In 500 words or less, the FROG Blog invites readers (and the author) to approach life with curiosity and discovery.
Thank you to Andrea Piacquadio who provided this photo.
As a student in life’s perpetual classroom, I received a well-rounded education in science, psychology, theology, and English today.
My “class schedule” resembled this:
Science: I learned how researchers define a life-giving quarter-second as “response time between a brain’s intake and a body’s output.” My quarter-second choices to think, speak or act can determine fate. Riveting.
Psychology: I recalled how one conversation, one sentence, one memory, one decision can induce multiple reminders. Quarter-second decisions can have timeless meaning.
Theology: I read Ephesians 4:30-31 in the New King James and The Message bibles. (Cited at the bottom of this FROG Blog). Same book, same verse, different words. In both readings, the word all (“all malice,” “all backbiting”) grabbed my attention.
English: I was curious to find definitions for malice and clamor since those words aren’t part of my typical vocabulary. I went to my dictionary and thesaurus (the hard cover Scrabble version that has more than 50 years of Scrabble game experience).
Science Lab: I dissected the following words and report my analysis. Diagnosis: Ouch.
Bitterness: Piercing; caustic; cruel; harsh
Rage: Excessive and uncontrollable anger; violence fatal prevail; violently agitated
Anger: To provoke resentment; enrage; excite to wrath; ravage
Brawling: To quarrel noisily; outrageous uproar
Slander: False or malicious report; verbal defamation
Malice: Evil intention to injure others; deliberate mischief; spite; prompted by hatred.
Guidance Counseling with Dr. G. Higher Power: I have learned about quarter-second response times. I recognize I don’t want to mirror any of the connotations associated with anger. Dr. Power advises me to be aware that a series of lifetime quarter-seconds decisions may affect long-term, widespread development.
Homework (ongoing): release all bitterness, all resentment, all uncontrollable anger, all…
All means all.
My day began as a science experiment which led to a meaningful word search. That word search turned into a man hunt (or woman hunt in my case). The search was ordered from within.
There is a sequel to this FROG Blog because I also read, ‘”when you retaliate in anger, you give the enemy a foothold in your life. You offer a beachhead from which the enemy can attack you in other areas.” Ouch. One word. One lesson. One day. One quarter-second at a time.
I vote for reinstituting snack breaks, recess and nap times for all students in University Life!
Leaping with buoyancy, (Buoyant: having the quality of floating in a fluid. Not easily depressed; unsinkable characteristics).
Christina
“Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph. 4:30-31 NKJV).
“Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph. 4:30-31 The Message).