Tag Archives: knowledge

Ancient

dictionary with letter A

Ancient: (adj) belonging to the very distant past and no longer in existence.

The basic design of the human being has not changed for thousands of years. Parts be parts.

What makes us call former times “ancient” is the realization that these well-formed beings, possessing a tremendous brain, had a tendency to close down portions of that intellect in order to get along with the superstition and stupidity of their current time.

In other words, those who pursued Greek mythology back in old Athens were made ancient by the fact that they believed in gods and mortals, and sexual relations between the two which created Titans.

I’m sure it crossed the minds of some of them that this rendition of reality was a bit foolish. But to get along, they went along.

I’m sure there were many people during the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts, who looked at the list of the accused and realized it was just little Sally, who they baby-sat as an infant, and therefore it was highly unlikely that she was the handmaiden of Beelzebub.

But they went along to get along–thus making them ancient instead of contemporary to us.

The truth of the matter is, the only people we respect today are those individuals from the past who stood against the flow of the ridiculous.

So you have to realize that many things we now accept will become ancient very quickly as time progresses and knowledge increases.

So my thanks go out to those historical individuals who are never going to be ancient because their ideas, although contrary to their times, have moved the human clock.

That is why it is my responsibility, as a parent and a grandparent, to continue to grow and expand in my vision, so that my offspring do not have to mumble under their breath ... “God, he’s ancient.”

 

 

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Anchovy

dictionary with letter A

Anchovy: (n) a small shoaling fish of commercial importance as a food used for fish bait. It is strongly flavored and preserved with high amounts of oil and salt.

The dangerous thing about knowledge is that it rarely accentuates your pleasure, but rather, puts a pin in your balloon and leaves you with the reality instead of the misrepresentation.

There are many examples, but on this day, they seem to be embodied in the tiny anchovy.

Little did I know that they were bait.

Even though many of my friends like anchovies on their pizza (a taste, I have explained to them, which could just as easily be achieved by dumping a salt shaker on the crust) I really don’t think any of them know they’re eating fish bait.

But it should be obvious. Don’t the little things have hairy legs?

Now, I have on occasion eaten a pizza with anchovies because I was surrounded by individuals who thought it was a status symbol to prefer the little boogers on their Italian delight.

I have even pretended to enjoy it. Even though I pride myself, to some degree, in being a candid-type fellow, I am not without my pretense. And the specter of being the only person in the room objecting such a refined pizza-topping choice has left me succumbing to the mob mentality and participating in eating what I now know is fish bait.

  • I suppose I shouldn’t make the point that we wouldn’t eat night crawler pizza.
  • Anyone up for minnows and onion?

But truthfully, I have no problem with anyone who has a certain taste, unless they have selected it because they think it makes them more refined and sets them apart from the sausage servants and pepperoni paupers.

Now, if I run across one of them, I will inform them that they’re hooked on what belongs on a hook.

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Ancestor

dictionary with letter A

Ancestor: (n) — a person, typically one more remote than a grandparent, from whom one is descended.

I certainly am glad that all my ancestors decided to have sex, so they would set in motion the possibility of my existence.

After all, it’s pretty miraculous. After working twelve-hour days in the fields, planting, cultivating and harvesting, they were exhausted after sunset, and must have had pretty good libidos to have worked up the energy to culminate the day with hanky-panky.

So for that I am grateful.

I know there are people who are very sentimental about their lineage and pay good money to acquire information on their family tree. But honestly, if I had known my ancestors, I would be very disappointed because they probably wouldn’t like me.

  • Their work ethic was stronger than mine–mainly because they had to survive. And I talk about words like “success.”
  • They died much younger than me from exhaustion and lack of healthy choices and medical care. During that shortened life span, they probably suffered more pain due to overexertion.
  • They had bigotries and prejudices which I would have found annoying or ignorant, which they might have misinterpreted as rude behavior.
  • Their spirituality was peppered with superstition instead of salted with knowledge and faith.
  • They controlled their lives through morality, which was regionally defined, and also locally monitored and enforced.
  • They weren’t in favor of new-fangled gadgets, often resisting them until such discoveries were forced on them by city councils or national laws.
  • My ancestors revered ignorance as a badge of honor and the symbol of their faithfulness to a God they truly did not understand.

There was much good about them. Their hard-headed, strong-willed and determined natures made it possible for them to survive the wilderness, which I now call a freeway.

But the disregard for the progress of history and the rights of people would have rendered me a radical and a renegade in their midst.

I believe it’s possible to be grateful and at the same time, fully aware that I was born in the right time and the right place to do the right thing–so that my descendants will not have to look back and giggle too much … at my stupidity. 

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Ambassador

dictionary with letter A

Ambassador: (n) 1. an accredited diplomat sent by a country as its official representative to a foreign country 2. a person who acts as a representative or promoter of a specific activity

I don’t know what all the fuss is about.

Word has it that many of the people standing in line, waiting their turn to become ambassadors for the United States, have proven themselves to be less than experts on the nations they are going to visit and “diplomat.”

What’s the big deal?

Is there a real advantage in showing up in a country acting like you know everything about it? I mean, can you imagine them taking you on a guided tour and you keep interrupting their spiel, spouting off your own knowledge on the subject?

There’s a great balance if you’re going to do something important in your life: know enough to get yourself started and be willing to learn enough to make yourself appear to be growing.

Yet I think anyone who is going to be the ambassador to Norway should know how to spell it. Also it might be good if he or she could locate it on a map before the confirmation hearings.

But I think there’s something absolutely adorable, powerful and human-loving about showing up to work wondering what you’re going to learn today.

I guess for many years, I have been an ambassador of common sense–and the wonderful thing about my subject matter is that you never stop discovering new batches of it. Because just about the time you think you’re smart enough to know what you’re talking about, common sense runs away and if you’re sharp, you’ll end up chasing it.

There are so many nations in the world that it would be very difficult to know something about all of them, and if you tried, you’d probably end up looking like a walking Wikipedia instead of an actual fount of knowledge.

Yes, I think the most important thing you could do if you want to be an ambassador for anything, any place or anyone is to be thrilled about what you’ve already learned … and thirsty to get more.

Aloud

Words from Dic(tionary)

dictionary with letter A

Aloud: (adv.) audibly, not silently

Seems like a simple enough word. But really, it may be at the center of true maturity and sanity.

When should we be silent? And when should we speak out–aloud?

There’s a standing joke in the human race: “Did I actually say that out loud?”

Especially with so many people finding themselves needing to apologize for things they have shared in a moment of candor, which they desperately regret as they are threatened with the loss of their occupation or reputation.

What should be aloud? What should be shouted from the housetop, whispered in the bedroom, or swallowed along with our pride?

Honestly, I’m working on that, and here’s what I’ve come up with so far:

1. If it’s the truth and it makes people stronger, go aloud.

You notice, I didn’t just say “the truth.” There are truths that the world is not ready to hear just yet.

2. If it pops into your mind and encourages someone, even if it seems silly, go aloud.

There is no such thing as a foolish sentiment. There is such a thing as regretting not sharing.

3. If it can be spoken aloud, challenged and you as a person can grow through the experience with new knowledge, then by all means do so.

But remember, when you go aloud, be prepared to be silenced by wisdom.

4. If it’s going to save somebody from disaster, take the chance and go aloud.

I do not think it’s polite to remain silent when someone’s about to fall off the cliff, just so you won’t startle their sensibility.

Yes, it’s an art form–when to be silent and when to go aloud.

But you can certainly be noisier if you have a spirit …  which can be quieted by reason.

 

Alma Mater

Words from Dic(tionary)

dictionary with letter A

Alma Mater: (n) the school, college or university that one once attended.

Through the years of deep devotion

We will ever loyal be

Love and cherish all our memories

Of our high school days with thee

And the portals we’ll remember

Friends who made our lives sublime

Alma Mater, Alma Mater

Praises be forever thine.

I have no idea why I remember the words to that song from my high school, but I had absolutely no problem conjuring them.

It is a testament to the power of the educational system–its ability to infuse lasting knowledge, and I suppose, insecurities, into its students and victims, respectively.

By the way, we thought it was extraordinarily hilarious to taunt our aging high school English teacher, who penned the words, by telling her that the tune for her verse was borrowed from Hitler’s Nazi Germany list of favs.

Such scamps we were.

Allegiance

Words from Dic(tionary)

dictionary with letter A

Allegiance: (n) loyalty or commitment of a subordinate to a superior, or of an individual to a group or cause

Feeling a bit daring today, I am going to question a staple of the American consciousness.

Honestly, I do not pledge allegiance to a flag.

To me, it reeks of jingoism, or Viking. The whole concept of pledging allegiance is a bit foreign to my soul–not because I lack patriotism or a love of my country, but mainly due to the fact that since we are justified by our words or condemned by them, I would like to be selective in my phrasings.

Because I love this country very much, I would like to pledge allegiance–but do it to things that matter–to the things that make us the people we dream to be. Here is my pledge:

I pledge allegiance to my nation and the many diverse souls who find equality within. May we continue to expand and grow in our knowledge, which has proven through the years to be the backbone of our excellence. May we remain one nation, one people, one desire and one willingness, allowing God to show us our error and encourage our efforts. In doing so, may we reject the things that separate us and embrace our similarities, offering liberty and justice to all.

There you go.

To that cause, wording and purpose … I can give my allegiance.


Aflame

Words from Dic(tionary)

dictionary with letter A

Aflame: (adv.) in flames; burning

I really don’t sit around and question if there was a Snow White and if she befriended seven short chaps with various personality quirks. I try to have enough sense to catch the essence of the story–the meaning of the tale–without having to verify the veracity of the characters involved.

I bring this up today because I was thinking of a story from the Good Book about a burning bush. According to the folk-lore, Moses saw one in the wilderness which also talked to him, relating the details of a mission and a great odyssey. I suppose if you are intent on proving that everything must have actually happened in order to acquire wisdom from it, you are probably so jaded that you mock this situation as completely implausible, and therefore worthless.

But since I tend to believe that the stories told in the Good Book were related to give us a quick snapshot of the heart and mind of God, I am able to read them without cynically rejecting them, because I deem some factoid to be ridiculous.

What strikes me about this story of the burning bush is that when God decides to speak to one of His children, He feels no compulsion to kill even a random bush to achieve His conversation. For that’s what it says: the bush was on fire but was not consumed.

I like that.

After all, in our day and age, it seems that people are unable to achieve the sensation of being “aflame with desire” without burning out.

Can we not agree that passion is passion–whether it’s emotional passion creating empathy, spiritual passion that generates compassion, mental passion, which pursues knowledge, or physical passion, which activates a lust for romance?

In all of these cases, if we learn from the story of Moses and the burning bush, we must realize that our Creator never intended us to burn out just because we’re aflame.

What I have become in the nature of things, through the pursuit of happiness and in the acquisition of multiplying my talents, is a crock pot instead of a barbecue pit.

In all areas of my life, I burn. I’m aflame. Whether I’m going to the grocery store or writing this essay to you, there is a heat and a passion that is involved and at work. But it’s a slow cooker.

  • I never take myself too seriously.
  • I never purge my soul with incrimination.
  • And I refuse to chase dreams without possessing good cheer.

I want to be a bush that burns without being consumed. I want to be aflame–to give off light and share my warmth without threatening others with fiery consequences.

There is much to learn from stories, whether they be from the Good Book, Mother Goose or Stephen King. And here’s my thought:  if we want to understand the heart of God, we will learn how to play with fire … without getting burned.

　

Aerialist

Words from Dic(tionary)

dictionary with letter A

Aerialist: (n) a person who performs acrobatics high above the ground on a tightrope or trapeze.

We will trust in something.

  • Those who do not put their faith in God find great solace in education, knowledge or science.
  • Folks who are not physically inclined are comforted by reading, writing or thinking.

It always astounds me when I watch folks working a trapeze–how they overcome their fear of heights–until I realize that it has little to do with that. I suppose it would even be possible to have such an apprehension, and as long as you placed your faith in the skill of maintaining your craft, you would be fine.

After all, an aerialist does not trust the wire he or she is walking across. The wire is the obstacle. Certainly, they are careful to maintain the integrity of the line, but they place their faith in the jungle control and well-trained connection they have with their muscles and bones.

Walking across a high wire is not about trusting the surface nor even your balance. It is having the physical tone to know that when you place your foot down anywhere, the tendons and ligaments that control that appendage are strong, firm and sure.

It’s true of anything in life.

As I write this article today, there are millions of people who would insist they are incapable of such a task. They would find it nerve-wracking, if not foreboding, to put together sentences or ideas that possess interest.

But I trust the muscle. As I think, I say.

It’s a confidence that has grown in me as I have arrived at the moment of composition, without any idea ahead of time about what I’m going to share. I dig deep into my soul and find not only a topic, but a personal insight.

An aerialist is not a person who places his faith in chance, but rather, someone who knows that his body will respond the same, whether walking in the air, or on terra firma. An aerialist is a human testimony of working what we do well until we can have total enjoyment in the experience because we have logged the hours of practice.

It’s true for all of us–or else the lack of the truth leaves us feeling inadequate or meaningless.

I cannot walk on a high wire, but I do understand what gives them the impetus and confidence to do so: it is the same muscle and moxie that grants me the window to open every day … to let the fresh air of ideas sweep through me and from me.

 

Adjective

Words from Dic(tionary)

dictionary with letter A

Adjective: (n.) a word or phrase naming an attribute, added to or grammatically related to a noun to modify or describe it.

Sometimes I grow exhausted living in a “verb-and -noun world.”

Adjectives are those words inserted into our lives which prove that we actually give a damn. For instance:

“This is my wife.”  Dull, right?

“This is my beautiful wife.” Just adding the adjective “beautiful” means that I care enough to explain that the woman with me is not merely a flesh-and-blood appendage, but someone who possesses attractiveness.

“This is my intelligent friend.” The word “intelligent” triggers the notion that I am about to meet someone of ilk and knowledge.

Adjectives are the words that God created to keep us from becoming boring.

              “How are you doing today?” my neighbor asks.

              “Good,” I reply, completely terminating further communication.

I know that many people think being laid back, limited in words and tight-lipped is a way of sharing that you are simple and free of complication. It is also a style which telegraphs that you don’t have much going on in your cranial cavity and your emotions have been drained of all juiciness.

I like adjectives.

Of course, they can be overdone. A simple rule is to never use an adjective to be an adjective to an adjective. In other words, two adjectives in a row are not only unnecessary, they are verbally incestuous.

But without them, we don’t really have any way to tell people how valuable they are to us, or of sharing with God how glad we are that He has come … to modify our lives.