Merism
Merism is a figure of speech in which a combination of two contrasting parts of the whole refer to the whole. It cracked me up to know that this is a word. I don’t know why. Here is an example, in order to say that someone searched everywhere, the merism “searched high and low” could be used as…
Therein Squats the Toad
I just spent the day doing nothing! Seriously nothing. I thought about taking a walk or cleaning and purging. I thought about reading a book and I thought about watching baseball. I napped. I snacked. I ignored my phone and the people who didn’t. I had the TV on in the background and Dharma and…
Sure!
My family has been called out for over use of the word sure! I sure don’t understand why, but I am told it is the “worst” answer to a yes/no question. The belief is that when we use it to answer in the affirmative that we are still on the fence about that yes. Let…
Sabbath Rest is spelled PLAY
Sunday, April 10th, I had the privilege to teach in the Middle School ministry. They just started a series on spiritual disciplines and I taught about the first discipline ever recorded – Genesis 2 – Sabbath rest! I will include my slides here and a brief review. So that I would be sure to teach…
Olympics
The 2022 Winter Olympics are going on and I am once again mesmerized by the skill, the talent and the inspiration of such focused and driven athletes. Of course to be good at anything, whether it is sports, academics, music, etc. the key is practice. Over and over again. Practice makes progress. And watching others…
Panic Attack Letter (2009)
I wrote this when your dad was first diagnosed with Brain Cancer 13 years ago. I just found it and thought you would get a laugh from it! I was in a bit of a panic at the time so this is very random! Dear Clayton and Emily, I decided to write down some important…
I Matter
Well – it happened. I am officially old. I am really stunned at this latest change that occurred in my life this week. It really was only made official this week but it has been a reality I have been denying for some time. One of the things the pandemic has done is push back…
What’s new?
Sometimes I cannot seem to creatively crawl out of my ordinary. The task of getting through the day’s chores is about all I can handle and then I just box up my brain and save it for the next day. I think this is a rut that I am ready to leave but the problem…
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
This is the word from Mary Poppins that one is encouraged to use when they cannot think of anything else to say. Maybe this is a nonce word but it could also be an example of an hapax legomenon. A nonce is a spontaneously made up word for a specific situation. An hapax legomenon (aka…
A new lampshade
One thing about binge watching all the shows on Magnolia Network, Discovery plus and other related platforms is the possibility of becoming dissatisfied with what is, of wanting something different or more. Spending money on things for self rather than generously sharing with those who need shoes, water and food is already easy enough to…