Category Archives: B words

Bondage

Bondage: (n) the state of being a slave.

Dribbling sweat and spitting out angry consonants, the preacher forewarns his timid congregation of the dangerDictionary B of the bondage of sin. Here’s the real essence of bondage:

Bondage is the loss of free will.

Whether it’s taken from you due to addiction, removed by the authorities because of your criminal activity, or snatched from you by religious fervor which insists on stringent practices to please a pissed-off God.

Bondage is when human beings can’t decide for themselves.

Presently, we are in bondage to the delusion of destiny–the ridiculous notion that our lives are pre-determined by some ethereal force which has programmed us for purposes beyond our control.

Actually, the most frightening thing about human life is that we choose to do both the evil and the good that spew from our nature. We are not prodded by the heavens nor are we drug to the depths of hell by demons.

The only true bondage is when we revoke our free will to something, someone, or some place and find ourselves dissatisfied, without a vote.

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Bond

Bond: (v) to be joined securely to something else

Putting my shoes on.Dictionary B

It’s a confirmation that I’m heading somewhere–usually out the door.

So footwear has a special significance to me. It tells me I’m ready. It tells me I’m going to be moving from my place of personal sanctuary into the coliseum of fellow-gladiators.

At that point, I need to understand one immutable reality: I must bond.

  • I must find a reason to get along with others.
  • I must be looking for commonality.
  • I must carry a pocketful of logic to pay the toll on a highway of misunderstanding.
  • I must realize that even though the humans around me may put on ugly masks or disguise themselves behind clown noses, beneath all that fakery is another soul not so different from me.
  • I must penetrate color.
  • I must be able to incorporate another gender.

I must find the bond … or stop being surprised that the whole damn world seems unglued.

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Bonanza

Bonanza: (n) a sudden increase in wealth or good fortune

My parents would not allow me to watch the Beatles’ first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, but I was allowed to view episodes of Bonanza.Dictionary B

Now, many of you reading this article may not know what Bonanza was. It was a show about a father and three adult sons, the Cartwrights, who owned a huge ranch, the Ponderosa, in Nevada and their struggles in trying to maintain their opulence.

I loved the show when I was a kid, but when I started watching it as an adult, it was a little bit terrifying. Why? Because a lot of people got killed so all of the family who lived on the Ponderosa could be proven right.

It was just the mindset of the time.

In our country, once we had established that something was “an American thing,” it had to be justified. So we condoned:

  • A Cold War
  • Racial inequality
  • Killing Vietnamese
  • And even brutalizing in the press scrawny rock-and-roll singers from Britain

As I watched the reruns of Bonanza, I realized that I was required to root for Dad and the boys in every episode, no matter how faulted their motives might be.

Bonanza?

Yes, I guess so–if your name was Pa, Little Joe, Adam or Hoss.

 

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Bona fide

Bona fide: (adj) genuine, real, without intention to deceive.

“It’s almost like pizza,” said the little boy as he munched on some rolls that were microwaved, having come from a box.Dictionary B

Just for the record, pizza rolls are not like pizza. They’re pizza rolls. I have no problem with them existing, as long as someone doesn’t say, “Well, it’s kind of like we had pizza–just all rolled up.”

Democracy has nothing to do with the presidential election. The election is an over-muscled, under-thought, lying extravaganza. Democracy, on the other hand, is a free airing of ideas, realizing that in that process we will probably have to change our minds from the hard line we have struck.

Religion is not Christianity. It doesn’t even try. It dresses up, passes around a multitude of symbols, and remains somewhat austere and stringent in an attempt to portray a God we refer to as “Love.”

We should never grow weary in the pursuit of well-doing, but we should also never call something bona fide–real, possessing lasting quality … if it fails to resemble the promise.

 

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Bombshell

Bombshell: (n) a very attractive woman.

Sometimes it’s just not enough to attract.Dictionary B

Even though we spend a lot of money and too many hours trying to become more attractive, we also expend equivalent energy insisting that we are loved for something other than our outward appearance.

I guess there’s a great advantage to being ugly–because you know if you attract anyone in your direction, it’s legitimate.

From time to time I think about the life of Marilyn Monroe.

Whatever she truly wanted to achieve, she failed to accomplish, causing her to misuse drugs and end up the victim of an overdose.

What did she want?

She wasn’t totally innocent–in the sense that she certainly did use her sexuality to gain prominence. But once that was acquired, she was stuck with the perception that she was nothing more than a blithe, flighty, unaware female with a good body, tempting every man to prove that he could be her supreme lover.

The smirks, the snickers and the lascivious smiles that trailed her probably exhausted her already-burdened spirit, and made her wish for anonymity.

Or maybe she was just a spoiled brat, who wouldn’t have been happy with anything.

I don’t know.

Does anybody know?

But since human sexuality encompasses such a small amount of space in our lives, to give much effort to blow it out of proportion is tiresomely vain.

Yes, I imagine the true problem of being a bombshell is that you just never know when it’s going to blow up in your face. 

 

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Bombast

Bombast: (n) high-sounding language with little meaning, used to impress people.

What impresses people today will be the object of ridicule tomorrow.Dictionary B

Yet throughout the history of the United States, ideas that were assumed to be bombastic later proved to be life-giving, essential and invaluable to the progress of our nation.

For instance, John Brown.

If you study the story of this abolitionist, he was basically pretty loony. Crazy, if you will. But he had one idea that was the backbone of his existence: there should not be slaves.

This notion was a controversial piece of bombast in his time.

So when he attacked the arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, was captured and executed, the general consensus was that a madman had been stopped from destroying the social norm.

Today, arguably, he is deemed a hero.

It’s not because he was certifiably sane, but rather, because what he chose to bombastically proclaim ended up being the truth.

If you’re struggling in this day and age with trying to determine what is foolish bombast and what might be the prophetic voice crying in the wilderness, put the ideologies to two simple tests:

  1. Does it include more people instead of alienating them?
  2. Is it trying to create a greater sense of good cheer among human beings?

If you consider this pair of guidelines–measuring them up against the present chatter–you will find yourself more aligned with John Brown rather than the Confederate Rebel Yell…even if you are a little loony.  

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Bomb

Bomb: (n) a container designed to explode on impact

A red woodpecker.Dictionary B

I can close my eyes and envision such a creature. Maybe it’s because as a kid I watched “Woody the Woodpecker.”

A sirloin steak covered with mushroom gravy with a side order of garlic shrimp.

That’s easy for me to imagine. I have experience. I have eaten all of these foods.

A moist kiss on the lips with a mixture of musky breath and a hint of mint.

Once again, all in the annals of my personal history and awareness.

A bomb.

I have no experience.

I have seen more bombings on television than I have red woodpeckers, but because I have no real sense of the horror, the heat, the explosive range and the demolition, I am dealing with an idea rather than a reality.

It is why, when considering our enemies, I choose not to scream with the careless crowd, “Bomb the shit out of them.”

 

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Bolster

Bolster: (v) to support or strengthen; prop up.

CourtesyDictionary B

Reconsidering

Repentance

Smiling

Courtly manner

Good cheer

Slow to wrath

Reflective

Patient

Worry-free

Gender equality

Merciful

Tender

Enduring

Persevering

Determined

Watchful

Forgiving

Not too sure of yourself

Humble

Creative

Willing

Energetic

Tolerant

Evolving

Hopeful

Realistic

Loving

Exhorting

Faithful

Bolster these things.

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Bolshevik

Bolshevik: (n) a member of the Russian Social Democratic Party, which was renamed the Communist Party

There’s a way that seems right but it’s wrong.Dictionary B

Any attempt we make to correct the ailments of our society by merely using pity ends up with a dissatisfying conclusion for all parties involved.

Those who are pitied become resentful, and those who pity are disappointed with the results their sympathy brings.

The world is not fair because the world would not work if it was fair.

If everyone had ten dollars a week given to them, and prices were adjusted to that stipend, we would still have human beings who would steal from others–to make sure they had a double portion.

Evil is not eliminated by financial security.

Evil is not intimidated by stirring the conscience.

Goodness demands that we tap our own soul and use our free will to bless others.

The Bolsheviks arrived in Russia speaking out against the inequity of the distribution of wealth. They succeeded in putting up a Communist tent of protection, which attempted to generate an even playing field.

Trouble was, nobody wanted to play–and when they didn’t play it was necessary to eliminate them in order to continue the game.

So they succeeded in achieving some financial equity, only to invite violent conclusions.

The poor will always be with us. Without them we would not learn to be givers.

And without occasionally taking our turn at being poor, we would not have the schooling for generosity.

 

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Bold

Bold: (adj) showing an ability to take risks; confident and courageous.

Bold sucks.Dictionary B

Well, perhaps that’s too simply stated.

Maybe I should phrase it this way: where we choose to be bold sucks.

If I were comparing “bold” to moving into a new house, I would parallel it with hanging pictures.

Once you remove all the old paint on the walls, wash them, let them dry, repaint and make sure you’re satisfied with the trim, then you can have the joy of hanging pictures.

But you do not hang pictures on a filthy, paint-peeled wall.

And you do not act bold when what surrounds your boldness fails to confirm it.

There are too many people with opinions who are walking contradictions to their own philosophy. They become hypocrites–not because they’re faulty human beings, but mainly because they insist on being bold about it.

Humility is the joyful wisdom that leaps onto the back of bold…always reminding us that we can be wrong.

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