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Our Daily Thread 9-18-13

Good Morning!

On this day in 1709 the creator of the first dictionary of the English language, Samuel Johnson, was born in England.

In 1793 President George Washington laid the actual cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol.

In 1851 the first issue of “The New York Times” was published.

In 1947 the U.S. Air Force was established as a separate military branch by the National Security Act.

And in 1955 the “Ed Sullivan Show” began on CBS-TV.

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Quotes of the Day

“The most important thing for me is having a relationship with God. To know that the owner, the creator of the universe loves you, sent His Son to die for your sins; that’s very empowering. Knowing Him and knowing that He loves me gives me encouragement and confidence to move forward.”

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“But, you know, we have these entrenched entities – and I’m talking about both  Republicans and Democrats – who believe that when you’re elected to office, you become some kind of member of the aristocracy, and that anyone who challenges you is attacking you and is unpatriotic. This is foolishness.”

Dr. Benjamin  Carson

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Today is this guy’s birthday.

It’s Kerry Livgren’s birthday too. He’s the lead guitar player.

Man that’s a lot of hair.

And here’s an old one from the Ed Sullivan Show.

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QoD

Do you have a nickname?

53 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 9-18-13”

  3. Aw, Joanne, the meeting can’t be too boring since you are there! I hope you are feeling better. I need to check out the prayer thread. Today is pray for The Gambia day.

    Ben Carson appears to be a very reasonable person and no doubt very blessed intellectually. Loved what I saw of the prayer breakfast where he was brave to say things others might think but for fear of being labeled and discounted would not go there.

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  5. I have been busy lately with helping to promote an author dinner fundraiser event for Christian Library International. Does anyone have experience with this type of promotion of an event?

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  9. Good to see you Joanne.
    We had the marching band concert tonight. They hold it indoors in the meeting house and are very creative with their marching. It was good, but they didn’t have any John Phillip Sousa numbers, so not my favorite. 🙂

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  10. My mother wouldn’t let me use any of those words. She called the “bywords”. I never knew what that meant. I suspect you were saying the same thing another way.
    “Yes” and “no” do not need modifiers.
    My English professor at Carolina said that cussing showed a weak vocabulary.

    QoD. My nickname is “Charlie”. I didn’t know I was Charles until I joined the AF and had to come up with a real name.
    My HS English teacher called me “Charles”, and I always wondered about that.
    My BroInLaw, (Elvera’s brother) had a difficult time in the Marines. His real name was “Teddy”.
    His nickname was “Ted”.

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  11. Some of you postcard pals have discovered my other nickname. Kim of course is the nickname for Kim. There are those who call me Kimmers.
    There are a few names that my father called me that some people know. To hear them is nostalgic but I am not quite sure I want to share them with the world. One of the last people to know and remind me died this summer.
    Yesterday we had a good laugh. A few of the men who were at the funeral were in the National Guard with Daddy J. He was well respected and commanded a healthy fear. I recalled the story of a guy I dated once that I took by the house who was quite nervous when he found out my Daddy J was his “Top”. I made the comment that I was sure I must have seen Daddy J angry at least once in all those years, but I couldn’t remember and specific incidence. Son in Law started laughing and said he had and remembered it in great detail. It seems that Mama R had a notebook and Daddy J needed a sheet of paper. She kept telling him not to tear a sheet out but he did anyway. Something else was said and he walked over to her and handed her the notebook and the sheet of paper and said “Here’s your d@#$ paper” and walked off. Son in law said he was trying so hard not to laugh that he had to walk outside. He has been a member of the family for 30 years and that was the angriest he ever saw his father in law.

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  12. Good morning. I’ve never had a nickname, although as a little girl everyone in my family called me Annie Fannie, which I took as a term of endearment!

    kBells QoD: I don’t think it’s right to use substitute curse words, though I do it occasionally. It really bothers me to hear kids say “freakin'” in place of the other “f” word.

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  13. As far as Christians cursing? I really don’t think anyone should curse no matter what they are. As Chas was told, it is the sign of a weak vocabulary. To substitute words such as “oh sugar” instead of what you really meant—it’s is the intent no matter what the word is that you use.
    Now, do I not curse? No, I have admitted before that when alone I can have quite the potty mouth. There are dumb -A’s in masses on the nations highways and somehow they manage to get in front of me to go 20 miles under the speed limit. There are various other descriptive curse words I could use and I have a friend who is married to a jack-___. No other word suits him.
    When I am extremely angry or frustrated there is a sentence that uses about every curse word that I sometimes mutter to myself. I am not as bad as I used to be, but it is still wrong and I have worked on not using them at all. I don’t think those words coming out of a lady’s mouth says much about her. As I have told BG, “That’s too pretty a face to have such ugly words coming out of that mouth”.

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  14. I don’t have a nickname but once a friend called me “Leadfoot.” 🙂 A teen at the wheel probably gets called lots of names.

    Once I put up a Christmas tree on top of the closet in our entry way so that when lit lights would show on the front side of our house. When I turned on the lights my young son said in amazement,”You are Such a Mom!”
    That’s about the best thing I have ever been called.

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  16. When we moved to Virginia, Elvera started telling people her name was “Vera”. That took half way. In church and around common friends, I always said “Elvera”. Eventually, people asked about it. I said, “It’s her name”. So, when she got a phone call, I could always tell the source of the call. Church people, etc. asked for Elvera, work related friends asked for “Vera”.
    I always liked the name.
    Noone here calls her “Vera”.

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  17. I never got a real nick name. My real name is a nickname for a couple of other real names. When I was a kid my brothers called me “witchy-poo for a while.

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  18. My nickname is Kare. Since I have 2 sisters-in-law named Karen and our pastor’s wife’s name was Karen, it was a good way to make a distinction. And that’s what my family has been calling me for years. I also get Karebear sometimes.

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  20. I don’t have a problem with most substitute cuss words most of the time. My favorite is probably Dag-gum-it. I mean who steps in cat throw-up in the middle of the night and has the presence of mind to try and sound like an English professor. 🙂

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  21. QoD #1: I don’t really have a nickname, as my real name is too short to be shortened further. My family has given me descriptive titles like Walking Encyclopedia and Nose In Book. I had several code names that my siblings, friend and I made up in our early teens which we used as pen names, but we have long since dropped them. Now I have a couple of usernames that I write under.

    QoD #2: Uttering curses is a bad habit to get into, and indiscriminately expressing the wish that objects and people go to perdition has a way of belittling the horrible reality of hell. Other terms, like the ‘f’ word and the ‘s’ word, are offensive and degrading, as they refer to necessary bodily functions which deserve to be spoken of with more dignity. The substitutes are meaningless and simply convey the real term to the listener’s mind.

    The Bible records curses without any refinement of terms – see I Kings 24:19-24 (God speaking), I Samuel 25:22 (good man speaking), Isaiah 36:12 (evil men speaking). Should I ever find it necessary to curse, I would want to have the honesty to use the real term. Meanwhile, I find much more descriptive phrases with which to express my emotional reactions.

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  22. Good point kBells.
    The first event that Aj highlighted up above had to do with the English dictionary. I have a dear friend who will be 77 soon. She translated a NT into a PNG language and is now spending years working on a dictionary. I imagine it is difficult knowing when to stop as there is always more that you can do.

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  23. QoD #2: Before becoming a Christian (at 26), I had a terrible potty mouth. Now, at 42 and a mother to two precious girls, not so much. But, I must admit that when I hurt myself in some way, I often utter an expletive (usually, crap! which I don’t think is too bad…but it’s just a substitute for oh, s___!). So, I’m agreeing with roscuro that cursing is a bad habit and one that’s hard to break!

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  24. I once read “The Life of Samuel Johnson” written by his friend, James Boswell. Many would consider it boring, as there was no real action. His life was lived in words, spoken and written. It was fascinating reading, as Johnson had a definite opinion about everything and didn’t hesisitate to express it. So many famous names passed in and out of his life. He met more than one English monarch – the first time as a child, to be touched by royalty as a superstitious cure for his scrofula (tuberculosis of the lymph nodes); the cure didn’t work, and though he recovered, he was badly scarred. He was a personal friend of Oliver Goldsmith, the author of “The Vicar of Wakefield” and “She Stoops to Conquer”. He lived at the same time as Swift (Gulliver’s Travels), Handel (The Messiah), Whitefield and the Wesleys. He lived through the Jacobite Rebellion (Bonnie Prince Charlie), the Great Awakening and the American Revolution, and was an eyewitness to the Gordon Riots, an anti-Catholic uprising that later inspired Dickens’ novel “Barnaby Rudge”. He was a true intellectual, but modern intellectuals wouldn’t care for his outspoken and eccentric ways.

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  25. My father once said that only and ignorant man uses profanity.

    The Bible has a lot to say about corrupt communication.

    Ephesians 4:29 Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.

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  26. Cuss words, curse words, obscenities, profanities, all unnecessary. Are they glorifying to God? When I hear them, I see them. That is not what I want to see. My dad, an unbeliever, used “for crying out loud” as his term of frustration. I try not to use any of it and try not to allow any of it into my brain as I can be impulsive and those words can slip out. But why? Instead of calling out to God in my frustration, why am I following the path of the world? Where is my source of comfort? Where is my salvation?

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  27. As kbells said, when you step in cat throw-up — or when you stub your toe on some furniture or forget the very thing you needed to bring with you to work — words happen. 😉 Mostly ‘oh-crap’ for me, too, and always in private, not out loud around others. I was taught early on to watch that I never said “those” words.

    My dad was a sailor before he got married and let’s just say I heard “words” growing up (and it was stressed to me early on to never say them myself which I didn’t dare!).

    When I was very young once I said one of the bad words (innocently) when my very straight-laced grandfather from Iowa was staying with us at the time. My mother was mortified and he was shocked. My mom had a serious talk with me and ever since then I was really careful about my language. I suspect my mom at the time also told my dad to tone it down around me. 😉

    The casual use of the f word is one of the more annoying trends in our culture. It’s sprinkled in nearly every casual conversation you hear nowadays and it sounds both stupid and offensive. Mostly stupid.

    With all his colorful talk, I never, ever heard my dad utter the f word. Some things were just out of bounds, even for sailors.

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  28. So another way of asking the QoD, what expressions of anger, frustration, surprise etc. are acceptable for a Christian? Also to some of you who write, have you ever had to deal with a character who realistically would have used bad language.

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  29. And mumsee has a good point about even ‘thinking’ in those terms. I’m not immune, but recognize it’s not the best train of thought to give in to, even when your toe is throbbing.

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  30. But what is really difficult as a parent now days is that your child will encounter other kids whose parents will have extremely varied standards of bad language. You are likely to met a six-year-old who can cuss like a wounded pirate one day and a 12-year-old who will be traumatized if they hear someone say “stupid.” the next. It’s the same with entertainment. The same kid whose big sister let him and my son watch the “Hunger Games” was horrified that I had a copy of “Harry Potter” in the house.

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  31. But still … 🙄

    Throbbing toes, getting rear-ended in traffic (or just missing the green light when you’re running late), stepping in unexpected stuff in the middle of the night … Oy.

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  32. It is tough out there. But they need to know that the family standards are the family standards. Not Johnny down the street. I have several who would never dream of using that kind of language….around me. But out on their own??? But then, isn’t that the relationship to Christ? It has to be their own, not ours. As for me and my house, who will we serve, only lasts while they are little. Then they make their choices. Of course, they still better not say those things around me.

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  34. A couple of my girls say, “oh my goodness!” and I have to ask them why they always talk about their goodness but never mine or why their goodness is better than others or why we need to focus on their goodness rather than God’s.

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  35. I was in a prayer meeting once where an elderly lady complained about young Christians using “devil’s nicknames for God”. Most of us younger adults had no idea what she was talking about, and one of us was finally brave enough to ask her. She said she was referring to words like “Gee”. Until that day it had never occurred to me that “Gee” was a synonym for “Jesus”. All I could think of was Dennis the Menace exclaiming, “Gee, Mr. Wilson!”

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  36. I think “Gee” is very close to “Geez”, which is even more like saying “Jesus”. I say “Jesus” only if I’m talking about Him, and I don’t say “Geez”, but I’ll admit to saying “Gee”, mostly when I’m speaking sarcastically, like in “Gee, what a shock”. I’m not exactly sure I should be saying that (and if I’m questioning whether that’s right or wrong, then I guess I should consider the language off-limits to me).

    I have a problem with the expression “sheesh”, too, because it sounds so similar to “Geez”, IMO, so I never say it.

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  37. If you come up with a substitute for “Gee” then that becomes bad, then you have to come up with a substitute for that word until it becomes bad. How far away does it have to get before all it means is “I’m frustrated”.

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  38. Okay, so no one mentioned ,”Oh, bother,” from Winnie the Pooh. Isn’t that the best?

    Being mildly creative when something bothers me I might say “Oh, foobies.” It is my personal extension of “Oh, foo ( or is it phoo?) It has never in my mind been a substitute for the F word. That is not how it sounds, is it? I would be mortified. When something painful or icky happens I usually don’t react with words but with silent amazement or bewilderment about what happened. Then I would say, “Ouch!That really hurt!.”

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  39. My biggest bad language, pet peeve in popular culture right now is “Oh my God” or even OMG. They even throw it around in Kid’s shows and movies. Can it get more obviously taking the Lord’s name in vain?

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  40. But that is the point. Is it necessary to have those interjections? No substitution is required. But then, I have so much valuable information to give out that I don’t have time for unnecessary words like those. Go Boise. Anybody want to know how Jake is doing?

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  42. I agree, kbells. about the OMG. As far as gee etc. I never connected any of those words with Jesus, like Kevin. Exclamations are short and to the point. I see no point in getting too carried away with words used innocently and taken innocently.

    I am sorry to see some very nasty words today. Several are horrible euphemisms that the children who speak them have no idea about. I would not allow them in my home. I don’t get my knickers in a knot over others using them. I would not want my children around anyone who uses the f word regularly, however. Nor do I want to watch shows laced with them. I am sorry for someone who has to use the word over and over.

    Sometimes, “Arrrghhh!” is the only word needed to convey a whole lot of frustration. See, mumsee? It actually saves you words in the long run sometimes? 😉

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  44. Yes, Mumsee, tell us how Jake is doing. Perhaps that will help me get all of these expressions out of my head. Goodness gracious me, what a blog today.

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  45. OK, so now I wish I hadn’t said anything today, because I didn’t convey my thoughts very clearly, and if I try to say more, I’m sure I’ll just bungle it even worse. 😦 How about I just say:

    Sigh.

    Kim, thanks for the video. Nice music fitting the scenery.

    Mumsee, how is Jake doing? 😉

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  46. Good question KBells – It was entertaining trying to think of what I said in certain situations:

    Stubbed toe: “OUCH!”, “Ow, ow, ow, ow!”, “Ohhh! That hurts.”

    Stepped in something: “Yuch!”, “Oh, gross.” “That’s disgusting.”, “Pah! It stinks.” “I’m gonna be sick.”

    Fear or pain: “Ay, ay, ay.” {Spanish for “Woe, woe, woe.”)

    Frustration: “Aww, nuts.” [I admit I do not know precisely why the seed of certain deciduous trees should express disappointment]
    “Oh, man!” [Well, man does bear a lot of blame for all that goes wrong]
    “C’est la vie“[French for that’s life – foreign exclamations are even more effective if spoken with an exaggerated accent]
    “Murphy’s law.” [“Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong”]

    I’ve never tried to write a character who would realistically have sworn, though I admit to having substituted “confound” for the ‘d’ word when reading aloud. I’ve read a lot of books out loud and I find most interjections taking God’s name in vain can be dropped without affecting the text in the least. However, I have seen many examples of how authors have gotten around actual swearing.
    The most annoying are those who only put the first letter followed by a dash (e.g. ‘”D_ him,” he cried.’) That conveys the word so instantly that they might as well have written the whole word out. Then there are those who simply state that so and so swore (‘He cursed fluently for the space of ten minutes.’) That works. although it gets obvious if used repeatedly. The most creative author at getting around swearing was Dickens. It took me about 15 years before I figured out what he meant by this: “Scrooge said he would see him. Oh yes, he did. He went the whole length of the expression and said he would see him in that extremity first.” But Dickens would just do that for humorous effect, as he also simply wrote swear words on occasion.
    If I were to write a book, it would depend on whether it was fact or fiction I was writing. If someone actually swore in a historical incident, it would be only factual to record it. Fiction, it would depend – I wouldn’t put any gratuitous profanity, but there might be cases where it is necessary to make a point.

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  50. Jake is well, thanks so much for asking. Today we noticed a turkey on the wrong side of the deer fence. In that situation, the turkey just paces back and forth for hours, waiting for a coyote to come take it to dinner. But today, Jake went out and brought it home. She had to wend her way through the horse pasture and then drive the turkey through the steer pen and around the sheep to the end of the driveway where it was free to run home. One of the fifteen year olds was at the other end of the leash, just in case. But she did well. As did the fifteen year old.

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  52. Today one of my daughters lessons was on Africa, it’s geography, climate, and major landmarks. While we were looking at a map I showed her a tiny little country called The Gambia. I told her I know some missionaries there, and that we make sure to pray for them on Wednesdays. 🙂 I told her it was on the blog. She thought that was neat.

    So tonight she does this quiz thing with my wife before bed. One of the questions was who wrote the first English dictionary. My wife told her it was Johnson, and that it was on the blog today too.

    Then the next question was which west African country was the smallest. She knew it was The Gambia, and that Dad knows people there. Too funny.

    🙂

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