Thank you, Mr. Klavan, for putting these truths, actually the main truth, THE truth, so I can understand it and be able to communicate it to others. You are honestly a blessing.
I recommend accepting reality and then meeting Truth, the one who created all reality with a Word. And then, most miraculous of all, he alone can change your reality. Not by hiding it or escaping it or modernizing it. By redeeming it.
As long as this essay was, it came to an end far too quickly. You could have written twice, ten times, as much, Mr. Klavan, and it would not be enough for me. Thank you, for your wonderful words, words, words.
And what are words worth? Better still, who was Wordsworth? But I digress.
Regarding foul-mouthed women, it was a shock to me to hear and watch the first F-Bomb come from Megyn Kelly’s lips, when she started her own podcast. Being Irish, and watching that beautiful woman with the thoroughly Irish name on Fox all those years (only on clips from NBC), I was stunned. I’m not sure if I thought any less of her at the time, however. I have since heard her throw out many Carlinesque words, but no longer shocked, it seems. Still, I wish she’d never thrown out the first. 🤷🏼♂️
I thought about referencing a John Legend song that mentions that very shock, but the inspiration for that song—she who shall not be named—got me banned from Twitter under Dorsey, for calling her a “wench.” I thought it was a fitting description, given the #2 definition of the word. 😂
Been discussing with my bro about Trueman’s proposition in Rise and Triumph that the church has been deeply affected by post modernism that they cannot see it. I think the specific mistake and answer lies here somewhere.
You can spend all day using reason to try to come up with a moral code, or you can refer to the document used by Western Civilization for 2000 years: the Ten Commandments which were written by God himself.
I don’t mean to be petty, but the Old Testament, where the Ten Commandments are written for all the world to know, in the only book truly banned from our public schools, is a little older than 2,000 years.
The Old Testament did not become a feature of Western Civilization before the Roman Empire was Christianized. It entered Western Civilization as a part of Christianity. In fact, there was a chance that it would be dropped from the Christian Bible.
I love the way you made it clear that God is real, truth is real, and relationships are real. Words are the wishy-washy part, that try to represent those things but mess it all up because we can’t express ourselves accurately through words, and some people actually use the language and twisting of it to manipulate what we understand as truth by changing meanings of words.
There's a fun book by Max Berry called "Lexicon." Reads like a thriller. Has much to do with how language works. Not in a deep, philosophical way, but in a fun thriller way. The Klavan idea that some words don't have have definitions that clarify them--words like mother or woman--but instead have meanings that emerge from the essential qualities of being human, is similar to what in "Lexicon" the characters call a "bare word." It's a word so primal that its meaning and its material components, either sound or stroke, are inextricably united. It's a fun book. The readers here may enjoy it.
Amazing essay. Thanks Andrew for bringing clarity and a clear perspective in what seems to be crazy times. I love what you and Spencer are creating here. I feel privileged that I get to be part of what God is creating and forming through this substack. Cheers from Tasmania, Australia
This essay is absolutely breathtaking. Grateful for your obedience in sharing, through your gift of writing, your personal experience with Truth. Such encouragement and inspiration.
My favorite essay so far. I must pay attention to the burning bushes in my periphery. The I Am is my center and purification.
Thank you, Mr. Klavan, for putting these truths, actually the main truth, THE truth, so I can understand it and be able to communicate it to others. You are honestly a blessing.
I recommend accepting reality and then meeting Truth, the one who created all reality with a Word. And then, most miraculous of all, he alone can change your reality. Not by hiding it or escaping it or modernizing it. By redeeming it.
As long as this essay was, it came to an end far too quickly. You could have written twice, ten times, as much, Mr. Klavan, and it would not be enough for me. Thank you, for your wonderful words, words, words.
And what are words worth? Better still, who was Wordsworth? But I digress.
Regarding foul-mouthed women, it was a shock to me to hear and watch the first F-Bomb come from Megyn Kelly’s lips, when she started her own podcast. Being Irish, and watching that beautiful woman with the thoroughly Irish name on Fox all those years (only on clips from NBC), I was stunned. I’m not sure if I thought any less of her at the time, however. I have since heard her throw out many Carlinesque words, but no longer shocked, it seems. Still, I wish she’d never thrown out the first. 🤷🏼♂️
Yes, about the foul language! It's jarring when something so coarse comes out of someone so lovely.
I thought about referencing a John Legend song that mentions that very shock, but the inspiration for that song—she who shall not be named—got me banned from Twitter under Dorsey, for calling her a “wench.” I thought it was a fitting description, given the #2 definition of the word. 😂
Oh, that's funny! Someone could dish but couldn't take I see, LOL!
You hit the nail on the head there! 😂
Brevity may be the soul of wit, but I agree with you about not being able to have enough of this extreme Klavan-y goodness.
The Klavans’ truly DO employ “all the best words” and are guided by the Word.
Been discussing with my bro about Trueman’s proposition in Rise and Triumph that the church has been deeply affected by post modernism that they cannot see it. I think the specific mistake and answer lies here somewhere.
You can spend all day using reason to try to come up with a moral code, or you can refer to the document used by Western Civilization for 2000 years: the Ten Commandments which were written by God himself.
I don’t mean to be petty, but the Old Testament, where the Ten Commandments are written for all the world to know, in the only book truly banned from our public schools, is a little older than 2,000 years.
The Old Testament did not become a feature of Western Civilization before the Roman Empire was Christianized. It entered Western Civilization as a part of Christianity. In fact, there was a chance that it would be dropped from the Christian Bible.
Good grief man! Well said...
Best one yet.
In the 1957 Katharine Hepburn/Spencer Tracy movie "Desk Set," he asks her, "What is the first thing you notice in a person?"
"Whether the person is male or female."
The ancients know us better than we know them, better than we know ourselves.
Bam! Nailed it!
I love the way you made it clear that God is real, truth is real, and relationships are real. Words are the wishy-washy part, that try to represent those things but mess it all up because we can’t express ourselves accurately through words, and some people actually use the language and twisting of it to manipulate what we understand as truth by changing meanings of words.
There's a fun book by Max Berry called "Lexicon." Reads like a thriller. Has much to do with how language works. Not in a deep, philosophical way, but in a fun thriller way. The Klavan idea that some words don't have have definitions that clarify them--words like mother or woman--but instead have meanings that emerge from the essential qualities of being human, is similar to what in "Lexicon" the characters call a "bare word." It's a word so primal that its meaning and its material components, either sound or stroke, are inextricably united. It's a fun book. The readers here may enjoy it.
Amazing essay. Thanks Andrew for bringing clarity and a clear perspective in what seems to be crazy times. I love what you and Spencer are creating here. I feel privileged that I get to be part of what God is creating and forming through this substack. Cheers from Tasmania, Australia
This essay is absolutely breathtaking. Grateful for your obedience in sharing, through your gift of writing, your personal experience with Truth. Such encouragement and inspiration.
Just dropping my before my second read to express my enthusiasm and gratitude. Such a good piece! Inspired! Mission from God indeed.
0 Sacred Head Now Wounded
“What language shall I borrow to thank Thee, dearest friend,
For this Thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end?
O make me Thine forever, and should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never outlive my love to Thee.”