Nonsensical
By Russ Lawson
(From the banks of Stinking Creek)
One of my wife’s favorite stories (and movie) uses a word I had never
heard before… that word is “Nonsensical”. I understood the word and the way it
was used, but the uniqueness of the word has stuck in my mind for a long time
now. Nonsensical… not a word we use often, if ever, in our current world, yet
perhaps we should. The word has these typical meanings, “Without sense;
meaningless; absurd; foolish; irrational; preposterous”.
The word itself can be traced back to the late 1600’s and seems to have
been at its peak use in the 1800s, then we just about stopped using it in the
1900s. As I have thought about this word I wonder if we should not reintroduce
it to our everyday language.
As we look at our world it seems that more and more of what we see is
just “nonsensical”. Our political situation is often “Absurd and irrational”.
Our world's view of right and wrong or sin and righteousness is mostly
nonsensical also. It seems that far too many people don’t believe in any
boundaries at all, there is no right or wrong, no good or bad. The only thing
that matters is what makes them happy or satisfies their lusts and longing and
that in itself is “nonsensical”.
Proverbs 21:2 puts
it this way: “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes; But God weighs
the hearts.”
The scripture speaks
specifically about people like that in Isaiah 5:20-24, “Woe to those who
call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for
darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who
are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight. Woe to those who
are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks, who acquit the
guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent. Therefore, as
tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so
their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have
rejected the law of the LORD Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of
Israel.”
Some might say, “That’s
just the way it is in our world and there is no God, there is no judgment,
there is no right or wrong,” They are saying, if there is a God why doesn't he
show himself. Folks like that are just like the people Isaiah is writing about,
In verses 18-19 he says this is the attitude they have, “Cursed
are you who use lies to sell evil, who present sin to the people by the
truckload and sell it however they can… Who say, "What's God waiting for?
Let him hurry up if he is real so we can see him.” (RL)
Now that is truly nonsensical because God, whether they choose to
believe in him or not, has promised a judgment, a final accounting of their
lives and decisions. The apostle Paul writes in Romans
14:11-12, “It is written: "'As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee
will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.'" So then, each of
us will give an account of ourselves to God.”
Maybe it's time to bring some meaning... some sense back into our world
and do things God's way. What do you think?
For those who don't know, my wife’s favorite book and movie is by Jane
Austin titled “Pride and Prejudice”.
