’t resist poking fun at a mistake.  Nah! That’d be so covfefe.

What do you think covfefe means?

Definitions matter

24 Wednesday Feb 2016

Posted by in Society

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Yesterday I wrote a post on how language matters.

Have you ever thought about words?  Being someone who lives in a world of words, I can’t help but think about them.  I think about the meaning of words a great deal.

Here are few that I contemplate often – justice, just, fair.  People throw these words around rather easily.  I have a hard time with this.  These words are loaded with all sorts of meaning.  And they are used almost flippantly in my opinion.  Sometimes it seems as though these terms are used as mere props used to hold up some kind of agenda.  Who could possibly be against justice or being fair right?  The problem is that different sides of an argument can claim these terms for their agenda.  Who really upholds the meaning of justice or fair?

Without defining these terms, they can be used to support opposite things.

I have some other favorites – family values, change, great, investment, etc.

Politicians use these terms and so many more as rhetorical tools.  They don’t define what they mean.  They use vague terms and people latch onto the rhetoric, make their own definition and assume that the politician means the same thing as them.

This has happened in religion too of course.  Some terms that have caused untold division and strife in religion include – justification, sanctification, Eucharist, etc.

And it happens in other areas of life.  Some concern vastly important subjects – terms like human and person.  Ever try to define these terms?  Go ahead, I’ll wait.  It’s not easy to come up with a clear and precise definition.  Maybe you want to go with a definition that says that a person is someone made in the image of God.  Great.  What does it mean to be made in the image of God?  What are the boundaries?  What about exceptions?  Philosophy has been debating these terms for centuries.  Don’t worry is you can’t come up with a definition on the spot.

And that’s the point.  Words have meanings.  But they aren’t meanings that just pop up out of no where and are agreed upon and understood by all.  Yet, so often vague, but important words that have varying meanings are used far too easily and frequently.  If only we stopped to ask what the speaker actually meant by the terms they use.  It would save us a great deal of pain.

 

Language Matters

23 Tuesday Feb 2016

Posted by in Church, Politics, Society

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This post is going to be about the importance of language and I’m going to use a controversial example.

I recently came across a video that studied the language of Donald Trump.  The maker of the video wanted to offer an explanation of why people liked him.  I think the analysis is pretty interesting.  I don’t buy into the notion that this is the only reason, but I will grant that I think the maker of the video has a point.  Watch the video – it’s 6:53, but well worth it.

The point is this – language matters.  It matters in politics and it matters in many other areas of life.  Today I want to focus on the church.  The words we use in church matter – this should not be a surprise.  There have been theological fights over specific words for centuries.  The stories behind the making of the creeds are epic.  People were declared heretics over words and their lives were ruined because of words and the ideas behind those words.

And today, words still matter.  Words convey outward expressions of what’s going on inside a person’s head, the culture and vision of an organization and the character of the person expressing them.

How we use words in church matters.  What are we expressing – a focus on decline and death, or a focus on the need for the message of the Gospel in the world that desperately needs hope.  Or something else?  You can tell a great deal about a person or organization or church based on the words they use.  The words are like crumbs that lead a person in a direction.  And you can tell what direction you are heading pretty quickly.

Words matter.  Use them wisely.

Words

20 Friday Nov 2015

Posted by in Humanity, Society, Theology

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Do you know who wrote “The pen is mightier than the sword?”  According to a BBC article on the phrase, they were “first written by novelist and playwright Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1839, in his historical play Cardinal Richelieu.”

Richelieu, at some point in the play states the famous line:  “The pen is mightier than the sword… Take away the sword; States can be saved without it!”

I find the statement interesting and so timely.  While our version of the pen may be different, the point is the same – words matter and are often more powerful than weapons.

Words can lead us to violence, hatred and war.  Or words can lead us to peace, reconciliation and love.

Words can lead us to weapons.  Or words can lead us to turn our swords into plowshares.

Words can create laws that restrict our freedoms.  Or words can be used to empower all around us.

Words can be used to manipulate.  Or words can be used to free people.

Words can promote fear and anger.  Or words can create calmness and express wisdom.

Words are always used.  Words are a tool.  The question becomes, how do we use them?

Do we use words to build up or tear down?  Do we use words to maintain the status quo or create change?  How do we use words in our government, our politics, our churches, our schools, our jobs, our relationships, our sports.  How do we use words today?  Words are powerful.

So powerful that in Christianity, we even attribute Word with God.  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1)

Words are powerful – more powerful than weapons.