Tag Archives: passion

Anabaptist

dictionary with letter A

Anabaptist: (n) a radical Protestant sect in the 1520s and 1530s which believed that baptism should be administered only to believing adults.

It’s not so much that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. It’s just that by the time a dog reaches a certain age of maturity, it is always looking for a warm piece of sunshine in which to take a nap.

It is so much easier to teach a young dog which is hopping around with energy, to do something unnecessary, like a trick, because the creature is already predisposed to be active.

When I read this definition of Anabaptist, I immediately noted that their particular goal of profession of faith didn’t last very long. The reason for that is that trying to teach adults to be spiritual is similar to the quandary of pursuing chasing a stick with the old dog.

The people who are most intrigued by God, love, mercy, angels and promises of heaven are young.

Very young.

Perhaps that’s why Jesus told his disciples that we all need to “become like little children.” Otherwise, we’ll have no appetite to learn the new tricks that are available for our spirit.

If you remove Sunday School, Bible school, church camp and youth outings from the average religious organization, you basically end up with traditional worship services once a week … and funerals.

Matter of fact, that is the menu of many congregations in this country.

It is the infusion of youthfulness and the passion associated with it that makes spirituality alive and well. Otherwise, the minute we find a warm place to sleep in the sun, we no longer care about God, the earth and fellow-travelers.

Yes, the Anabaptists made a serious mistake. Merely getting old and sickly does not prepare one for eternity.

It is the introduction of youthful, childlike playing that “draws us nigh unto God.”

 

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

Alter

dictionary with letter A

J. R. Practix

J. R. Practix

Alter: (v) to change or cause to change in character or composition, esp. in a small but significant way.
There is only one thing that makes a good human being: a desire to change without being forced to do so, welcoming the spirit of repentance.

The only question we all need to ask ourselves is, do we want to alter? Is there a passion within us to improve our status in order to gain the benefits which will certainly follow?

What do I want to alter?

  1. I’d like to not be so fat.
  2. I would like to get rid of all of my brattiness instead of settling for the amount that has already been chased away.
  3. I would like to stay on the cutting edge of transition which is moving towards making better human beings.
  4. I would like to get rid of all the remnants of fear that cling to the walls of my will and desire.
  5. I want to welcome the chance to be challenged, disproven and to be the first one to move forward instead of dragging my feet.
  6. Be a better husband and father. (Maybe better stated, I would like to more effectively understand the jobs.)
  7. And finally, continue this list for the rest of my life instead of being satisfied with my status quo.

Too many people who linger at the altar of prayer spend too little time letting their prayers alter them.

God, help me to be different.


Alcott, Louisa May

Words from Dic(tionary)

dictionary with letter A

Alcott, Louisa May (1832-1888): U. S. novelist. Her novel, Little Women, was based on her New England childhood and written for adolescent girls. She was involved in women’s sufferage and served as a nurse during the Civil War.

Little Women.

Sounds like an episode on Law and Order: SVU. Matter of fact, a grown man such as myself might be held in great suspicion if I said I was interested in Little Women, since Ms. Alcott is not on the top of most people’s Google searches.

There is something significant about her work. Without embarrassment, I will tell you that as a boy I read it, thinking I might find some salacious details or insights into the female mind. What I discovered was a simplicity and purity that probably would be ridiculed by today’s jaded thinking. Yet it offered the hope that it is completely possible to live a life of pursuing excellence and discovery rejecting selfishness and despair.

For after all, these little ladies did not have lives free of difficulty, but fell back on principles and friendships to guide them through the difficult times.

I think it is dangerous to equate the term “old-fashioned” to certain attitudes and attributes, leaving no alternative to the particular precepts, just a vacancy brought about by cynicism.

Some values gain virtue because they bring victory. They never go out of style. They are never without obvious power–but they do require that we escape coldness, fear and disdain, in respect to a passion for a bit of goodness.

To me, goodness is not as complicated as it is often proclaimed to be:

  1. Find out how you love yourself, and love everybody else the same way.
  2. Lying is anti-human instead of natural.
  3. Don’t give up simply because you haven’t gotten your way.
  4. Don’t look on everybody around you as competition, but instead, as examples and friends.

Some people would consider this to be old-fashioned, but until some new fashion comes along that provides equal satisfaction and excitement, I will cling to many of the attributes and attitudes given to us by Louisa May Alcott in Little Women.

 

A la

Words from Dic(tionary)

dictionary with letter A

 

A la: (prep) 1. a dish cooked or prepared in a specified style: e.g. apple pie a la mode. 2. in the style or manner of: e.g. afternoon talk shows a la Oprah.

May I give you my “a la” list? Maybe better stated, a reality a la “wish.”

  • Success a la humility.
  • Music a la emotion.
  • Faith a la evidence.
  • Hope a la progress.
  • Love a la tolerance.
  • Nationalism a la vision.
  • Equality a la action.
  • Debate a la cohesion.
  • Purpose a la common sense.
  • Bible a la humanity.
  • Entertainment a la inspiration.
  • Humor a la edification.
  • Encouragement a la critique.
  • Family a la expansion.

There are certain things that were meant to go together, and when they are separated, they wander about the earth in search of a mate. If you become a match maker to these estranged lovers, you ignite a passion that sets the world on fire with potential.

Yes … potential a la “what’s next?”

 

Aim

Words from Dic(tionary)

dictionary with letter A

Aim: (v) 1. to point or direct an object at a target 2. have the intention of achieving.

“READY? FIRE!!”

There seems to be a missing step.

Matter of fact, as I looked at the definition of “aim,” I realized what is creating much of our social upheaval. People are deciding they are ready, and they’re just firing away.

The aim is not clear.

Whether it’s about politics, religion, abortion, pornography, drug use or even guns–we figure that as long as we are ready, we should be able to fire. No wonder so often we’re missing the mark.

There is no aim. There is no taking a moment to find out if we’ve actually got a bead on our target.

So it become all right in our culture to call “close” a “direct hit.”

People speak their minds and then get criticized for their comments, only to return the next day to apologize in pre-scripted contrition. Might it have been a good idea to aim–even though you thought you were ready to fire?

Can I give you three considerations we can use as human beings if we will practice the art of aiming?

1. Excitement is not passion.

You can get people excited about almost anything, as long as they believe there will be approval or money. Passion is finding the root cause and the value of our endeavors before we start pursuing the mission.

2. “Firing” places a bullet in the air which cannot be retrieved.

As I get older, I find myself less willing to pull the trigger, and having much more fun practicing my aim. When I was younger, I thought it was powerful to do as much as I possibly could until exhaustion rendered me useless. Now I realize that saving my energy for heavenly ventures is the guarantee for earthly pleasure.

3. Being sure is the only guaranteed path to ending up wrong.

The slight adjustments we make in the brief moment after being “ready”–when we aim before firing–alleviate most of the embarrassments that come through shooting the wrong target. And it’s just fun to slow down and then discover that your choice of delaying prevented tons of stupidity from having its day.

If life is a firing squad, it’s important to be ready. Clean your gun, load it and be available. But don’t ever fire off in some wild direction because your temper, your beliefs or your friends have forced you to do so.

  • Take aim.
  • Find out what’s important before you squeeze one off.

Because it’s much more difficult to swallow your pride and admit you’re wrong than it is to lower your weapon … and be grateful that you didn’t do something reckless.

Aggression

Words from Dic(tionary)

dictionary with letter AAggression: (n.) hostile or violent behavior or attitudes toward another; readiness to attack or confront: e.g. his chin was jutting with aggression

Human beings are lions.

It’s the truth. Even though some folks portray themselves as lambs, it’s a little shocking when later on they sink their teeth into you.

The true journey of life is not about denying the lion and the passion you have for what you want, but instead, tempering it with the mercy to do it fairly and granting license to others to pursue their dreams.

I think the only aggression that exists in life is when we pretend to be passive and end up being mean-spirited.

I will be honest with you. I know what I want. I am not in denial. I’m not trying to hide it behind noble gestures or religious conviction. My only responsibility is to make sure I am candid with you about my desires and don’t pretend to be flexible where I am not and willing where I am resistant.

The greatest danger in life is to be a liar–and probably one of the worst lies is telling people that you don’t really care one way or the other.

Even though the dictionary portrays aggression as a violent act, passivity can be equally as devastating, if not disabling.

When I know someone is aggressive, I am fully aware of their intentions and can adjust my involvement based on that conclusion. But when they disguise their motives, they leave me vulnerable, without allowing me the opportunity to choose to receive their ideas on my own.

After all, can there be anything more dastardly than the statement, “we hate the sin but we love the sinner” or “I just want you to be happy, and I know the only way you’ll be happy is if you do … “

I am an aggressive fellow when it comes to my own life and passive when it comes to yours–and where that is not true is exactly where I need to work … every day of my life.

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.

　

Affiliate

Words from Dic(tionary)

dictionary with letter AAffliction: (n) something that causes pain or suffering

Sometimes Webster is so conventional and bound by society that he (or she?) speaks words in the definition as synonyms which are not necessarily meant to be.

For instance, pain and suffering.

Even though it is a legal term, it is certainly possible to have pain without turning it into suffering. Matter of fact, most of the quality people I have known in my life do deal with some sort of affliction which causes them pain, but they refuse to succumb to the drain of suffering.

Is pain necessary? Let’s rephrase that. Is affliction necessary?

I think there are three things that go into making a good human being:

  1. Talent
  2. Perseverance
  3. Humility

I do not know if it is possible for us to gain the humility to display our persevered talent without overcoming a bit of affliction. After all, we admire the person who wins the race much more after we understand that the course was run while overcoming a sprained ankle.

Maybe it’s sick. Perhaps it’s a penchant we all have for the macabre or the bizarre. But affliction is what proves our mettle and confirms that we have overcome pain without languishing in our suffering.

Because on the other hand, if someone is in pain, and we know they’re anguish is real, after a while we grow impatient if they continually remind us of their suffering.

Affliction is what life gives us to determine our level of passion for our pursuits. It is the badge of honor we wear when taking our place on the victor’s stand. It is the proof that we were not only trained to achieve our goal, but worthy … because we endured to the end.

 

Affectation

Words from Dic(tionary)

dictionary with letter A

Affectation: (n) behavior, speech or writing that is artificial and designed to impress: e.g. the affectation of a man who measures every word for effect

Carlotti loved women with a burning passion that seared his soul with a fire of desire over the fabulous feminine flowers that paraded before him. It was a concoction of tenderness mingled with a ferocity of energy that at times made him feel as if he would be of danger to a young maiden, yet greatly relieved when only pleasure came her way.

Although he felt this bursting exuberance for all the daughters of Eve, it was Darnella, the Lovely, who was the center of his attention, and a fuel to his consuming fire.

Complicating his drive and vigorous vitality was the fact that he was a vampire, so blended with his gentle touch was the uncontrollable desire to not only smell, feel and embrace the object of his affection, but also … to taste it.

But an additional grumbling and growling deep within the confines of his inner being was the awareness that because of an inter-marriage generations back in his family, he was also a werewolf.

How could he take the fragile Darnella and possess her with the entire magnitude of his virility without endangering her with the violence of the wolf?

Carlotti was a man possessed and obsessed at the same time. Nothing could keep him away from his Darnella. He desired to absorb her–not just for now, but for all eternity.

Ladies and gentlemen: affectation.

Or better phrased, a sampling of 21st Century American Literature.

Adjourn

Words from Dic(tionary)

dictionary with letter A

Adjourn: (v.) to break off a meeting, legal case or game with the intention of resuming it later. e.g. the meeting was adjourned until December 4th.

The key to organization, which by the way, is the breath of successful life, is to get your ducks in a row without making everybody around you go “quackers.”

In other words, be efficient without being a jerk.

This is my problem with Parliamentary procedure. For when I think of the word “adjourn,” I recall all the meetings I have attended, which have basically consisted of children trying to act grown-up by following some archaic procedure of rules and regulations which end up being the conversation of the room instead of working on the topics themselves.

Quite bluntly, in that atmosphere, the person who seconds the motion and whether they have seconded a motion before instead of waiting in line, or whether the vote was taken before discussion, becomes much more important to the committee than whether they pass resolutions.

Thus, Congress.

The thing that upsets me about our form of government is that we’re much more concerned about maintaining the traditions of our system, tipping our hats to old-fashioned methods, than we are about whether progress is being made and we’re actually addressing situations before they slap us in the face.

I usually don’t pontificate on this issue because I don’t have an alternative.

I do understand if we don’t have SOME sort of order while considering options in a meeting place, that chaos can quickly become the ruler of the day. But I am not convinced that following the rules of Parliament (which by the way, isn’t even American) has anything to do with the general welfare or the common good.

What should come out of a meeting?

  1. All ideas expressed within a time limit.
  2. Those who are uncertain of facts should be able to question them.
  3. A vote–up or down.

That’s it. The quickest, easiest, friendliest and most human way to achieve that should be pursued with great passion.

I’m just not sure that all of the rules and regulations that we follow like a herd of sheep is doing anything but fleecing us of possibility.

So for me, I’d like to adjourn Parliamentary procedure.

Can I get a second on that?