Tag Archives: Kanye West

Antiquity

dictionary with letter AAntiquity: (n) the ancient past, especially the period before the Middle Ages.

Every once in a while, a startling revelation will cross my mind, giving me a sensation similar to standing on the deck of the Santa Maria, spying the New World. Of course, as in the case of Christopher Columbus, nor is it to me.

Truth has been around for a long time and it always has three important ingredients:

  1. It actually works.
  2. It doesn’t hurt anyone else.
  3. It’s not ashamed of the failed experiments leading to greater revelation.

Often when I find myself in a circle of believers who are discussing the Good Book and stories of biblical proportions, my brain freezes, as I wonder why they think these individuals had any greater spirituality than we do.

Actually, if I found myself translated back to antiquity, I’d be walking around as a god with my level of knowledge, in comparison to the fear, superstition and incomplete hypotheses of their time.

If we really believe that spiritual evolution stopped on the Isle of Patmos with John the Apostle, or on the mountain with Mohammed, then we are negating hundreds and hundreds of years of scientific miracles and human growth.

I think the Good Book is exactly that–it’s a good book.

As a good book, it has plot twists, character development, elimination of villains, and the exposure of bizarre ideas, as the story line is pushed along towards what we hope will be a happy ending.

Even though our children have a difficult time imagining Alexander the Great or Cleopatra, when we parallel these individuals with updated versions of our own time–like Kanye West and Kim Kardashian–it’s much easier to see where we’ve come from and possibly where we need to go.

I am not of the belief that any good thing should be thrown away. Generally speaking, I don’t walk out of a movie once I’ve paid my premium price, even if the flick is not to my liking. I try to find something usable.

There is much we can learn from antiquity:

We can learn that superstition cannot shout down science.

We can learn that we are learning, and therefore should never be content in our own level of comprehension.

And we can learn that those who made the history books were once just clumsy, insecure flesh-and-blood creatures … who spent way too much time wondering if they were sexy.

 

Donate Button

Thank you for enjoying Words from Dic(tionary) —  J.R. Practix

Acid

by J. R. Practix

dictionary with letter A

Acid (n): a chemical substance that neutralizes alkalis, dissolves some metals and turns litmus red, typically, a corrosive of sour-tasting liquid: e.g. the rainwater is a very weak acid.

It burns. It disfigures. It’s pungent.

None of those words are particularly pleasing. I know there’s a purpose for acid. I also know it should not be thrown in somebody’s face nor drip too much into your gut.

When I was a kid, there was a saying: “If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”

Somewhere along the line, that slogan has been ridiculed to the extent that we now feel that saying nice things is stupid or pansy and that having an “acid tongue” is what’s necessary to communicate honesty.

I was watching a show yesterday when some unqualified individuals who certainly were beyond their scope in both understanding and righteousness were criticizing Kanye and Kim for naming their baby “North,” giving the young child the entire signature of “North West.”

These pseudo philosophers were distressed that the young parents had placed an undue burden on a child in a season when bullying is common–that they were certainly cursing their offspring to a life of perpetual ridicule. As the audience applauded these intrusive comments, each one of the “interferers” gained intensity and acidity with their observations. By the end, one would have thought that Kanye and Kim had murdered their small baby, throwing her into a duffel bag and dumping her into the East River.

Honestly, folks, I don’t know what the value of acid is. I am sure somebody could enlighten me, but in my understanding, it burns, it disfigures and it’s pungent.

I really don’t need any one of those three things. It may be a little optimistic to think that we can only say good things when observing some nastiness around us. But to purposefully wear the cap of cynicism for entertainment, or worse yet, in order to feel superior, is a curse on our society and will be viewed by future generations as a little piece of insanity that we fortunately escaped.

I do not favor acid. I don’t like it when it comes out of a beaker or slips off a tongue.

And maybe I’m weird–I think having a name like North West gives you a chance to start a conversation in a world that at times ping-pongs between acidity … and mute.