Category Archives: Uncategorized

Atlantic

Atlantic: (n) short for Atlantic Oceandictionary with letter A

I was 22 years old before I ever got the opportunity to see an ocean. Living in Central Ohio, there were not many nearby.

When I asked my parents about whether they would take me so I could see…well, the sea…they told me it was no different from Hoover Lake down the road, where we fished.

“It’s just water, with shorelines, and maybe a little bit more sandy.”

Being a kid, I bought into their version and settled for my nearby body of water.

But when I was 22 years of age and arrived in Jacksonville, Florida, I had a couple of extra hours on my hands. I drove down to the beach, parked my car, got out and started to trudge across the sand. In a matter of seconds I came up over a rise and there it was.

The Atlantic Ocean in all of its glory.

Not only were the beaches much more than mere piles of sand, but the ocean was magnificent–nearly angry. It pelted the land with its waves, foaming at its mouth, eager to express its supremacy. And when I kicked my shoes off and went down into the water, I was astounded at the vigor and energy with which the waves struck my body.

As I found out with many things during my life, my parents’ definitions and interpretations were often flawed.

The Atlantic Ocean was much more interesting than Hoover Lake.

 

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Athwart

Athwart: (prep) in opposition or counter to.dictionary with letter A

I don’t want to be spooky.

I am not one of those fellows who finds God in every flower or a demon under every rock, but occasionally I have to admit, there are certain attitudes that permeate our society which seem to have been blown in by a wicked specter.

Maybe it’s because I find them dangerous, but more than likely, the reason these particular trends concern me is how quickly they inundate the thinking of the populace.

The one that comes to my mind, which seems to have become very popular in the past 15 to 20 years is the notion that we prove our intelligence by being negative.

Everyone wants to be a critic.

The trouble with critics is that when everyone is doing it, it is no longer a mere critique, but rather, eliminating the energy for creative ideas.

It’s scary to be creative.

Even as I write this essay, I have to be hyper-vigilant about grammar, detail, accuracy, length and form. Some of this is good, but the amount dumped on us is a burden that discourages experimenting with good ideas to see if they’re great.

At any moment, you can offer a suggestion and there is a multitude of nay-sayers standing nearby–to make these inclinations athwart.

Yes, they are fully prepared to explain in vivid and often vicious detail how stupid you are for your assertion. So the end result is a generation that plays it safe while simultaneously feeling no safety.

It will take courageous people chancing that their efforts may be ridiculed, but still proclaiming their thoughts, to overcome this mob mentality of merciless menacing.

My contribution is two-fold:

  • I will continue to create.
  • I choose not to take what is created in front of me athwart.

 

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Athlete

Athlete: (n) a person who is proficient in sports and other forms of physical exercise.dictionary with letter A

I often find myself aggravated when I listen to one of the pundits on ESPN or other sports programs talk about athletes having a “God-given ability.”

I think it’s one of the largest cop-outs in our society. It seems to me that when we discover that anything will take effort or demand commitment, we pull out the DNA card and insist that “we are not born with that particular inclination.”

The trouble with ignoring your inner athlete is that you rob yourself of the grace, agility and even healthy lifestyle that are conducive to human well-being.

I think it’s disgusting that we are not encouraging all young people to participate in some sort of team sport actitivity, which would enhance their abilities, so that they would possess the confidence and physical know-how to maneuver themselves through the narrow spaces of life.

Yes, athletes have an advantage, and it’s not just in high school and college. People who are athletic tend to stay trimmer, thinner and in better health than those who aren’t.

As a young boy I was allowed to vegetate, with the most exciting part of my day being breakfast, lunch and dinner. The end result was obesity.

When I finally got old enough to discover my “athlete in residence,” I was already so overweight that it was nearly impossible to return to a normal size. It has to start early–and we have to escape the notion that our five-day-old child has a personality; that because he laid his tiny hand on a ball in the room that he will someday be a superb “baller.”

We are trapping our children in a destiny that doesn’t exist, and in so doing we are robbing them of the power to find the full extent of their athletic ability, which grants them the jubilance and health to be alive and virile.

  • We are all athletes.
  • We are all given opportunity.
  • We are all provided life.

And as soon as we allow our children to tap that energy within them, the obesity rates that have been going up will suddenly drop.

For I will tell you–it’s not about how much you eat.

It’s about how you burn it.

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Atheism

Atheism: (n) disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods.dictionary with letter A

God damn atheism.

A rather ineffective threat, don’t you think?

Seriously, I’ve always been perplexed with the whole idea of atheism. Obviously, anyone who adheres to this frame of mind is also fully aware that the earth is an intricately formed entity because we need extensive scientific research to comprehend it.

The whole thing reminds me of packing for a long trip. There are two schools of thought:

Some people don’t pack snacks or drinks, but rather, choose to purchase these items at convenience stores. But sometimes these convenience stores aren’t–convenient, that is.

So at that point, it’s nice to have some snacks to munch on in the car.

Likewise, some folks think it’s completely unnecessary to check the car over before the trip as long as it’s running fine.

Of course, a trip to the local grocery store doesn’t reveal some creaks and whistles that might be discovered if you extend that journey by several hundred miles.

Some individuals make reservations at hotels in order to be prepared to check in upon arrival.

Other people like to do it on the fly when they get to a community and see what lodging possibilities are available.

Is there a power in being prepared? Because I know a lot of religious people who are not prepared to die and find out that the whole “God thing” was just an elaborate, beautiful fiction.

And I certainly also know atheists who would be equally as shocked to discover there is an afterlife and a Creator awaiting their arrival.

So the choice has always been easy for me.

I am one of those people who likes to prepare a little bit.

So I am fully prepared for a time on this planet that ends with my own death and nothing to follow.

How do I do that? By making sure I don’t do anything religious that takes the joy out of my living.

But I’m also fully prepared to talk to the Guy in heaven if it ends up that the DNA test came back and He actually is my Father.

How do I do that? By treating all of His creation–especially humans–with the respect and dignity that He requires.

To me atheism is as risky as making a prediction that Jesus is coming back by next September.

Since you really can’t be sure, it might just be a good idea to prepare for all alternatives.

 

 

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Ate

Ate: (v) past tense of eatdictionary with letter A

“Eating” is not my problem.

“Ate” is my problem.

Merely thinking about eating or sitting down to a table, acquiring a plate, spoon and fork and looking at food, deciding what I’m going to partake of, is all part of the natural process of rejuvenating my body.

Having done that to an excess, stuck with not only unwanted calories but a conscience that seems to have the tenderness of a young Baptist Sunday School girl, becomes a torture to my soul. (I often wonder why that young Baptist little girl doesn’t show up before I eat things, to tell me how I should avoid them instead of arriving to taunt me with my sins of gluttony.)

I’m also accosted by a society that believes it has no responsibility for plumping us all up like Thanksgiving turkeys, to be slaughtered off by a myriad of ax-wielding disorders and diseases.

So I’m forced into a corner where two conflicting spirits are constantly battling over my mortal soul.

The first spirit is what I call the “what the hell” specter. For after all, I’ve survived a long time being fat, and how much extra life span am I going to gain by eating lettuce instead of smoked sausage? And my “what the hell” demon also asks if that extra extension of months or weeks is worth losing the flavor?

Then I have a little tiny spirit, somewhat dwarfed in comparison, who insists that any time I can acquire to extend my creativity and fellowship with humanity is well worth a bit of sacrifice over one plate of food.

It is a battle I occasionally win.

  • Sometimes I can look at what I ate for the day and believe it is normal, or maybe even capable of reducing my girth.
  • Often I can look at what I ate and professionally present to you exactly where I went astray, and tilted the scales–literally–to my detriment.

It is impossible to believe that either my willpower or our society will ever gain the compassion to free me from my obesity.

I have three recourses:

  1. I can try to win, one plate at a time.
  2. Eat my way into an early grave
  3. Or attempt to live off the grace of God…while convincing myself that bacon is healthy.

 

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Atavistic

Atavistic: (adj) relating to or characterized by reversion to something ancient or ancestral.dictionary with letter A

So there’s a word for it.

I have described this condition many times, but never realized that the word “atavistic” existed. How blessed I am to have stumbled onto this idea of pontificating on dictionary words!

Because I certainly know that our society suffers from atavistic attitudes.

As I have tried to discern my ways and negotiate my path in this journey of life, I have found that every time I draw a line in the sand and say that everything behind it is holy, and everything in front of it is acceptable or up for discussion, I have repeatedly found myself redrawing the line in the sand–back a bit further each time.

  • It’s made me grumpy.
  • It’s made me wonder if I’m a sellout.
  • It’s made me curious if anything sacred actually exists.

But then one day I realized that my problem in life was that my own experience was not matching up with my proclaimed convictions. In other words, I was pursuing an atavistic lifestyle, which was often honoring the traditions of my parents or forefathers instead of what I discovered for myself.

I will go so far as to say that I don’t care what the Apostle Paul had to say about God. I am happy that he had an experience he decided to write down, but unless I have a fresh encounter of my own, I will have a tendency to defend his opinions instead of uncovering the truth for myself.

So when I realized that I was hearkening to former eras (which I discovered today was “atavistic”), I cleared my head and came up with three things I know to be true:

  1. I can’t share a vision, but need to have one of my own.

Even if my goals do not agree with everyone else, they must be borne out in my own soul, and believed in my own heart–without doubt.

  1. I don’t have the right to tell anybody else what to do.

That would include expressing disapproval. If I am a mature person, I will understand that it all plays out. Foolishness never ends up wearing the king’s cap. In the long run, it is deemed foolish.

  1. Being merciful is the only way I can obtain mercy.

Since I require mercy from time to time, I should probably be making deposits in case there would be a need for a sudden withdrawal.

Now, I will tell you–these three ideas were not common sense to my family and ancestors.

They are my experience.

They keep me from being out of step with my own conscience.

They keep me from being a hypocrite.

 

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At

At: (prep) expressing location or time of an eventdictionary with letter A

It is the most important step of maturing–and I don’t mean that as an overwrought assessment.

I have spent my entire life trying to learn where to be at. (And that includes overcoming my fear of ending in a preposition.)

At is everything.

90% of our wasted energy is ending up in the wrong place with the passion to do the right thing.

We get confused by at:

We try to follow the beckoning of a society which has learned how to scream without using reason.

We try to follow the trends of fashion, only to end up with a closet of quickly outdated threads.

Finding out where to be at is allowing yourself the silence of consideration and the patience of timing.

I am of a great conviction that I am exactly at where I should be. Many of my friends would disagree. Their inclination would be that I should increase my intensity or give in to aging.

  • At is more than a location.
  • At is more than timing.
  • At is much more than a state of being.

At is the gift provided for the observant soul who is willing to adjust locales and cross time zones … in order to achieve better results.

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Asylum

Asylum: (n) the protection granted by a nation to someone who has left their native country as a political refugee.dictionary with letter A

I suppose I could wax eloquent discussing asylum from the aspect of international dealings–the compassion offered to those who find themselves alienated or refugees.

But I think we spend too much time talking about things we don’t understand instead of understanding the things we talk about because they’re real in our lives.

I was once offered asylum–in the truest sense.

Back in 1980 my son was hit and run by a car and spent two-and-a-half months in the hospital with a brain injury, finally being released into our care–a child without the capacity for communication and with no ability to care for himself.

We became caregivers.

I would like to tell you that we adapted with great haste to this role, but I would be a horrible liar.

We were young, selfish, wounded, frustrated and way out of our element. The last thing in the world we needed was to be impinged upon by public opinion telling us what we needed to do or scrutinizing us for excellence.

Fortunately, I was surrounded by people of compassion and insight, who realized I was not going to be able to perform my duties and continue to work a job as an assistant minister at their church, but instead, needed a season to learn my new function–taking care of my wounded son and trying to find a way to adjust my spirit to the pain.

They gave me asylum.

For three months I was granted free rent, free board and freedom to be slow in the uptake.

I don’t know why they did this. I’m sure they were tempted to be self-righteous or even demanding.

But they chose to be loving.

I needed every one of those 90 days. And at the end of them, even the bizarre action of maintaining the needs of a helpless child fell into a logical routine.

I was able to rise to the occasion, and my whole family moved on to the next occupation without too much bruising or poverty.

I have thought about it many times. Matter of fact, I’ve used it as a motivation to grant the same asylum to other wounded travelers who have come my way.

The truth is, it is difficult to heal and be responsible at the same time. Something has to give.

More often than not, someone has to give.

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Asunder

Asunder: (adv) apart, divideddictionary with letter A

In 1861, South Carolina seceded from the Union.

They quit on the idea of being part of the great American dream. The threat had been in the air for many decades.

You can feel free to speculate on what caused this breach. Some people insist it was states’ rights being violated by the federal government. Others will tell you the country was torn asunder by the issue of slavery.

I find the debate to be irrelevant–because even though a war was fought, which cost the lives of more than a million American citizens, what brought this democracy to the brink of destruction is still lurking.

Even though we insist that we are “the United States of America,” our lack of definition and unity on freedom, equality and justice continues to tear us asunder.

We ridiculously talk about “red states” and “blue states” like it’s some sort of game, when actually, a more intelligent glance at the divisions of those states gives you virtually the same map that was present during the Civil War.

When you count the states that were sympathetic to the Southern cause, the red states pretty well reflect the once-organized Confederacy. Likewise, the blue states comprise the Union.

Even though we believe in the power of debate and controversy in this country, we must understand that open wounds continue to seep viral puss, and also are susceptible to further infection.

There are certain things we need to agree upon to keep from destroying our royal decree.

We must define three words, and we must come to agreement on them, or we will continue to debate what should never be questioned:

  • Freedom
  • Justice
  • Liberty

And may this humble essayist offer a possible starting ground for the clearing house of understanding.

Freedom: I possess no freedom if you do not possess the same freedom.

Justice: Every person is given an equal interpretation under the law, without prejudice regarding any of his or her choices.

Liberty: We are granted the license to pursue our dreams as long as they do not injure or interfere in the dreams of others.

The reason these definitions are rarely accepted is because they do not always submit to religious propriety, moral uprightness or social calm.

That’s the price you pay for being in a democracy. One person’s freedom is your annoyance. And your forbearance is permission for that person to be free.

We are torn asunder. We have not escaped the decision by South Carolina to leave the Union. And we will not be powerful and productive again until each and every one of us swallows a bit of our pride and self-righteousness and arrives at a solution that will “render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s.”

 

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Astute

Astute: (adj) having or showing an ability to accurately assess situations or people and turn this to one’s advantage.dictionary with letter A

Knowing when to play dumb.

After all, there’s no advantage in playing smart. You either are intelligent in a given situation or you’re not, and that certainly will become obvious.

But in order to be astute in this world, you must be prepared to play dumb without ever feeling lessened or defensive about the role.

For the action of including others is the admission of lack. No collaboration is ever successful if both people insist they’re intelligent enough to pull it off without each other–or if they even think they are.

To get the very best of a roomful of people, you have to develop the childlike quality of being the student and not the schoolmarm. If you can’t do this, you will insist that you are an individual who loves to get the “take” of others while simultaneously ignoring every opinion proffered your way.

I think we believe that being astute is profiling ourselves as knowledgeable so you can join into the discussion.

Yet as we look back at our history, most people would consider Abraham Lincoln to be one of the greatest Presidents. Yet to many of his advisors, he was perceived to be a buffoon. He was always telling stories, was often awry from the point, and did not seem to have a natural aptitude for leadership. But Lincoln knew how to act dumb so he could garner the true opinions of those around him, and siphon from them the very best answers.

  • If you try to act too smart, you will scare away others who are frightened of your superiority.
  • And if you’re actually unintelligent and insist you have prowess, you will be viewed as a fool.

The secret to life is knowing when to act dumb. Without this gift, you cannot really procure the true intelligence around you … and learn better ways.

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