Tag Archives: smiles

December

December: (n) the twelfth month of the year, containing thirty-one days

Normally, I do not like to hear someone say, “This is my favorite…”

Mainly because if you hang around them for twenty minutes, they will stake claim on a new favorite which has jumped ahead of the old one, which has lost predominance in this brief span of time.

But I do believe December is my favorite month. (You will notice how easily I abandon my own concepts and asides.)

I say this about December because it contains both my birthday and Christmas.

This is not to say that my birthday is Christmas and therefore I am the Christ. (I did want to make that clear.)

My birthday is one week before Christmas, and I’ve always relished the beautiful time of year, and in a strange sense have felt uplifted—that the whole world decides to decorate in honor of my appearance on Earth.

But the main thing I like about December, and the reason I believe it should be the first month of the year, is that all the things that make us better people seem to stop, park and walk around for a while.

  • Commerce
  • Communication
  • Family
  • Money
  • Celebration
  • Decoration
  • Good secrets
  • Smiles
  • Excellent eating

 

And a twinge of faith growing in the worst scrounging Scrooge

It is amazing.

Is it amazing because it commemorates the birth of Jesus of Nazareth?

Is it made special because we have decided to turn up our childlike and turn down our childish?

Is it the fact that money flows freely, budgets are met, surprises are provided and dreams are explored?

Or is it just because, in a thirty-one-day period, all these possibilities unite for a common holiday?

So whether you say “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays,” (and by the way, the word “holiday” is a hybrid for “holy day”)…

Well, whatever you say makes little difference to what you feel.

And Christmas is a time when we allow feeling to take supremacy over thinking and doing.

Most of the time, we’re frightened to permit this.

But Christmas is feeling, dressed up in emotion, saturated with faith, and glittered with invention—proclaiming peace on Earth, goodwill toward men.

December is my favorite.

You can even come back tomorrow, and more than likely, it will hold the same noble position.

 

Corrupt

Corrupt: (adj) lacking integrity; crooked

Corruption thrives because there are too many people looking for it instead of admitting it.

That’s the truth.

As long as I spend my life believing that what is corrupt would never exist in me or being unwilling to consider the possibility, I will become somebody else’s corruption.

Corrupt is what we should be looking for in ourselves so that when we find it, we can correct it before it corrupts us further, and makes it obvious to those around us that we are corruptible.funny wisdom on words that begin with a C

But somehow or another, there is no sin or evil that looks quite as bad when I am sporting it. I can only truly see what is corrupt when you are wearing it.

Therefore, self-deception keeps us all living in a world of perpetual corruption—because altering someone else’s foul behavior is nearly impossible.

What would it take for us to understand that finding what is corrupt inside us will stop us from being labeled as evil?

Do I really think that I will convince the people around me that I’m incapable of corruption? Certainly not.

They’re looking for it in me.

They’re waiting for me to sprout the horns of the devil.

They aren’t horrible—they just want to be sure they aren’t the horrible ones, and the best way to keep yourself from being tagged as wicked is to hunt down witches and point the finger in a direction far from where you are.

When my name is mentioned in front of many people in this world, smiles come to their faces, and maybe even some tears of appreciation. But as God is my witness, I will tell you that to others on this planet, I was corrupt.

I will spend the rest of my life making sure that as often as possible, this is in the past tense and not a clear and present danger.


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Comrade

Comrade: (n) a companion who shares one’s activities

In the English language, many words get tangled up with each other and are perceived to be synonyms when they actually are not at all–and funny wisdom on words that begin with a C
when distinction is made, their purpose is more powerful.

May I show you what I mean?

Here are five words that are sheltered under the larger house of “friend”:

  • Teammate
  • Acquaintance
  • Fellow-traveler
  • Family
  • Comrade

In concluding this essay, I will give you definitions for each word so you can distinguish one from the other:

Teammate: someone who is on a team with you, who is focusing on his or her part in the game and demanding that you do the same.

Acquaintance: an individual who exchanges smiles and greetings with you in a casual, pleasant way, because no conflict has challenged the depth of the affection.

Fellow-traveler: the human beings we meet every day who, like us, deserve a seat on the bus and should never be told to go to the rear.

Family: folks you share genetics with, Thanksgiving with, embarrassments with and who also, unfortunately, may be prejudiced one way or another because they know you too well.

Comrade: Of all the patrons lined up at the bar in all the beer joints of the world, this is the person who has decided he or she wants to stand next to you and will fight for the privilege of that proximity.

 

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