The other day, Mrs. Soren and I were having a fascinating discussion about the alphabet (yes, we have no life). She made the observation that all of the letters have one syllable, except for the letter W, which has three syllables. Then she wondered aloud how each letter would be spelled. Ever the wisenheimer, I said, “A, B, C, D, etc.” Eventually we got to the letter W. And I learned that we pronounce it differently. That is, I pronounce it correctly. She says “double-you” and I say “dubba-you” (sing the song and you will probably agree with me). So I called my sister in Texas to settle the argument (I don’t know why I chose her). She said, “Dubba-you. Duh!” But we did go to the same school, after all. Never one to admit defeat so readily, Mrs. Soren called her Aunt (a teacher with a Master’s Degree from Central Michigan University). She said, “Double-you. Duh!” Then she looked it up online. Refdesk.com proved her point. But I still think I’m right.
My friend Mark Christian sent me this link. It has been 30 years since Rick Monday prevented a couple of long-haired, dope-smoking, commie schmucks from burning the American Flag in center field at Dodger Stadium. Y'all remember that, don't you?
You'd think that after 30 years of being a Cubs fan, I would learn my lesson. But hope springs eternal, and each Spring I think, "Maybe this is the year." Like Charlie Brown hoping that, "This time Lucy won't pull the ball away at the last second", I buy into the idea that they can be winners. Last month when they were 6 or 7 games over .500, I got my hopes up, but I kept reminding myself that it's only April. Now they have dropped 14 out of their last sixteen. "Will the lady who left her nine children at the concession stand please report to the general office. They are beating the Cubs 7-2."
I'm preaching this week on the third commandment ("Don't take the Lord's name in vain"). My research on it has been very interesting. Most of us who have been brought up in the church were taught that the command referred to using God's name as a curse word, but the command extends far beyond that.A couple of good articles can be found here and here.
Another blogger (an agnostic, but I thought his points were good) wrote this: Mortals cannot call upon God to cast a spell or to place a curse on any individual / object / situation / etc., such as is believed to be desirable or possible in some non-Christian traditions. To call upon God to curse or damn a person or situation on one's own behalf is therefore a futile and vain (for or about one's self ) action and to do so is equivalent to an attempt at usurping God's power. Given that the Judeo-Christian God referenced in the commandments is considered to be more powerful than the gods of other faiths ("put no other gods before me" is clearly a recognition of other gods), many of whom (according to those doctrines) can be manipulated for one's own purposes, it is considered an insult to the Biblical God to attempt it.
My Mom was kind of the "Third Commandment Cop" at our house. Sometimes my sisters would have a friend over who might say, the offending phrase ("oh my God"), and my mom would correct them. One time, after hearing a girl say it, Mom said, "we don't talk like that in this house." When her mother came to pick her up, she told her mom what had happened. The woman rebuked her daughter, exclaiming, "Blankety blank it, I've not you not to talk that blankety blank way." Unbelievable!
