My Journal and Diary
2022
January
Saturday, January 1st, 2022
Totally Awesome
I have four children who are between the ages of 15 and 26. Throughout their teen years, I have noticed a pattern: they love jargon! Instead of slang I'm accustomed to, such as “weird,” “cool,” or “wow,” they replace these phrases with something uniquely their own. Meanings are often flipped, so that something is “sick” when it's not, or “drip” when it's fantastic.
This is a great reminder of the eighties, when as teenagers we'd say, “radical,” or “totally awesome, dude!” In-speech is a rite of passage!
At the time, my elders weren't happy about it. I remember hearing some reprimands, especially with regard to awesome. We were taking the power out of the word, they said.
Upon reflection, I guess they were right! The word has lost its impact; we tend to throw it around to describe a good grilled-cheese sandwich, or a funny joke: “That's awesome,” I say with a chuckle! I have a couple of close friends who love to say, “that's amazing” in the same off-handed way.
It's a shame to waste such a potent word. Its use is better suited to the feeling we have when confronted with the expanse of the cosmos or the majesty of mighty mountains!
What things come to mind when you recall the full meaning of awesome? Do you consider our God, and His power, beauty, love, justice, and especially His saving grace?
As the psalmist writes in Psalm 76, “From the heavens you uttered judgment; the earth feared, and was still when God rose up to establish judgment, to save all the oppressed of the earth.”
He INDEED is awesome.
Amen.