Holiness and the F-Word
This morning I’ve been thinking about the word ‘holy’ for some reason. I started this train of thought by remembering a conversation I had with some girls at school yesterday. I overheard one of them use the word ‘fucking’ and, since we were just standing around waiting for another P.E. class we were joining to get organized, I decided to give a mini-lesson on how and why that word—the F-word—sounds so offensive to people. Today, as I think about it, I am realizing that the word can only be offensive if there is really a God. Atheists and agnostics also often find the word offensive, but if they were asked why, I think they might have a hard time coming up with an explanation. The F-word is the epitome of whatever is the opposite of the word ‘holy,’ and the word ‘holy’ only has meaning in the context of God. Not just god as an impersonal force either. Holy defines a personal God—a God who can be wronged, defied, treated with