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LEXICON OF LIFE-LIFTING WORDS ©2018 Dr. Ronald D. S. Ross ~ RonRossToday.com
ISSUE 864
INTRODUCTION Ever wonder why our culture is so negative and our language so nasty? One reason is that the English language has around 5,000 negative words, but only a shade more than 1,200 positive words, according to PositiveWordResearch.com. The result is our conversations can easily be critical, pessimistic, and ill-mannered. After all, is there anything easier to do than be judgmental and disapproving? But does that mean we are destined to always use life-stealing and heart-hurting words? Of course not. It's a matter of focus and practice. When we focus on the negative we see all that's bad, then describe and deride whatever we see. We get a lot of practice using our fair share of those 5000 negative words. What would happen if we made a personal decision to stop our focus on the negative and start to look for and talk about the good? I'll tell you what, our lives will change for the better. As I read through the over 1,200 positive words listed on the PositiveWordResearch.com website, I took note of 147 of them that, for some reason, captivated me. I thought, "I need to focus on these positive words, I need to change my vocabulary, and these words will help me!" So, for the next who-knows-how-many weeks, I will choose one or two of those 147 positive words to share with you. I will examine their origin, how they may have changed over the years, how they apply to our culture at large and how and why we should use them in our daily conversations. In the process, I hope to inspire you and me to develop a more vibrant, interesting, and life-lifting vocabulary. The words I've chosen are common to your vocabulary. You know how to pronounce them and how to use them in sentences. My mission is to get you (and me) to use them; to challenge us to minimize the use of the negative words and to re-energize our positive vocabulary. Words are powerful, you know. Words can hurt, and they can heal. Words can inform, and words can confuse. Words can lift up, and words can put down. Which way we use them is up to us. Rudyard Kipling called words, "...the most powerful drug used by mankind." Another author wrote, "Words can light fires in the minds of men. Words can wring tears from the hardest hearts." Listen to your own words and the words from those around you. From which list do your words come - the long list of negative words or the short list of positive words? Your words can have surprising power, amazing authority, and alluring charm. Well, the right words can, and there is only one person who decides what kind of words come out of your mouth, and it's you. With each positive word explored, you will gain the tools to converse in ways that will impress your friends, and improve your life. The challenge is to rid your vocabulary of the pessimistic, malicious, and moronic words. Then, to replace them with joy-advancing, love-promoting, life-lifting words you will rediscover in this important "Lexicon of Life-Lifting Words." ISSUE 865
1. AUDACIOUS If someone called you audacious, would it be a put-down or a compliment? In most cases, it would be a compliment! This curious sounding word has many life-lifting synonyms. Here are a few: extremely bold, daring, fearless, spirited, original, and unrestrained by convention. The word can also be used to describe someone who is brazen, insolent, and uninhibited, but let's focus on the positive, OK? You are audacious when you don't know what can't be done but you do it anyway. Like the time I asked for an appointment to meet with the President - and got one! Or the time I hitch-hiked from California to Nebraska. Or the time I shared a platform with legendary newsman, Paul Harvey. Many years ago I was the pastor of a tiny church in Kansas and invited one of the most important dignitaries of our denomination to speak at my church. He accepted, and I invited neighboring churches to attend. The pastor of a larger church in a bigger town nearby asked, "How did you get him to come to your little church?" I answered, "I asked him." That was audacious. My oldest son is in his early 50s, and he is studying to be a pharmacist. It was an audacious decision to halt his life and restart it for a 4-year-march toward a Doctor of Pharmacy degree. At this writing, he's almost there. President John Kennedy was audacious when in 1962 he said, "We choose to go to the moon!" A few years later Neil Armstrong took a step out of a tiny space capsule and touched the surface of the moon. Here's another example of audacity: Jesus commanded his followers to, "Go ye into all the world." They must have been stunned at the charge, but responded with an equally audacious answer, "OK, we will," and they did - even at the expense of their lives. You were audacious when you stood at the wedding altar and promised "I do," for to love someone unconditionally demands the highest level of audacity one man and one woman can call forth. Some say the search for God is an audacious adventure. I agree, but it takes even greater courage (audacity) to open your heart and invite God in. Only the brave do so because it demands surrender and that, my friend, is audacity. The audacious live outside the natural shelters of the timid. They take risks, believe the unbelievable, search the unseen, and walk the dimly lit paths of tomorrow. That's why I love this word. That's me. That's where I want to go; it's who I am. It's why I took my family to Africa as a young man, swam with sharks and sting-rays in my middle age, and jumped out of an airplane at age 73. And I'll never stop; there is so much more to learn, to explore, and to do. One online dictionary lists only one antonym for audacious: cowardly! Who wants to be called a coward? Who wants to live a life of boredom, caution, and faint-heartedness? Not me. What about you? Way back in the 1500s, Catholic priest and theologian, Desiderius Erasmus, noted, "Fortune always favors the audacious." Is that you? ©2008 Dr. Ronald D. S. Ross Issue 866
2. BELOVED One day over 40 years into our marriage, my wife Amy, said to me in a tender voice, "You love me, don't you." Stunned by her simple statement posed as a question, I looked into her eyes and replied with an equally modest but sincere declaration, "Yes, I do." She smiled, and so did I, and that was the end of the exchange. Uncomplicated, effortless, and authentic: You love me? Yes, I do. That is the very essence of this life-lifting word, beloved. If you are beloved, you are greatly loved, you are cherished, you are dear to the heart. It's a word that plumbs deeper into the spirit than the four-letter "love" we use to describe pizza, our car, or our day off work. We don't say, "my beloved car" nor do we say, "my beloved pizza." We save beloved for true love, for deep, heart-stirring, endless love. Beloved isn't frivolous it's momentous. Most popular so-called love songs never use the word beloved for two reasons: first, because it has three syllables and is difficult to rhyme, and second because most songwriters and performers when they use the word love, mean infatuation at best and sexual gratification at worst. That kind of love is a cheap imitation of the real thing. If you love someone so much you refer to them as your beloved, it is an indispensable, deep, heart-stirring, momentous love. Beloved isn't cheap; it's steep. Cheap love is the kind that a man may use to get a woman in bed with him. Once the fever is finished, the relationship is too. No investment equals no return. The kind of love you must give if you expect to be someone's beloved requires risk, it means becoming vulnerable, it demands you give with no assurance that love will be returned. It costs you your whole heart. Beloved isn't fleeting it's enduring. You may have heard someone say something like this: "I don't know what happened, our love just faded away. We became strangers, so we separated." They might have thought they were in love, and perhaps by the common cultural conception of love, they were, but they weren't beloved. To love and to be loved truly means you endure all the adjustments, forgive all the transgressions, and stay the course no matter the detours. Beloved isn't just an emotion; it's an obligation. I know a lady whose husband suffered from ALS for 15-years. She stood by his side, cleaned his messes, fed him meals, and tolerated his meanness. Sometimes it was almost unbearable for her to continue her care, but she did. Not because she loved the work his care required, but because she was obligated - he was her beloved. Is there anything you desire more than to be loved? Oh sure, you may want to accomplish some great mission, or build a big business, or make a name for yourself, but when you come home at night, all of that fades into meaninglessness. There you are not some superhero; you're not a captain of commerce, you are not a celebrity, you are a lonely soul who cries out for love, for authentic, enduring love. You want to be someone's beloved. Issue 867
3. COURTESY When I lived in Africa I was taught the polite way to greet someone older than me was to tip my head down a bit, bow slightly, and gently clap my hands. It was the African way of showing respect. In Western culture, when someone greets you with a smile and a "hello," what do you do? If you are courteous, you return the greeting with your smile and your hello! It's how we act in polite society. Since time began, every culture in every age developed boundaries for acceptable behavior. It's called courtesy - a life-lifting word that when employed throughout society, is the glue that holds together a culture. Some think many of these traditional cultural norms are old fashioned - even obsolete. A few believe that, for some reason, they never have to use polite language or demonstrate good manners. We call that kind of behavior impolite, boorish, and rude, and the person who acts that way is referred to as a barbarian, boob, or buffoon. You may have noticed that the American culture seems to get coarser every day. TV anchors and commentators use obscene, even vulgar words in pre-written, edited, and approved commentary that at one time would never be used in polite company. Twitter is another easily accessed venue for vulgar, insulting, and irrational language. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could regain a large measure of courtesy within our society? When we show profound respect for each other's person and opinion, even if we don't like the way they look or we disagree with what they say, all of our interpersonal communications become more enjoyable. Life is better when you're nice and when you spend it with nice people. True human courtesy is not usually learned in a book, but observed through everyday human interaction. Like the time your mother made you say "thank you" to your aunt who gave you an ugly shirt for your birthday when you wanted a toy. You learned then that to say thank you is the right thing to do - it's a matter of courtesy. Here are ways you are courteous - You are courteous when you use polite words: Please, thank you, you're welcome, excuse me. You are courteous when you greet people with kind words and a nice smile. You are courteous when you don't use offensive words. You are courteous when you "listen to understand" before you respond. You are courteous when you praise instead of criticizing. You are courteous when you share limited space graciously like when seated in a tight row on an airplane. You are courteous when you help other people at the moment - hold a door, lend a hand, step aside. You are courteous when you can disagree agreeably. There is nothing much easier to do every day than to be courteous. People are stressed, some are tired, others worried, so your smile, your polite engagement, your gracious demeanor, can make a difference. Also, there is a big personal benefit to being courteous: it makes you welcome in almost everyone's company; people like people who are polite. Bad manners, however, never impressed anyone but small courtesies are always appreciated. Add this life-giving word - courtesy - not only to your vocabulary but also to your every-day encounters. Issue 868
4. DISCERNMENT Have you ever had a hunch about someone or something and sure enough, your hunch was right? That is a form of discernment: you saw, you heard, and you just knew that you knew. Discernment is a capacity we all have, but one that you must nurture for maximum benefit. Theologian and ethicist, the late Lewis B. Smedes defined discernment as "seeing reality for what it is." There are three steps to discernment:
Then you act - only after you have discerned as carefully as you can. Discernment has a very practical use for you - it will keep you out of trouble. Both of us could easily list the good and bad choices we've made. In most cases, the bad choices we made happened without sufficient discernment. Perhaps that is why Professor Smedes also said, "The work of discernment is very hard." Issue 869
5. EMPATHY Empathy is the ability to understand another and enter into their pain or pleasure. For some, it comes easy; for most, it does not. I learned that first hand upon the death of my wife (we were married for over five decades). Upon her death and until after her funeral, many friends sincerely wanted to "say something" to make me feel better. Some told me, "Well, she is in a better place." All I could think was, "Yes, but she's not here!" Good grief (no pun intended), we were married as teenagers and she was the only woman I ever loved. Upon her death and for nearly two years thereafter, I never wanted anyone to tell me anything about heaven or hope or "this too shall pass!" I wanted someone to sit down beside me and listen as I talked and talked and talked about how much I love(d) that lady and how much I miss her and how lonely the house feels and how empty my bed is and how joyless mourning coffee has become and how badly my heart is broken. I learned through this experience that empathy is not delivered with soothing words, poetic cards, or even comforting scriptures no matter how earnestly bestowed. Empathy happens when a patient, loving, listening ear is provided by someone who knows you and cares for you and is present with you. Empathy is not a sense like sight or sound. Empathy is an awareness of the soul, a perception of the protected and, an inherent knowledge of what a person near you needs. An empathetic person does not come to solve a problem, but to soothe a hurting heart or rejoice in a happy moment. That's why "empathy" is a life-lifting word. One writer describes empathy as one of the "greater intelligences" (Bryant McGill), another says compassion and empathy are "the bravest of emotions." (Gerard de Marigny). They're both right. It's scary to sit quietly and watch someone hurt or weep or hide their emotion and want so badly to say something to help them manage the moment. I read a quote by movie star Meryl Streep about the power of empathy. I've never thought of empathy as a power but as a surrender. You don't have power over someone because you "walk in their shoes," or "see things from their perspective." Empathy demands surrender, the surrender of your feelings and time and experience, to enter into the other's emotions and into their experiences. You're not there to dry their tears but to cry with them, and that demands some frightening vulnerability. Consider this: “When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.” Issue 870
6. FORGIVENESS Forgiveness may be the highest demonstration of love there is. It's easy to demonstrate love with a hug, a gift, some time together, some encouraging words, or an act of service. But to forgive? Oh boy, that's a different story. When someone hurts us, puts us down, or out-and-out whacks us with nasty words and deeds, our psyche is damaged, our self-esteem injured and we don't like it. "How dare you ..." we complain! Insult me, and I feel it to the bone. Trip me up, and I fall on my face, it hurts, and I want you to hurt too - so I look for a way to pay you back . Unless, of course, someone decides to forgive. When forgiveness is offered and received, look what happens:
When forgiveness is offered and received, humility is demonstrated, healing is facilitated, and happiness is rejuvenated. There is no happiness in blame, no pardon in punishment, and no mercy in cruelty; it's all bad. And that is why "forgiveness" is such a wonderful, life-lifting word, a word Jesus taught us to use when we pray: "forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us." Issue 871
7. GRATITUDE As a little boy, my mother taught me to say thank you - even for the ugly shirt my aunt gave me for my 4th birthday (I wanted a toy). Look what gratitude, this week's life-lifting word, does for you, me and the world around us. Gratitude exposes goodness! There is an element of goodness in all people, even the vilest of humans because all are created in the image of God. That goodness is on display when someone says thank you for what they have or for what someone has done to help them. Your appreciation for what you have puts you in touch with your better angels. When I lived in Zambia, I knew a lovely African mother who moved 400-miles across the country by train with her two toddler children in tow to join her husband. She wrapped all of her worldly possessions in a tablecloth that she carried on her head so she could hold on to her children. Every time I want to whine about how I'm not as rich or as lucky as some guy across town, I remember that young mother and thank God for what I have. Gratitude expands civility in an increasingly rude and selfish culture. The other day I held open the door for a guy coming out of the bank. He had his head down and walked quickly and silently past me and out the door. I said loud enough for him to hear, "You're welcome." He just kept walking. Most people aren't like that guy. Most people are polite; most people have a measure of gratitude a sense of connectedness with others - even strangers. When you are polite and thankful for what you have, you celebrate the kindness, generosity, and integrity in others and it reminds them to reciprocate. Never miss an opportunity to be gracious and grateful. Gratitude exposes goodness, it expands civility, and gratitude exalts God. A popular atheist website says you don't need a god to be thankful. It says you should thank people, farmers, soldiers, etc., and leave God out of it. They assume humans are the highest form of evolution and their presence on the planet is the result of time plus matter plus chance. I cannot believe that something as incredible as a tiny hummingbird that weighs less than a nickel can make a 24-hour 621-mile flight across the Gulf of Mexico from the Yucatan Peninsula to the southern coast of the United States every spring is the result of an accident of nature. It seems absurd to me that it was luck that a tiny acorn somehow learned to turn itself into a mighty oak tree, or that Haley's Comet finds its way to journey through space so reliably that its passing our planet can be calculated almost to the hour. To think that this world and its surrounding million-billions of planets all happened by chance is to exchange intelligent thought for the convenience of ignoring the obvious need for a creator. When moved by the majesty of creation, or the innocence of a newborn child, when you consider all you have, and you exclaim, "Thank you, God," you acknowledge you are not here by chance by on purpose. You grasp the life-lifting impact gratitude has on your life. Issue 872
8. HOPE You can hope you don't burn the toast tomorrow morning, and that your new-born son will one day marry the right lady, while at the same time hope for peace in the middle east. This life-lifting four-letter word has broad implications and a powerful impact on the human soul. What is hope? Hope is an optimistic state of mind that anticipates a positive outcome concerning the variety of trials and disappointments in a person's life or the world at large. Everyone needs hope because life can be very difficult. The four letters of hope, H-O-P-E, demonstrate how hope makes life bearable! H: Hope helps you Heal. Have you ever watched someone suffer from a bad disease? An oft refrain you'll hear from them is, "There's always hope." Why do they say that? Because hope helps healing. One writer said, "Hope is medicine for a soul that's sick and tired." (Eric Swensson) The proverb writer saw what hopelessness looked like and wrote, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick." (Proverbs 13.12) If you're sick, grief-stricken, or broken in some way, hustle up some hope, and your healing will begin. O: Hope makes you optimistic. Hope is optimism mixed with deep faith. Hope doesn't care much about the way things are; hope focuses on possibilities, the way things could be or should be. The great preacher, Henry Ward Beecher said, "Hope is sweet-minded and sweet-eyed. It draws pictures; it weaves fancies; it fills the future with delight." St. Paul knew something about pain and suffering, and he advised his readers to be "cheerfully expectant!" (Romans 12:12) It is his version of "keep hope alive!" When things go backward, hope makes you look forward. P: Hope keeps you patient. When something goes wrong, you want it fixed fast, but sometimes fast isn't possible. As my wife fought cancer, for months, we kept hope alive that she would survive. We wanted a glimmer of light in the midst of darkness. We waited and prayed and hoped for many months. It was our hope and faith in God that got us through. Once she died, a new kind of hope rose up within us - hope we would see her in heaven. Bill Gaither wrote in one of his many wonderful songs, these words: " You're not the first to be acquainted with sorrow, grief or pain but the master promised sunshine after rain." The refrain to the song gives hope to all who grieve, "Hold on my child joy comes in the morning!" E: Hope gives you energy. Focus your days on despair, debt, and desolation, and you'll want to quit. But look at life through the life-lifting lens of hope, and you will understand that somehow some way, you can survive it all. Through a variety of life-crushing events, I discovered that hope is a renewable resource. If you run out of it during the night, you can renew it in the morning. Rogers & Hammerstein said it best in their song from "Carousel" to not be afraid of the dark, the wind, the rain, and "though your dreams be tossed and blown, walk on, walk on with hope in your heart and you'll never walk alone!" Hope is your ability to perpetually anticipate a bright future, no matter how gloomy the present. That is why hope is indeed, a life-lifting word. Issue 874
9. INTEGRITY Many years ago I was at a radio station for an interview. Before going on air I visited with the radio station manager about a variety of subjects. Out of nowhere and unrelated to anything we were talking about, he asked me, "Ron, what would you do if you were absolutely positively guaranteed that no one would ever find out?" I don't recall my answer but the question refers directly to this life-lifting word, integrity. What I (or you) would do if no one would ever find out should be the same as if every word and deed were being recorded. The moment you break a promise, tell a lie, or omit a truth you realize the significance of integrity. When you do, you can feel fidelity, honesty, and honor leak out of your life like the air out of a punctured balloon. On the other hand, when you tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth and you keep your promises, you sense the favor of God and man, no matter the cost to you. It's called integrity, a life-lifting word that calls forth the very best qualities within you. What does it mean to be a person of integrity? Here are three answers: You are a person of integrity if you are trustworthy - a person of principle. Trust is the root of every lasting relationship whether business, political, or personal. You don't return to a business that cheats you. You don't vote for a politician who says one thing to get elected then does the opposite once in office. You don't continue a relationship with someone who is devious or unreliable. You are a person of integrity if you are honest - a person of truth. The coolest thing about truth is that it does not change. What is true today will be true tomorrow no matter what polls say, or how deception tries to make a lie palatable. Marcus Aurelius (Roman Emperor from 161 – 180 AD), said, “If it’s not right, do not do it; if it’s not true, do not say it.” Good advice. The enduring quality of honesty pays huge dividends to those who persistently demonstrate it in word and deed. You are a person of integrity if you are consistent - a person of coherence and order. Reliable and disciplined would two more words that describe this foundational characteristic of integrity. There is an identifiable sequence of events to everything God has created: the seed, the tree, the fruit. A person of integrity understands the mandate of sequence and strives to get things done in the proper way and at the appropriate time. It's easy to get lost in the pursuit of possessions, power, and profit and in the process lose yourself, your good self, your integrity. Don't we all know something about that? If you do, consider this - If you have money, you can buy stuff. If you have power, you can make demands. If you have education, you can know details. If you have prestige, you can expect recognition. If you have good looks, you can receive compliments. But if you have none of the above and you have integrity, you have more than all combined. Issue 875
10. JUSTICE You probably can't remember, but the first time you sensed injustice was as a toddler. It was when another toddler grabbed a toy out of your hand, and you didn't like it. You were so enraged at the little brat's thievery that you screamed loud enough to be heard down the block! A few years later when you stole a candy bar from the 7-11, no one had to tell you it was wrong. That's why you ran all the way down the block, and as you ate the candy bar, it didn't taste all that good. You didn't know the meaning of "lie" when you first lied to your mother. But when she said, "Did you just lie to me?", you knew what she was talking about and guilt overwhelmed you. Later in life when you saw photographs of the death camps of Hitler's Third Reich or learned about slavery or understood what adultery was, you knew for certain some things are right, and some things are horribly wrong. Every human in every tribe and nation in every era of time starts out life with this internal sense of morality. It's the law that is written on the heart of every human by their Creator. You and I and everyone on earth have an innate sense that there is good and evil, right and wrong, justice and injustice. It's called Natural Law. Here's the deal: The first sense of right and wrong was discovered by Adam and Eve who did not notice they were naked until after they sinned. It's not in Genesis, but I'm pretty sure that once they shared the forbidden fruit, Adam said to Eve something like, "You know what, Eve, I think we just screwed up. I sure hope God didn't notice!" But they ran and hid and covered their shame just in case. In that single moment in history, this life-lifting word, justice, had its origin. Right and wrong, guilt and innocence, was established by God himself in the Garden of Eden. Justice did not originate from robed judges, pious religious proclamations, or haughty lectures by over-educated Ph.D.s. It came from the Justice of All Ages, Almighty God. Next, the law written on the heart of man by God was codified when He called Moses to Mt. Sinai. There he handed Moses the Ten Commandments, the beginning of codified law. The Mosaic Code formed the basis of America's civil and criminal justice systems. The laws of God and man may be written on paper and filed in courts, but they do not assure anyone of justice. You probably know of someone for whom justice was denied or someone who though guilty, got off on a technicality. It's true that many a crime has gone unpunished and many a sin has gone unnoticed. What is the lawbreaker afraid of? Justice, that's what. What do the offended want so badly? Justice, that's what. It's easy to call for justice, but it's not that easy to implement. Nevertheless, justice is an important life-lifting word that continues to impact our broken and sinful world. As the Proverb writer observed, “When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.” – Proverbs 21:15 Issue 876
11. KNOWLEDGE I may have stepped in it when I added "knowledge" to my list of life-lifting words. Why? Because people much smarter than me have wrestled with the meaning of this word. One of the first to discuss the meaning of knowledge was Plato (428 - 347 BC). Nevertheless, I will attempt to ask and answer four questions about knowledge: 1. What is knowledge? One dictionary says knowledge is "the sum or range of what has been perceived, discovered, or learned." The problem is what was perceived and known by Plato around 400 BC and what is perceived and known by you today can be radically different because of discoveries over the interim. When I was in junior high school back in the 1950s, we learned about the simplicity of the single cell. That's what scientists "knew" back then. A few decades later they discovered the human cell was not simple, but very complex. 2. Where do we get knowledge? We gain knowledge from two sources: experience and study. You learned who the Tooth Fairy was before the third grade (your mother, in case you missed it) and that the stove can burn you. Then, in primary and middle school, you learned by studying how the earth rotates around the sun and that the earth is a tiny planet in a vast universe. From experience, you learned that you wanted to be liked by other kids. As you grew, you learned more and more and more from both experience and study. 3. How much knowledge can we get? My answer to this question is NEVER ENOUGH. I think I will always have a few dozen books sitting near my reading chair awaiting my thirsty mind. That's study. When I wanted to know what it was like to jump out of an airplane at age 73, I found out the day I jumped. The experience taught me much more about parachuting than reading a book or watching a YouTube video ever could have. 4. What do we do with knowledge? There are three possible answers to this question:
You base every decision you make and every action you take on your experience and knowledge. Therefore, better decisions and more successful actions will come as you increase both experience and knowledge. That makes knowledge a life-lifting word! Issue 877
12. LIBERTY The bell of liberty rings in the heart of every human being whether born of high estate or lowest station. This life-lifting word heard its loudest cry on July 4, 1776, when the Continental Congress declared that thirteen American colonies regarded themselves as free and independent states. The brave patriots who signed the historic “Declaration of Independence,” formed the United States of America; where their citizens would be no longer legally attached to Great Britain and King George III. The following are four questions about liberty answered with the help of the patriots of early America. When do you have liberty? Liberty comes when the masses know and understand they must protect themselves from the tyranny of overlords. There is something about political leaders that lures them from being servants of the people to become kings, dictators, or despots. Once the ruling class believes it is smarter, better educated, and worthy of more respect than the humble, hard-working average person, they assume authority, influence, and control over the masses. The slavish bondage perpetrated on the masses by the ruling class is inevitable if gone unchecked from time to time. Founding Father Thomas Jefferson warned us, “Educate and inform the whole mass of people – they are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.” Liberty also comes when people are free to think and to express their beliefs without fear of retribution. When autocrats and intellectuals muzzle people by anything other than common human courtesy, liberty wanes while dependence and restraint accelerate. Founding Father Benjamin Franklin said this about that: “Without freedom of thought there can be no such thing as wisdom – and no such thing as public liberty without freedom of speech.” How do you maintain liberty? Thomas Jefferson said the maintenance of liberty requires sacrifice: “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time by the blood of patriots and tyrants.” He saw the inevitability of any governing agent or agency to, over time, deem themselves entitled and superior over the governed. Therefore, the blood of patriots must be shed from time to time to free them from the tyranny of the oppressor. How do you know liberty is slipping away? Liberty exists when one group is afforded the same rights as all others, in other words, equality under the law. One mark of the demise of liberty is the increase in special rights granted or withheld from certain groups, whether political, religious, racial, gender, or other real or invented minority. The signers of the Declaration of Independence said it is self-evident “that all men are created equal; they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” What is the source of totalitarianism? The Declaration of Independence, quoted above, declares our “unalienable rights” are granted to us by our “Creator.” Deny the granter of liberty (Almighty God), and you lose all liberty – tyranny reigns. If your fundamental rights come from those who govern, you are subject to any whim or pretext for the ruling elites to grant or remove your rights. Liberty exists when both the governed and governors recognize God as the giver of all human rights and that those rights are unalterable and universal. Issue 878
13. MAJESTY Who or what could ever be referred to as majestic? The word majesty and its variation majestic are reserved for very few people or things. I once stood in front of Michelangelo’s Pieta, the stunning marble sculpture that depicts the body of Jesus on his mother’s lap after his crucifixion. Majestic is a word I use to describe that work of art because it has an imposing grandeur, unlike any other sculpture. The Rocky Mountains at sunrise or sunset are often referred to as majestic. Their majesty lies in their vast beauty and magnificent presence as they ascend above the fruited plains and pose against the Colorado skies. If you were to visit Elizabeth II, Queen of England, upon entrance you should probably refer to her as “Your Majesty.” She is given that appellation not because she is a better person than her butler or you or me, only because she is considered royalty in the tradition of kings, queens, and princes. But should a person not of royal estate be referred to as majestic or “your majesty?” To me, the word has meanings that transcend human comparison. Who among us is royal, grandiose, or splendid, all synonyms of majestic. The only person I can think of outside the thrones of Europe who might have character describable as majestic was Billy Graham. I saw Billy Graham several times over my life and once I was within a few feet of him. The photo I took at that event hangs on my office wall. He was an imposing character who carried himself with confidence and dignity. However, no one ever referred to him as majestic or greeted him as “Your Majesty.” It’s a word too big, to exalted ever to apply to humans, and I’m certain Billy Graham would have agreed. Billy Graham’s presence didn’t come from his bloodline like Queen Elizabeth’s. Neither did it come from the robes of the ordained, the degrees of academies, vast wealth (he lived humbly), or world-wide notoriety. No, his dignity, his confidence, his prominence was the result of his humility and his submission to the only being in heaven or on earth for whom the word majestic should be used, God Himself. You may have sung the popular Christian song, “Majesty.” It was played on every Christian radio station and sung over and over again in churches around the world. The song was written in 1977 by minister Jack Hayford, inspired by his visit to England. The opening lyrics and melody came together as he and his wife drove through England where they saw many symbols of royalty. He wrote the rest of the song upon his return to California. Hayford says “majesty” describes the kingly, lordly, glorious, regal nature of our Savior. He said our worship “can align us with God and His throne and His kingdom. We are rescued from death, restored to the inheritance of sons and daughters, and qualified for victory in battle against the adversary, and destined for the throne forever in His presence.” Majesty and majestic, two powerful and expressive life-lifting words should be reserved for either stunning works of art (sculptures, paintings, and music), magnificent views of nature, and for a sovereign and holy God. Issue 879
14. NICE The opposite of nice is nasty, and we have a lot of nasty going on in our world today. Disagreements often turn into fights. Opinions go from being expressed to being disputed then shamed and sometimes censored. Civility, good manners, and respect for the value and humanity of others seem on its way out, and insolence, discourtesy, and vulgarity are on the rise. We need a surge of nicety to enter our society, a wave of pleasantness to wash away so much of our inter-personal unkindness. That’s why I add “nice,” this great little four-letter-word to my lexicon of life-lifting words. The following are eight ways nice people act.
Perhaps the best thing about nice is that it isn’t that hard to do. Be nice today, be nice to others, and others will call you nice! How nice is that? Issue 880
15. OVERCOME You’ve had to face an unexpected challenge or two in your life – everyone has. To live in peace, to enjoy a measure of prosperity, and sometimes to survive, you need the spirit of an overcomer. If you’re half-way normal, your victories are hard fought and well earned; but you’ve also had your share of disappointments and losses. Because of your life experience, you can appreciate this word we now add to our Lexicon of Life-Lifting Words: overcomer. To overcome means to get the better in a struggle or conflict; to gain the victory. You’re an overcomer when you face your problems, contest opposition, conquer a disability, and prevail over temptation. All overcomers face at least three obstacles on their journey to conquest. Overcomers face the obstacle of opposition. The whole point of a sporting event is to find out who can better whom in a contest; one wins – another loses. In a little-league baseball game or a round of golf with your buddies, you face opposition, but it is friendly and thereby dramatically different from the opposition that comes when you set out to achieve a significant goal. I don’t know why, but many of life’s bystanders seem called to stand in the way of those who want to reach a goal, achieve a dream, or finish a task. Overcomers are the ones who see the naysayer’s tactics and call them out then face them down. Overcomers face the obstacle of distraction. This one is my biggy. I am easily distracted: “Oh look, a squirrel.” I’ve had a few car accidents in my day, and one thing was common to them all: they were the result of me or some other driver not paying attention. Today the number of distractions to our daily challenges are legion. There is social media, constant stimulation of noise (music, traffic, etc.), unrealistic expectations, poorly defined roles and responsibilities, and an unwillingness or inability to concentrate. Overcomers focus on the issue at hand, they look forward to the next step and are never sidetracked by something easier or more interesting to do. Overcomers face the obstacle of imperfection. After making a mistake, I’ll bet you have thrown up your arms and declared, “Well, nobody’s perfect!” Your reference was to yourself – and you were right – nobody is perfect, we all make mistakes. Overcomers get it; they know they are imperfect; but they don’t let their faults, flaws, and deficiencies become excuses for their failings. Rather, they use them as motivations to become bit-by-bit a better person. Overcomers, you see, strive for improvement, not perfection. They triumph over bad habits, bad role models, bad advice, bad luck, bad health, bad friends, bad weather, bad schools, bad neighborhoods, bad attitudes, and bad whatever else you can think of. They never whitewash their faults; they never accept defeat, and, in the process, they confound their critics. Whenever you overcome opposition, defeat distraction, and endure imperfection you are an overcomer – and it feels really good! You experience satisfaction. It’s called the sweet taste of victory. It means you faced your fears and won. It means you focused your mind and prevailed. It means you improved and enriched and recovered whatever or whomever it was that wanted to stop you, hurt you, or vanquish you. Ahhhh, the sweet taste of victory! Issue 881
16. PURPOSE “The Purpose Driven Life,” a book by Rick Warren impacted millions of people around the world like few books have. I know an over-the-road truck driver who carries in his cab an original copy of the book written in 2002. He reads a chapter every night and has been doing so for over ten years. The message of Pastor Warren’s book is neither complex nor new. He wants his readers to know they are a special creation of God and their presence on earth is neither an accident nor a mistake. His message, however, is dramatically different from the absurdity students at all levels of education have been given over the past several generations. Academies at all levels teach there is no God, that nothing is of divine origin, and no one has an eternal destiny – it is all the result of time plus matter plus chance. I choose to believe a more logical concept that anything as complex as the earth with its coverings and inhabitants is not an accident of the ages but the work of the Great Designer. My life, your life, and the life of every person who ever lived are intended to have meaning! We’re here for a purpose. The benefits of living life on purpose are legion. Here are three: Live your life on purpose, and you’ll double your dignity, triple your impact, and quadruple your joy. Purpose doubles your dignity. When you live on purpose your work has meaning even if it is menial. While walking through the variety of businesses near Montgomery, Alabama’s lovely Riverwalk one evening, a gray-haired gentleman offered to shine my shoes. I accepted. As he shined my shoes, he took the opportunity to tell me how much God loved me, and that God wanted not only my shoes to shine, but my soul to shine as well. His task was menial, his call was meaningful, and his dignity was noticeable. Purpose triples your impact. Your mate needs you, your children learn from your example, your community needs your citizenship, and your world needs the goodness you have to offer. Og Mandino, an author, and speaker wrote, “I am here for a purpose, and that purpose is to grow into a mountain, not to shrink to a grain of sand. Henceforth will I apply ALL my efforts to become the highest mountain of all and I will strain my potential until it cries for mercy.” Purpose quadruples your joy. “I’m here for a purpose” is a decree that lifts your life when you’re down and out. It empowers you to smile in the midst of sorrow, and is a much better cry than, “all I want to be is happy!” If you have a reason to live, love leads you, hope empowers you, and the work to live out your purpose, though it is sometimes sacrificial, will not stand in your way. Purpose calls you to life, helps you stand tall, and refreshes your courage. Your usefulness, your influence, and your unique God-given gifts employed for the benefit of humanity make you more than happy – they give you joy. Which would you rather believe: you are the result of slime that eked its way out of some prehistoric bog or that you are here because the God of the universe so decreed? Issue 882
17. ORDER Any scientist will tell you the laws of nature are immutable and infallible. A pilot, when taking off in an airplane, does not defy the laws of aerodynamics, by flying, he uses the laws to gain lift and stay on course. The laws of nature and nature’s God are what maintain order. His laws keep our solar system in order and the innumerable immeasurable stellar systems of space under strict control. Everything in the universe has remained in perfect order for millenniums. The earth rotates around the sun with the same reliable precision today as it did four or five billion years ago. The Creator’s laws do not allow the sun to get too far or too close, or its rays to get too hot or too cold. If either happened, the earth would be destroyed in a nanosecond by either fire or ice. The time of day you check on your cell phone comes to you as a result of God’s steadfast order. So reliable are the movements of the stars and planets that timekeepers at the United States Naval Observatory use them to adjusts its master clock accordingly. So reliable are God’s laws that scientists use them to calculate with precision where stars and planets will be hundreds of years in advance. Life on planet earth and beyond is all about this life-lifting word, order. As humans, we long for order. We prefer weather that is stabilized, stores that are organized, and days that are systematized. Problem is, our lives aren’t all that normalized. Chaos, too often, reigns. I have a friend whose adult son was killed in an automobile accident. The day before her boy’s funeral, her father died unexpectedly. In 7 days life came crashing down on her, and for many months, everything was out of order. We struggle for order every day. We wish things wouldn’t go wrong, but they do. It reminds me of Murphy’s law: Whatever can go wrong will go wrong. We wish life were more like the dictionary, filled with useful information arranged in alphabetical order. But it is not. It is chaotic, disturbing, and sometimes downright evil. Life is a perpetual display of the universal Law of Decay. Your bananas turn black, your nicely-ironed shirts wrinkle, and your desk drawer gets messier and messier. You grew from a baby to the height of your physical glory and peak performance in about 20 years. Then, your knees hurt, your hair falls out, your eyes weaken, and your weight shifts downward from your chest to your tummy. Mud packs wrinkle creams, and bizarre diets do little to help. Birth and life are always followed by the final evidence of the Law of Decay – death. What does not change, is man’s longing for order. We want a tidy garage, clean streets, safe neighborhoods, honest commerce, just courts, and a predictable and peaceful world. We long for it – and our longing’s origin is the God-image within us. God is a God of holiness and order, but we are a people of sin and chaos. Be not dismayed, do not end your search for order. Keep looking, keep striving, and keep tidying up the things and people around you and live out your hunger for order. Issue 883
18. QUIET Your schedule is packed, your days are hurried, and your nights are restless. Am I right? If so, then you’re going to love this Life-Lifting Word, “Quiet.” Somehow, many years ago, our western culture decided that busyness, multitasking, and noise were the hallmarks of a successful person. After several decades of living out that lifestyle I now prefer tranquility – no blaring music, even if it’s “easy listening” or “soft rock.” Often, I prefer silence. It may be my age, but I think it’s clear, the busyness and clatter of our world contribute little to the kind of life we would prefer no matter our age. Recently I took quite a bit of time off. I was away from my home office and computer for a long weekend. Most of that time was spent in quiet and reflective conversations with someone very important to me. More than once throughout the weekend we wondered if we were wasting our time, as neither of us crossed off any task on our long to-do list. How long has it been since you spent a half day and did little or nothing, maybe gaze at the Rockies, or walk around a park, or watch the moon rise? When you do, something happens to your soul – it gets reconnected to the silent rhythms of life. There’s something remarkably calming to hear the whisper of Cottonwood leaves applaud the cooling breeze of autumn. You don’t need a campfire crackling in the silence of a remote mountain camp sight to hear the noiseless memo of Mother Nature. Sometimes all you need is a candle flickering in the dark, or the soft strum of a guitar to sound a quiet tune. Someone who knew noise – the noise of war horses on the move and soldiers in hand-to-hand combat – was Napoleon Bonaparte. He observed, “The best cure for the body is a quiet mind.” Ah, the healing power of quiet, yet noise is everywhere. I’ve observed that the only way to hear your inner voice is to be quiet: reflection before decision, thought before word, and rest before work. Peace and Quiet
Take a moment – no, an hour On some clear dark and pleasant night. All alone, study stars Mind the moon, in peace and quiet. There breathe the breath of God until You sense life’s true and sweet delight. World at rest, calm within Soul is fed - In peace and quiet. – Ron Ross Issue 884
19. RESPECT Aretha Franklin sang about it, Rodney Dangerfield complained he didn’t get any at all, and the rest of us would appreciate a little more of that curious thing called respect. This Life-Lifting word, respect, comes from a variety of sources. Respect is born of awe. On the human level, we often stand in awe of people of great achievement. Every baseball player stands in awe of Babe Ruth, business executives respect Bill Gates, and nearly everyone had profound esteem for Mother Theresa. On a higher level, in every society on every continent for at least 7,000 years, humans have demonstrated respect for a power higher and greater than themselves. Christians respect Jesus, Jews respect Jehovah, Muslims respect Allah, etc. Respect is born of expertise. As kids, we respected the teacher who clarified the confusing, the coach who taught us to bat or shoot, run or dribble, and the parent who disciplined us with justice and mercy. As adults, we respect the plumber who clears the sewer line, the chef who prepares a great meal, the surgeon who operates with skill, and all who work to make this world a better place to live. Respect is born of institution. We respect some people not because of who they are personally but because of the position they hold in society. Every member of an African tribe respects their chief even though he may be a vile man. In our society, we respect people wearing badges (police officers) or robes (judges and clergy) or rank (military). We respect people of position such as the owner of the company we work for, or people of authority such as the foreman of our work-group. However, just because we respect the institution an individual represents does not mean we respect the individual who holds the position. Respect is born of fear. Shopkeepers located in certain parts of some cities respect the gangs that run the streets, not because of earned esteem, but because of fear. Most US citizens pay their taxes willingly, but a few pay them because they dread the power of the IRS. In certain parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan local citizens respect the Taliban only because they fear the terror they are ready, willing, and able to perpetrate at any moment. Respect is born of equality. There is a measure of respect that each person on earth owes to the other because all are members of the human race. The respect born of equality is one that each must have for the other and cannot be a one-way street. If I have no regard for your life, limb or property, I have abdicated my expectation to be respected by you or any other member of society. Another way to put it is, I can’t kill my parents, then appeal to the judge and jury for mercy because I am an orphan. Ultimately, respect is born of character. Knowledge, position, fame, and skills may cause someone to admire you, even control you to some degree. In the end, it is your character that births respect, the R-E-S-P-E-C-T Aretha sang about, Rodney longed for, and you and I desire. Issue 886
20. SPUNK This life-lifting word has almost disappeared from our vocabulary – spunk. The dictionary defines spunk as courage or the ability to forge ahead with good cheer and a strong heart. Other synonyms are spirit, mettle, and pluck. Here are three times when you need spunk – You need spunk when the struggle is uphill. The Little Engine that Could is a children’s story about a long train that must be pulled over a high mountain. Several large engines are asked to help but refuse. Then a little blue engine is asked to try. The engine accepts the challenge and with great effort, pulls the train over the mountain while repeating its motto: “I think I can.” The story, first published in 1930, has inspired millions of children to be optimistic and willing to work hard. You need spunk when the odds are against you. Nina, a high school friend of mine, had spunk or she would never have made the cheerleading squad. Nina, you see, was not one of those cute, shapely, sparkling blonds you think of when you imagine a high school cheerleader. She was short, overweight, and had a common face and straight brown hair. This was way before anyone heard of cheerleading schools, so Nina had to employ every ounce of positivity and a lot of time and energy to prepare for cheerleader tryouts. She learned to dance, how to handle pom-poms, but most of all, Nina put on the face of enthusiasm, friendship, and courage. Her spunk won her a spot on the cheerleading squad and in the process become one of the most popular girls in school. She did it with spunk. You also need spunk when fear consumes you. In our first year as missionaries in Africa (1967), I built my wife and our two toddlers a tiny six-room cement block house several miles north of Lusaka, Zambia. When we moved into the house, it had no electricity, no toilet, and no ceiling (it did have a roof). Two other missionaries and I had to go to the Southern Province on mission business which meant Amy and the kids had to stay home for several days and nights. She stayed in that little house with two little kids and no vehicle, no phone, and no other house closer than 100 yards. Her first evening alone in the bush, she noticed a sinister looking saucer-sized spider run between the rafters that held up the corrugated roof. She grabbed a broom to kill the scary creature, but it scampered and hid between a rafter and the roof. As darkness fell, in the light of a candle, she read the children a Bible story, heard their prayers, then walked into our bedroom. Alone and afraid, she laid down on her bed. She gazed at the ceiling and wondered where the spider was. Then, with great courage (spunk), she whispered a prayer and blew out the candle. Lots of things in life take spunk! It takes spunk to be the new kid at school in the 6th grade. It takes spunk to make one more sales call after a dozen failures. It takes spunk to admit your foolish mistake and ask forgiveness. It takes spunk to learn a new trade or finish your degree. It takes spunk to help the needy, fix what’s broken, and do what’s right while others do what’s wrong. Issue 888
21. TRUTH It is common today to hear someone talk about “my truth” and “your truth;” an idea that has its origins in college and university campuses. It’s a postmodern worldview that denies there is such a thing as truth – either historical, moral, or emotional. It’s an attractive idea to the weak-of-mind. It means they can write their own history, redefine their own future, manufacture their own morality, and express their own emotions no matter how impolite, intrusive, or destructive they may be. They believe you can lie with impunity, cheat without conscience, and steal without remorse. Pretty nice, huh? What has replaced truth? How about power. Modern philosophers claim that the truth of any given statement is merely a function of power – a way to impose on others the will of the powerful rather than invite all people to distinguish between fact and fiction, morality and iniquity, and the verifiable from the disputable. So insecure are the purveyors of this so-called truth, they cannot abide opposing points of view; they use the power of their positions to scorn, chastise, and censure the disagreeable. They ban speakers who dispute their teachings, and if one gets an audience, they shout them down. Their goal is to impose on the student the instructor’s beliefs about life – and they shame any who deviate from the orthodoxy of the academy. In less-than-free societies, this is referred to as indoctrination – not education. Think about this for a moment: the postmodernists declare as truth that there is no such thing as truth. Once again, think about that for a moment. How do you make that kind of twisted logic fit into your brain? If something is true it conforms to reality, it sees, knows and understands facts, it is verifiable and indisputable. You can believe it will rain tomorrow, but you know for certain that the earth rotates around the sun and that the electricity will shock you and that what goes up must come down. No one ever considered Elvis Pressley a philosopher, but he got it right when he said, “Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain’t goin’ away.” You have one fact, I have another; you have one opinion, I have another. Which fact is right and which opinion is wrong? It doesn’t matter to the truth because the truth always remains the truth. No matter how long you deny it, no matter how often I rewrite it, no matter how much you and I ignore it, the truth will always be the truth. You may not know the truth, but there it is. You may not like the truth, but there it is. You may not want the truth, but there it is. You may not understand the truth, but there it is. The truth is not malleable according to the whims of society. Truth does not falter in the face of lies. Truth stands while deceptions, fabrications, and denials fall. Truth stands though often hidden by repetitive lies, slight of hand illusions, and well-crafted deceptions. Now my last thought about this life-lifting word – Truth: seek it, speak it, but don’t tweak it. I’m Dr. Ron Ross, and that’s the truth! Issue 889
22. UNITY Look at the ways our world is divided: caste, creed, class, color, gender, race, tribe, political affiliation, language, worldview, age, IQ, education, etc. You’ve heard the slogan, “United we stand – divided we fall,” right? If it’s true, then in many areas of our culture, we are about to fall. Therefore, it’s time to talk about unity. Unity is a life-lifting word for three reasons: Because there is nothing more powerful than a unified nation, nothing more triumphal than a cohesive team, and nothing more beautiful than a harmonious marriage. There is nothing more powerful than a unified nation! Citizens of all colors, political affiliation, and religion came together to win two world wars. I wonder if we could accomplish the same today, given the divisive spirit that consumes us. You might think we have the strongest and best-equipped armies in the world, but that is not enough. The strength of our nation comes not from the totality of our wealth or the strength of our military, but from the covering of God and the solidarity of its people. Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Pit race against race, religion against religion, prejudice against prejudice. Divide and conquer! We must not let that happen here.” It is time for you and me and the others within our sphere of influence to find some common ground, too, as Abraham Lincoln said, “… bind up the nation’s wounds.” If not – we will fall. There is nothing more triumphal than a cohesive team. A unified sports team is almost unbeatable. A corporate culture where communication and collaboration are high values, profitability is more likely to follow. Mia Hamm, retired pro soccer player, two-time Olympic gold medal winner, and two-time FIFA Women’s World Cup champion know something about unity on the sports field. She said, “I am a member of a team, and I rely on the team, I defer to it and sacrifice for it, because the team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion.” There is nothing more beautiful than a harmonious marriage. Perhaps the most urgent need for unity is inside your home – the rooms in which you live, eat and sleep. A husband and wife who form a bond that enhances their intimacy strengthens mutual trust and defines a common purpose is a thing of beauty. A better word for unity in marriage is “oneness.” The word is found in the Bible and means precisely what you think it does: togetherness, agreement, coherence, and, of course, unity. But just like unity in a nation and unity on a team, unity in a marriage takes effort to achieve and even more work to maintain it. Your strong and healthy marriage has far-reaching effects, as your community, your state, and nation is the beneficiaries. But more importantly, your children, the heirs of family harmony, have a positive impact on your descendants for generations to come. Divide and conquer has been a strategy used to ruin countries, communities, and marriages since the dawn of civilization. Satan used it against Adam and Eve. The first murder (Cain killed his brother Able) over some religious issue. The same strategy is used in the 21st Century to ruin relationships, destroy families, and create cultural chaos. Fight the trend. Deny the dividers their victory. As the old song says, “Pray that all unity may one day be restored.” When there is unity within, no stranger without can divide. Issue 890
23. VIRTUE Virtue is a word you don’t hear very often. Nevertheless, it’s a word of great depth. The dictionary defines virtue as moral excellence; goodness; and righteousness. A person who bears these characteristics is called virtuous. The word is seldom used to describe we mere mortals since the only truly virtuous person who ever lived was hung on a cross. Even so, it bears adding to our Lexicon of Life-Lifting Words because it calls each of us to a higher standard of morality and propriety. Let’s fantasize for a moment; If you were a virtuous person, how would you be different from others? You would be moral. Traditional morality is under attack everywhere. Our children learn there are no absolute universal standards for behavior, that each can decide for themselves what is true and right. The academies at every level profess “value-free, morally neutral” education. No wonder you don’t hear the word virtue very often – the so-called smart people in our culture don’t believe there is such a thing, but there is, and most people know it intuitively. If you’re human, you know murder is wrong. If you’re married, you know adultery is wrong. If you have something of value and someone takes it from you, you know thievery is wrong. A virtuous person knows the difference between right and wrong and does his/her best to live a blameless life. You would be decent. A virtuous person knows and lives with a variety of unwritten standards of propriety, good taste, and modesty. Some things in life cannot be written into law and imposed on citizens. For instance, a decent person knows and loves free speech, but would not use his/her freedom to scream invectives at those with whom he/she disagrees. By age sixteen, George Washington had copied out by hand, “110 Rules of Civility & decent Behavior in Company and Conversation (sic).” Rule one says, “Every Action done in Company, ought to be done with Some Sign of Respect, to those that are Present (sic).” Want to bet he knew the meaning of virtue? You would be wise. A virtuous person is not foolish, reckless, or hasty; he is prudent, measured, and restrained. Edmund Burke wondered, “But what is liberty without wisdom, and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint.” A virtuous person is wise. You would be rational. Rationality like morality, seems in short supply these days, what with the overload of noise, news, and narratives our not-very-smart-phones bring us each day. Analytical, sober reasoning applied to daily life is the essence of virtue. It considers facts over feelings, truth over deceit, and reason over absurdity. You would be dignified. A virtuous person is self-restrained from corruption, debauchery, and scandal. He thinks carefully, speaks courteously, and lives his life within the bounds of human dignity. Virtue is not a cliched characteristic commonly claimed by condescending copycats. It is a firm and persistent struggle against immorality of all kinds. It is the ability to choose and follow the good, the moral, and the decent at all-times whether someone is watching or not. Virtue – morality – is not something you can negotiate or legislate – it is something you live, and hence, is added to the Lexicon of Life-Lifting Words. Issue 891
24. WISDOM What makes a person wise? Does education? No, education makes you informed. I have a friend who has three degrees – a B.A., masters, and a doctorate. He graduated at the top of his class for his Ph.D., but the guy does not have a lick of common sense. He cannot make even the smallest of decisions without great angst and uncertainty. He is book smart but street stupid. Does good advice make you wise? It can, but you must act on the advice. For several years my father was a professional fundraising consultant for non-profit agencies. He gave his best advice to the CEOs, much of which was ignored. He complained to me, “They paid me, but all too often they did not act on my advice.” Who among us has not ignored the wisdom of our parents or teachers or professional advisors and later lamented our failure to act? Does experience make you wise? Sometimes. Drink a very hot beverage too quickly, and you learn to test the temperature before you gulp something down. Many of us repeat the same mistake time and time again. Remember Einstein’s definition of insanity: “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Does public opinion make you wise? No – and for two reasons: the majority is not always right, and the pollsters are not all that smart. No pollster knows for certain who they are polling, and they don’t know who or why many do not respond. Also, their so-called “margin of error” is only a mathematical construct (read: guess), created by a member of their team. Does religious training make you wise? It does help as you learn the difference between good and evil, right and wrong, and the principles for a well-ordered life. But even so, you say the wrong things, do stupid stuff, and too often willingly walk head-long into sin. Wisdom, according to the dictionary, is “the power of discerning and judging properly as to what is true or right: possessing discernment, judgment, or discretion.” You are wise as you take information, advice, experience, religious training, etc., and submit them to discernment, judgment, or discretion. Did you notice that emotion is not on the list of characteristics of wisdom? Then, are we to use emotions in decision making? Do they have a part to play in our daily lives? The answer is, yes, emotions do play a part in wisdom. Wise people use their emotions to help clarify what they experience compared to what they know. Foolish people say things like, “if it feels good do it,” and “follow your heart.” Wisdom says think first. Wisdom takes work. You must accumulate information (study and absorb), discover from experience (trial and error), identify and apply principles (know good from evil), and seek wisdom from a source far more informed than you – and that source is God himself. “Above all and before all, do this: Get Wisdom! Write this at the top of your list: Get Understanding! Throw your arms around her … never let her go … She’ll garland your life with grace; she’ll festoon your days with beauty.” (Proverbs 4: 7-8 MSG) Did you get that? Wisdom, this lovely word and life-lifting quality, is available to you! Acquire wisdom, and a variety of blessings will come to you! Issue 892
25. EXQUISITE When we say something is exquisite, what do we mean? We mean that something is of rare beauty and noticeable excellence. If something is exquisite, it has an extraordinary charm and loveliness such as the sky, a flower, a piece of music, or line of prose or poetry. Voltaire complained, “Ice cream is exquisite – what a pity it isn’t legal.” Besides ice cream, here are some exquisite items: The wildflowers that grow high in the Colorado Rockies are exquisite. Their delicate forms and vivid colors brighten up the hillsides into a display that must be seen to be fully appreciated. You might not consider a shark or whale exquisite, but the ocean nearly overflows with stunningly beautifully designed and elegantly colored sea urchins of all shapes and sizes. Black carbon may not appear exquisite, but it is an incredible element. Arrange carbon atoms one way, and they become soft, pliable graphite. Re-jigger the arrangement, and the same atoms form one of the hardest and most exquisite materials in the world – diamonds. Their strength and beauty develop over millions of years at depths of around 90 miles and in temperatures in the range of 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The very process is amazing – or better yet, exquisite. Melodies are exquisite – especially those of Mozart, one of the most enduring and popular composers of European classical music. He wrote symphonic, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music widely recognized as masterpieces of classical music. Many pieces of fine art are considered exquisite. The master artists of the Renaissance include Leonardo DaVinci, painter of The Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, and Michelangelo, the painter of the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel, and the sculptor of the David, a 17-foot, marble statue of the Biblical hero, considered to be technically perfect. I’ve seen the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel and Michelangelo’s Pieta’, the elegant depiction of the Virgin Mary cradling the body of the crucified Jesus. They are the very definition of exquisite. So many things can be exquisite. I’ve enjoyed exquisitely prepared and served meals at fine restaurants; I’ve watched the sun set on the Rockies and seen the sky evolve into a panoply of colors and shadows that defy description. I’ve stood at the edge of the world’s largest waterfall – the Victoria Falls and felt the wonder of their power, beauty, and splendor. Along the way, I’ve met a variety of exquisite people – people who are discerning, refined, and elegant. Some were well-bred people of wealth and power. Some were poor but walked straight, tall, and proud as they carried a 15-gallon jug of water from the river to the village. All of God’s creation is exquisite – especially the crowning jewel of his creation: people. Two tiny cells meet in the womb of a woman and from that moment a very special person is created. The Psalmist David realized the spectacle of God’s creation and declared, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful.” Psalm 139:14 (NIV). Indeed, His works are wonderful – which means that you too, dear reader are exquisite. You too are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” You too are a special creation of a perfect, loving, and exquisite God. Issue 893
26. YES As a child, one of the first words you learn Is “NO!” “Eat your peas!” your mother demanded as you sat in your highchair with a bib around your neck. You wagged your head back and forth and said with great authority, “NO!” Things didn’t get much better as you grew up. When your mother told you to go to bed, clean your room, or do your homework, “NO” was likely your most frequent answer. Now that you’re an adult it’s time to leave the land of “NO.” After all, you seldom gain an advantage, learn something new, or experience something amazing when you’re stuck on no. Negativity, as you already have discovered, is a thought thumping, creative impeding, solution shrouding force that limits your success and robs you of joy. When you leave the land of “NO!” and enter the land of “YES!” you discover life there is much, much better because “YES!” is a life-lifting word!
Think of all the people you’ve ever met, all the places you’ve ever been to, and all the things you’ve ever done. Then ask yourself, who said yes and who said no? What was the difference between the nice places and not-so-nice places? What or who caused you to stay or go? In almost every case, the good that happened to you was the result of you saying “YES!” Even the times you may have been better off saying no to something asked of you, in the process you learned a lot about who you are and how you want to live your life. Whenever you learn a lesson about yourself or life, in general, is when no becomes a yes! Where do you find your yes? How do you rid yourself of no? Here’s the answer: it’s up to you. You must see the bright side of life. And where do you start? You start in your bedroom every morning when you get up. Greet each morning with “YES!” Wake up in the land of “YES!” Refuse to migrate to the land of “NO.” Here are more suggestions: Don’t blame your life on others, take responsibility for what you say, how you say it, and who you are. Hang around yes people – stay away from naysayers. Feed your heart and mind with YES kinds of thinking. Become happy on the inside, then let that happiness beam on your face, shine from your spirit, and sparkle in your voice. Now, think of a couple of “NO” attitudes that imprison you, that quash your joy and hide the happy, loving person you are. Say NO to the NOs in your life. Then let go of the NO and grasp the YES. You're worth it, right? Right? Go ahead, shake your head “YES!” Better yet, clench your fist and raise it in victory while you shout, “I’m worth it! Yes! Yes! YES!” Issue 894
27. ZEST Zest! Now there’s a word you don’t hear very often! It’s a fun word to use, but it’s tough to work it into a conversation. When we see a toddler dash across the living room babbling happy noises all the way, we don’t comment, “Wow! That kid has zest,” even though he does. Can you have zest? You can have gusto, and you can feel enthusiasm, and you can taste seasoning, but can you have zest? Yes! The dictionary says zest is both a noun and a verb. I think it would be a compliment if someone called me zesty. A chef would like it if you told him, “The marinara sauce had an unusual, lovely zest to it.” Perhaps the most common usage of zest is in the phrase, “zest for living.” We admire active seniors for their zest for living. It means they enjoy life, that they live it with passion and delight. I can assure you, living with zest is a lot better than living with sorrow, apathy, and discontent. I know, I’ve tried them all. But you don’t need to be an old guy to lose your luster in life. The weight of daily living can wear you down, steal your strength, and make your get-up-and-go get up and leave. It happens most often to people who think a hectic schedule is a sign of life when it’s more like a predictor of death. Stress and worry undermine peace and weaken goodwill while zest makes you want to live. Zest is the hearty enjoyment of both the big and little things of life. Put extra salsa on your taco, and you have more zest. A positive response to a negative comment restores comity which honors humanity and restores energy which is, drum roll please, zest! Zest also improves your looks. Christian Dior, the late great French designer, said, “Zest is the secret of all beauty. There is no beauty that is attractive without zest.” Zest is charming. Some people add zest to any occasion simply by entering the room. They smile easily, visit cordially, and behave respectfully. Zest talks to strangers, turns over rocks, peeks behind unmarked doors, celebrates wrong turns, asks insightful questions, and listens for edifying answers. A person with zest is never apathetic, indifferent, or boring. Have a zest for life, and you’ll look, feel, and be younger than your neighbor who is bored with his job, uninterested in his family, eats junk food, considers leaning back in his recliner a form of exercise, and hasn’t read a book since high school. Norman Vincent Peal said, “If you have zest and enthusiasm you attract zest and enthusiasm. Life does give back in kind.” Zest is an antidote for heartache, loneliness, and hopelessness. Zest is living in the moment; it is the striving, the climbing, the creating, the loving, the holding, the letting go, the sunrise, the afternoon nap, and the rest that comes from a day well spent and a life well lived. Zest is a life-lifting word that has its origin in your deepest soul as it was God who enabled you to breathe your first breath and will be with you until you take your last. With his image upon you and in you, he enables you to perceive the wonder of life, to love your aliveness, and to stay alive your whole life and beyond. That’s zest! |
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