tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8255306865882909508.post5030163931723594608..comments2023-04-13T03:40:21.382-05:00Comments on San Antonio Bible Heralds: "In Our Thoughts and Prayers"MikeThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08611741320703303844noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8255306865882909508.post-54018777592825121802018-01-06T12:40:26.535-06:002018-01-06T12:40:26.535-06:00David, you are absolutely right. The "awesome...David, you are absolutely right. The "awesome" thing has become sort of the refrain of the age. It's like younger folks constantly interpolating "you know" into every sentence they pronounce. I would say that "in our thoughts and prayers" has become what one author recently termed "christianese." It sounds Christian and may even come from a pure intent, but it has lost its meaning. Sort of like telling someone "if you need anything, let me know." We may mean it, but the abuse of the term is such, that we usually just pass it off as courtesy and little more. Thanks.MikeThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08611741320703303844noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8255306865882909508.post-49669596861046154732018-01-06T12:24:27.281-06:002018-01-06T12:24:27.281-06:00If you live long enough, you will likely notice ce...If you live long enough, you will likely notice certain words and phrases pass in and out of frequent usage and acquire new shades of meaning. A few years ago my two grown daughters took to saying "awesome" all the time. If I called them and said I was feeling a little better I could expect to hear "awesome!" If I mentioned to them I'd opened a book picked up at a thrift store that had a $5.00 bill in it, I'd hear "awesome!" In fact anything that could be construed to be something short of disaster was (and is still) met with "awesome!" To his old man, who has used the word "awesome" sparingly in his life, "awesome" is to be reserved for things that are...well...genuinely awesome. It's overuse makes it hollow and virtually meaningless. Thus in a way is the phrase "our thoughts and prayers." A perfectly fine phrase in itself, the recent incessant use of it in public and otherwise non-religious forums has rendered it often shallow and trite. It has an airy sense to it generally, and is often ushered forth by men and women whom one suspects actually think with marked infrequency and truly pray even more rarely. It has mostly become a way to appear concerned without any true corresponding heart-felt concern. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com