What's the Word?

It occurred to me recently that I can say I’m married to a disabled immigrant and that we are both residential school survivors. It would all be true.

But it would all be so wrong. Is it any wonder the media can spin stories in any direction they wish?

Words are funny things. Take the word “virtual.” I used to think it meant “actual” or “literal” because that’s how I heard it used. So when a radio announcer recently invited people to a celebration event and added, “Virtual only, please don’t come here,” I thought the word had taken a complete reversal in definition. During this pandemic, we’ve attended far more virtual meetings than in-person ones. I now know that “virtual” means “almost” or “nearly.” But now my online thesaurus says its primary meaning is “computer-generated” even though the word was around long before computers.

It’s the same reason we still “dial” a phone number even though phones haven’t come with dials for decades.

How do you feel about the word “commit?” It can mean so many things. To promise, devote, give, perform. It’s a good word and being committed to something is usually seen as a positive trait. So I was surprised recently to learn that it’s no longer acceptable to say someone committed suicide. The S-word is not the problem. It’s the C-word. Apparently, “commit” implies a crime and therefore stigmatizes suicide. I’m still trying to wrap my head around that one.

Then again, I’m still wondering when “impact” became something you do and not just something you make. It’s called verbing nouns.

With all the challenges of our language, how do you know what to believe? The conflicting information floating around about Covid-19 and face masks alone is enough to make your head spin, even without the claims and accusations in political boxing rings. Someone recently posted a meme that said, “If lying really did set one’s pants on fire, the nightly news would sure be a lot more entertaining.”

Some say there’s no such thing as absolute truth. But is that absolutely true?

As far as I know, Jesus Christ is the only person in history audacious enough to call himself THE TRUTH. Talk about a bold statement. Either it’s true, in which case he’s worth not only paying attention to but devoting your life to. Or it’s false, in which case he was either a lunatic or a liar. I see no middle ground. Do you?

One of the things I try to remember when I don’t know how to pray about a situation is simply to ask God to help everyone involved hear and speak only truth and to silence all lies. You can’t go wrong with that prayer, and the only one who can grant the request is the one who called himself Truth. The Word. (See John 14:6 and John 1:1)

As for my opening claim? It’s true my husband immigrated to Canada from the United States—no language or cultural learning curves to conquer. It’s true he lives without his right arm. But I can’t think of anything he can’t do if he puts his mind to it, other than the assumptions others impose upon him. As for the residential school? We attended a Christian boarding school of our own free will and with our parents’ blessing. A more suitable word than “survivors” would be “thrivers.”

If only it were a word.