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bad words

I was reading Psalm 50 this morning and one of the things that stood out to me was the notion that God likes it when we cry out for help to him. In contrast to wonderful acts of sacrifice, shows of piety, and righteous religious rituals (yes, even reading your Bible and going to church and praying can be rituals), he prefers an honest, "HEEELP ME! I really screwed up!"


I have friends who use swear words. When I first got to know them, the words bothered me and I could not hear anything else they were saying because those four-lettered expletives were blaring sirens blocking out everything else they were trying to tell me. And that was an error on my part. They were passionately telling me something in their own words, often vexed at some injustice, and I failed to hear their meaning because of a few letters like f and u and, well, you get my drift.


There are no right or wrong words in communicating, in talking to God, in expressing your heart, in making yourself heard. There are only genuine calls for help and sincere desires to find the truth, or a self-righteous assumption that I already know the truth even while failing to exhibit the character of the one who IS the Truth.


This is a picture of the Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal.
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