Musings From A Rolling Eyed Turtle

One definition of the word “impress” is to affect deeply or strongly. One definition of the word “wow” is to excite to enthusiastic admiration All of us likely have had those “wow” moments…something happened that affected us deeply or strongly and produced admiration.   Perhaps it was an awesome sunset or a glimpse of the beauty of creation.   Maybe it was an incredible act of love or a monumental sacrifice.   Whatever it was, it almost took our breath away and all we could say was “WOW”! The book of Colossians has some statements about Christ that should produce some great big “WOW’S”: Ø   He laid up a hope for us in heaven (1:5) Ø   He delivered us from the domain of darkness (1:13) Ø   He transferred us to the Kingdom of His Son             (1:13) Ø   He redeemed us (1:14) Ø   He forgives our sins (1:14) Ø   He reconciled us to Himself (1:20) ...

Last week I wrote that I really love a good play on words, whether the play on words is intentional or not.   When I wrote about the likely intentional one last week, I also had another one in mind, this time a likely unintentional one.   Here it is… We recently came across a sign for a “Self-Realization Fellowship”.   To dissect it a bit, consider some common definitions of the words at play here: Self:   to, with, for, or toward oneself or itself Self-Realization:   fulfillment by oneself of the possibilities of one's character or personality Fellowship:   companionship, company, community, the quality or state of being comradely Self and fellowship seem mutually exclusive.   Self can be well, just focused on self.   You typically do things and think things with self in view.   Fellowship, on the other hand, often puts self aside for the state of being comradely or part of community. When you throw in self-realizat...

I really love a good play on words.   When I see it, I often wonder if it’s intentional or accidental. When it comes to advertising or marketing, I think the chances of it being intentional dramatically increase.   The other day I saw an electronic billboard that was advertising an upcoming performance of “The Authentic Illusionist”.   So tantalizing! If you break it down, a common definition of authentic is that which is fully trustworthy as according with fact. An illusion, on the other hand, is something that deceives or misleads or causes a misinterpretation of something’s actual nature. So an illusionist would be a person who deceives or misleads by causing our perceptions to misinterpret that which is actually occurring.   In the entertainment word, it’s all fun and games. But when it comes to how people sometimes behave, take a look at what Isaiah communicated on God’s behalf:   They say to the seers, “See no more visions!” and to th...