Language is vital for verbal communication but it can often stymie one when it comes to clarity of expression and definitive discourse. Those with communicative skills and abilities are a delight to hear. Those who have mastered the English Language should be appreciated. In our lifetime, we have been exposed to speakers and orators who possessed these skills – Martin Luther King, Jr.; John F. Kennedy; Billy Graham; William F. Buckley; Ronald Reagan; Barack Obama. Their political agenda and personal persuasions aside, they possessed the necessary skills to communicate in an excellent fashion.
However, they – like us, are trapped by the way words are used in the English Language. Someone came up with these thoughts regarding a simple word “UP”! In the Online Dictionary, there are 13 Definitions and 93 examples of usage given for the word “UP”! The following is an illustration submitted for the word “UP”: "It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report? We call UP our friends and we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, warm UP the leftovers, and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car. At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special. And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP. We open UP a store in the morning, but we close it UP at night. We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP! To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4 of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more. When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP. When it rains, it wets UP the earth. When it doesn't rain for a while, things dry UP. One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now my time is UP, so...Time to shut UP!”
When it comes to the word “UPPITY”, there is a significant change and the Online Dictionary submits just two meanings and applications: “affecting an attitude of inflated self-esteem; haughty; snobbish; rebelliously self-assertive; not inclined to be tractable or deferential.” It’s difficult to ever get to know an uppity person. There is so much façade and image-projection that prevents one from ever seeing or knowing the “real” individual. Some have a drive and felt-need to impress others with their loftiness and persona. They walk through life impressed by themselves and hoping to impress everyone else with their air of self-importance.
An interesting contrast occurs in Colossians 2 regarding the use of the word “UP”! First, Colossians 2:6-7, “… just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, ROOTED AND BUILT UP IN HIM, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” Second, there is an opposite use given in Colossians 2:18, “Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and HIS UNSPIRITUAL MIND PUFFS HIM UP with idle notions.” The one who is brought low before Jesus Christ becomes the one who is built UP in Him, whereas the one who struts in his self-importance and is PUFFED UP will one day be brought low. The message should be clear to each one – no matter the difficulties of life or on the journey – Keep Looking UP – and – Never Give UP! Consider these things with me!
However, they – like us, are trapped by the way words are used in the English Language. Someone came up with these thoughts regarding a simple word “UP”! In the Online Dictionary, there are 13 Definitions and 93 examples of usage given for the word “UP”! The following is an illustration submitted for the word “UP”: "It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report? We call UP our friends and we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, warm UP the leftovers, and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car. At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special. And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP. We open UP a store in the morning, but we close it UP at night. We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP! To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4 of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more. When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP. When it rains, it wets UP the earth. When it doesn't rain for a while, things dry UP. One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now my time is UP, so...Time to shut UP!”
When it comes to the word “UPPITY”, there is a significant change and the Online Dictionary submits just two meanings and applications: “affecting an attitude of inflated self-esteem; haughty; snobbish; rebelliously self-assertive; not inclined to be tractable or deferential.” It’s difficult to ever get to know an uppity person. There is so much façade and image-projection that prevents one from ever seeing or knowing the “real” individual. Some have a drive and felt-need to impress others with their loftiness and persona. They walk through life impressed by themselves and hoping to impress everyone else with their air of self-importance.
An interesting contrast occurs in Colossians 2 regarding the use of the word “UP”! First, Colossians 2:6-7, “… just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, ROOTED AND BUILT UP IN HIM, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” Second, there is an opposite use given in Colossians 2:18, “Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and HIS UNSPIRITUAL MIND PUFFS HIM UP with idle notions.” The one who is brought low before Jesus Christ becomes the one who is built UP in Him, whereas the one who struts in his self-importance and is PUFFED UP will one day be brought low. The message should be clear to each one – no matter the difficulties of life or on the journey – Keep Looking UP – and – Never Give UP! Consider these things with me!
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