QUARANTINE BLOG # 555

October 6, 2021

This week, London’s Ark All Saints Academy produced a list of words and phrases banned from their classes.  But it’s not a list of insults or hateful language: it’s a list of slang and filler words, in the hopes students will express themselves more formally.

The list of banned words and phrases:

The following words must not be used at the beginning of sentences:

-Ermmm . . .

-Because . . .

-No . . .

-Like . . .

-Say . . .

-You see . . .

-You know . . .

-Basically . . .

These expressions must not be used:

-He cut his eyes at me (he shot me a withering sidelong glance)

-Oh my days (my goodness)

-Oh my God

-That’s a neck (you need a slap for that)

-That’s long (that’s boring, tough or tedious)

-Bare (very, extremely)

-Cuss (swear or abuse)

Lucy Frame, the academy’s principal, said the specific terms were banned so pupils would be encouraged to express themselves “clearly and accurately.” 

I vote we move “like” into the banned phrases everywhere so we can no longer, like, stumble over what we are, like, trying to say and, like, fill up our sentences with, like, meaningless verbiage.  Like.

Oh, one that they left off should be immediately banished and anyone using it severely reprimanded: "back in the day."  Argghhhhhhhhhh!

👉  Some blackouts:

👎  The times they are a changing.  Indy Mellink, a PhD student based in Rotterdam, was explaining the rules of a card game to her young cousin.  She said she was suddenly struck by the archaic and unjust ranking system used in standard playing cards: king, queen, and jack.  The old system, according to Mellink, is sexist, and she asks why a king should outrank a queen when there are many countries ruled by queens and there is a struggle for female equality in the general workplace.  And the kings, queens, and jacks are all members of the white race.  So, playing cards are sexist and racist.

Her solution is GSB Cards, or gold, silver, and bronze, which are universal symbols used the world-over in sporting events that everyone recognizes.  They are free from any bias and already translatable in every language.  Single decks are $11.54 plus $20.30 shipping from the Netherlands.

👉  Words from “Ooh You’re Gold.”

👉  The dollar store is officially dead.  Dollar Tree, the last of the big dollar-store chains selling items for $1 or less, on Tuesday said it was officially “breaking the buck” by adding $1.25 and $1.50 price points in some stores.  The news sent its stock price soaring as investors eyed sales growth without the restraint of $1 pricing.  It also signaled the end of the true $1-and-under concept among US retailers.  Today’s inflationary pressures and rising freight and labor costs made it harder for Dollar Tree to stick to its $1 price point.  

👉  In case you missed it, and if you spend a lot of time online with social media, you did not miss it, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp were down for several hours on Monday.  And Mark Zuckerberg’s personal wealth fell by more than $6 billion in a few hours, sending his worth down to $121.6 billion.  Here is one look (from Star Wars: Phantom Menace) at the several hours of silence:

👉  A last look at really bad junk foods.

The KFC Donut Sandwich.  Adventurous eaters are in for something truly one-of-a-kind at KFC.  They crafted a Donut Sandwich with two glazed donuts and a piece of fried chicken in the middle. One KFC Donut Sandwich has 1,100 calories, 65 grams of fat, 1,310 milligrams of sodium, 100 grams of carbs, and 40 grams of sugar. 

Sonic Oreo Peanut Butter Shake.  Not only is the Sonic Oreo Peanut Butter Shake one of the unhealthiest fast food items in America, but it’s also one of the least healthy around the world.  A large serving contains 1,720 calories, 104 grams of fat, 1,040 milligrams of sodium, 172 grams of carbs, and 111 grams of sugar.  One Sonic Oreo Peanut Butter Shake has more than enough calories, fat, sodium, carbs, and sugar for an entire day.

Popeyes Cajun Fries.  French fries can be a delicious compliment to a burger or sandwich, but Cajun Fries from Popeyes are one of the unhealthiest fast food fries.  A large size has 804 calories, 42 grams of fat, 1,761 milligrams of sodium, and 97 grams of carbs.  Knowing that an entire lunch or dinner shouldn’t exceed 700 calories means that these fries alone are more calories than a typical meal. 

👉  Today’s close, is from New Morning Mercies, by Paul David Tripp.

Grace works to free you from your eternity amnesia so that you will be willing and able to live with the purifying hope of what is to come.

You and I don’t always live what we say we believe. There is often a disconnect between our confessional theology and our street-level functional theology. There is often a separation between, on the one hand, the doctrines we say we have embraced and, on the other hand, the choices we make and the anxieties that we feel. One of the places where this disconnect exists for many of us is the biblical teaching about eternity. We say we believe in the hereafter. We say that this moment in time is not all there is. We say that we are hardwired for forever. But often we live with the compulsion, anxiety, and drivenness of eternity amnesiacs. We get so focused on the opportunities, responsibilities, needs, and desires of the here and now that we lose sight of what is to come.

The fact is that you cannot make sense out of life unless you look at it from the vantage point of eternity. If all God’s grace gives us is a little better here and now, if it doesn’t finally fix all that sin had broken, then perhaps we have believed in vain: “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:19). There has to be more to God’s plan than this world of sin, sickness, sorrow, and death. There has to be more than the temporary pleasures of this physical world. Yes, there is more, and when you live like there’s more to come, you live in a radically different way.

When you forget eternity, you tend to lose sight of what’s important. When you lose sight of what’s truly important, you live for what is temporary, and your heart seeks for satisfaction where it cannot be found. Looking for satisfaction where it cannot be found leaves you spiritually empty and potentially hopeless. Meanwhile, you are dealing with all the difficulties of this fallen world with little hope that things will ever be different. Living as an eternity amnesiac just doesn’t work. It leaves you either hoping that now will be the paradise it will never be or hopeless that what is broken will ever be fixed. So it’s important to fix your eyes on what God has promised will surely come. Let the values of eternity be the values that shape your living today, and keep telling yourself that the difficulties of today will someday completely pass away. Belief in eternity can clarify your values and renew your hope. Pray that God, by his grace, will help you remember forever right here, right now.

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

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