In a recent magazine cartoon, a mother peers over her teenager's shoulder. The teen is intently working at her laptop, apparently writing a school paper. In the caption, the mother suggests to her daughter, "You might want to keep your words-to-exclamation-points ratio higher than one to one."
I think we can all relate to that. Have you noticed how email messages and texts are so often prone to such excessive use of over-the-top emphasis?
It's hard to figure out exactly when the trend started, but in like fashion, the word "awesome," highjacked by popular culture, has undergone a radical change in meaning. Once reserved for the loftiest descriptions, the term has been dumbed down to a mere expression of approval -- nothing more than a thumbs up or smiley face.
Indeed, how often do we hear "awesome" in answer to questions like "how was your macaroni and cheese," or "what do you think of your new sneakers?" Let’s not forget that “awesome" was once a term reserved for something inducing awe, as its root tells us. It was a word used to describe an inspiring or overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, or fear.
Many church sermons this Lenten Sunday (April 10) will deal with the Passion story -- the "long" reading assigned for this Sunday consists of 114 verses. And maybe it should be highlighted, underscored, and bracketed with exclamation points in our bibles. And because it is a story that evokes an overwhelming feeling of reverence, we can sum it up in the margin of our bibles with the singular word: AWESOME.
Changing the subject just slightly...
Once, when he was 88 years old, the late U. S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes found himself alone on a train in a state of confusion. When the conductor came by, Justice Holmes couldn't find his ticket, and he seemed terribly upset. He searched all his pockets and fumbled through his wallet without success. The conductor was sympathetic. "Don't worry, Mr. Holmes," he said. "The Pennsylvania Railroad will be happy to trust you. After you reach your destination, you'll probably find the ticket, and you can mail it to us." But the conductor's kindness failed to put Mr. Holmes at ease.
“No, sir, that’s not the problem,” the Justice said. “The problem is that I can’t remember where I’m going.”
That's the problem with a lot of us (me included)...We don't know where we are going. Maybe we forgot about direction...Or maybe we are just tired, period.
Personally, with questionable results, I've set goals all my life but I have stopped worrying about it now because my time to get anywhere drastically declines with the passing of each increasingly precious day. My goal these days is just to make it through a 24-hour period. Tomorrow is tenuous, at best. You might say I've run out of goals and time and inclination to realize them.
Unfortunately I think there are a lot of of people who have been reduced to living their lives that way. They’ve been sold the ticket, but don’t know the destination. They are floating aimlessly on the sea of life, tossed to wherever the winds and waves take them. Staying afloat is a singular goal.
I know people who set goals, but don’t think about God. And I know people who serve God, but don’t think about goals. Do they really go together? Does it really matter?
I do acknowledge too that God has not put us on planet earth just to eat, drink and consume resources. We’re put here to make a difference by serving mankind, even if it is in a small way equal to our abilities in the twilight of our lives.
Just do your best my senior friends...Just do your best!...As most of you have always done, I'm pretty sure about that. Nothing wrong in resting a bit on your laurels, in spite of what you may hear in church or on line that may make you feel like a lesser person because nature has dictated that you ease up on certain aspects of your earlier life when you had the energetic wherewithal to set moralistic goals and follow up on them.
And when it comes down to it, we all know where we are going in the end. For some of us it won't take long to get there either.
Not an awesome pronouncement, but that too is reality.
