You say potato, I say turnip

Semantics All Smashed Up

Growing up, one of my family's favorite, though nutritionally questionable, vegetable foods was mashed potatoes. Mom knew knew we loved mashed potatoes. Occasionally she tried to introduce mashed substitutes, like turnips or rutabaga. She didn't deceive by claiming she was serving mashed potatoes, but she didn't callout the organic difference. Maybe she figured if the turnips were well cooked, mashed, sprinkled with mummified parsley flakes and slathered with gravy, we wouldn't notice. Usually we did notice. We were mashed connoisseurs after all. That said, there may have been countless meals where we gobbled down the white mash with clueless hunger.

Our language, and the semantics associated with its use, often seem similar to consuming mashed whatever. It's more than a challenge of pronunciation (poh-tay-toh, poh-tah-toh). The use, meaning and impact of words has morphed in ways that make discernment of differences difficult. Words today are sprinkled with colorful but flavorless parsley or buried under savory gravy. Because personal writing, reading and comprehension skills are a wanting, my gobbling of mashed media is frequently clueless.

Today there is professed confusion on the definition of what is a man and what is a woman? Non-US citizens who have come into and stayed to live in the US may be called: "illegal aliens", "sanctuary seekers", "criminals", "immigrants", "undocumented Americans", or just "neighbors". It is not surprising then that how a Mr. Rogers or a Mr. Homan might notice and then treat an encounter with a non-citizen could be quite different. Maybe both misters are as clueless and careless as me in the consumption of media regarding non-US citizens. Avoiding media is not a good choice. There is much more media that truly does enlighten and entertain. Maybe like my diet, my media consumption needs to be in moderation and more humbly balanced (diverse). I cannot live on starchy potatoes or bread alone.

Babel

Bewildering, Noisy Rhetoric

A memorable rock feature in the Garden of the Gods is The Tower of Babel. Standing directly beneath this massive sandstone formation, the tower reaches towards heaven. Of course the Biblical story of Babel relates that God confused the language of humans. Humans were becoming quite cocky on what "we" thought we knew and we could accomplish, by ourselves. We, including me, are still quite cocky. We profess that we know what's going on when our source of knowledge, our wisdom, and our basic morality is faulty.

God no longer needs to confuse our language. Certain words and phrases faddishly dominated our contemporary language and media. There's been hundreds of exhorted existential threats. Today, thinking, acting or voting differently can qualify as an existential threat. Differentiating between reality and hyperbole is not always easy. Words like existential, racist, socialist, fascist and 'anything' justice (e.g. social justice) have become common mashed food words. They are over served, bland and meaningless babel.

Seasoned qualifying phrases like "naming the reality" or "lived experience" are the parsley and gravy of the day. They merely obscure. Spicy rhetoric is too easily dismissed or canceled. A newly popular dismissive word is "performative". The war of the words is the current war of the world.

BTW, exploring the quiet crevices and cave at the northwest base of the Babel formation is an often overlooked sensory experience.

“What can be, unburdened by what has been.”

Harris was well known as the "word salad" master chef. She could mash words better or than most. With gravy few could figure out what she was really trying to say. It didn't matter how many times she said it.

Giving Harris the benefit of the doubt, maybe her "What can be, unburdened by what has been" was just her way of rephrasing the Easter message of forgiveness and healing.

Unfortunately, political media sources of all parties are more turnip and rutabaga than potatoes.

Harmonious words of enlightenment, comfort, and healing

Thankfully, most media available for consumption is not monotonous, loud and/or confusing. Like the caves and crevices in the Garden, this media is explored and enjoyed.

"Come Home" provides comfort and hope that is particularly cherished following Weldon's death. Some may recognize the venue as Christ's Chapel in St. Peter. This musical offering was shared during All Saints Day services. Sinners and especially Saints are a powerful witness in this song of healing and homecoming.

Social Media Justice

Evidently words, photos and media communication can be harmful. Two Social Media giants, Meta and Google were found liable for addictive websites. This addictive nature was determined to be intentional, and particularly harmful to children.

Given the amount of time children and others spend on their phones, this "harmful" finding is not surprising. What is surprising is parents that allow and almost facilitate the addiction. The claim is they can't really be responsible parents. Maybe it is just easier to hold some other party responsible.

Celebrating Books and Reading

Have you had recent opportunity to read to a class of kindergarten students? If such an opportunity comes up, take it. It is rewarding. Of course there might some thought as to what to read and what is age appropriate. There are books that inform, books that paint colorful word pictures, and books that spark the imagination. Most books encourage thinking. Some books tell the reader and listener what to think. I shied away from those, to favor those that spark imagination.

Our family is blessed with librarians and those that are particularly energized or relaxed by reading.

National Library Week this year is the week of April 19th - 25th. If you can't read to a kindergarten student, read to yourself.

Rasmussen Reporter