I recently had a discussion with a friend over the proper use of the word “awesome.”  He contended it should only be used in reference to God as it carries the idea with it of worship.  I suggested that possibly there were levels of meaning, such as… awesome (Little “a”), Awesome (Capital “A”), and AWESOME (Always in reference to God.  I don’t know if we decided the matter, but I got to thinking of words that have lost their meaning due to over use and/or improper use.

Consider the following overused words which have lost their meaning…

Miracle. It was not a miracle when the USA beat the USSR in hockey.  Neither is it a miracle when a person is cancer free after chemo-therapy and radiation.  However… if the USA had left the ice and the USSR stayed on the ice AND the puck evaded the Russian defenders and goalie into the net to win, THAT would be a miracle.  If a person was blind from birth and received their sight WITHOUT medical intervention, THAT would be a miracle.

Love. This is a word that young people especially use too often and quickly in their dating relationships.  Within a few weeks they are writing on their notes and saying on the phone… “I love you.”  Then they break up… hook up with another person… and in the same two weeks telling the next person… “I love you.”  And over and over and over again.  After a while, the word love is meaningless to them.

Crisis. CNN was really bad on this one for a while.  It seemed like every other week there was some kind of crisis going on in the government or somewhere in the world.  I think the word crisis should be reserved for something like when Russia put nuclear missiles in Cuba in 1963.

Awesome. Here I have to acquiesce to my friend’s point.  This is indeed a word that is way overused.  Everything is NOT awesome.  In fact… very few things are awesome.  God would be one to whom it applies… past Him, I’m not sure anyone or anything else is “awesome.”  Nowadays the word “awesome” has become a slang term, and that indeed is sad.