I recently discovered a prayer called Blessing of Breathing by Jan Richardson. The selection can be found in her book entitled The Cure for Sorrow: A Book of Blessings for Times of Grief.

That the first breath will come without fear.

That the second breath will come without pain.

The third breath: that it will come without despair.

And the fourth, without anxiety.

That the fifth breath will come with no bitterness.

That the sixth breath will come for joy.

Breath seven: that it will come for love.

May the eighth breath come for freedom.

And the ninth, for delight.

When the tenth breath comes, may it be for us
to breathe together, and the next, and the next,

until our breathing is as one,
until our breathing is no more.

Amen.

The Northside Church staff wears nametags featuring our Celtic cross logo. The badges identify staff to members and guests.

I also wear my nametag in the community. The practice facilitates visits at hospitals and other institutions; and it has inspired impromptu conversations about church and faith.

Sometimes I forget that I’m wearing a nametag.

A group of five staff members went to lunch at a local eatery. Food service took forever in the uncrowded restaurant. We may have expressed our disappointment to the server before realizing all five of us proudly boasted a Northside Church nametag.

Disciples claim Christ’s name while acting all too human. People witness whether our practice reflects our profession. Wearing a nametag reminds me of who I am . . . and who God calls me to be.

Suppose you wore a Christian nametag this week. How would it transform your words and actions?    

Comparisons in English confuse many would-be grammarians. Words with less than three syllables typically use the suffix er for comparisons and est for superlatives. Examples: John is taller than Juan. Susie is the faster runner in her class.

Words with three or more syllables use the modifiers more or most. Examples: Sean is more effective than Jean. Katie is the most productive employee.

My elementary-school teachers worshipped these sacrosanct rules. Today’s linguists take a more wishy-washy approach, mumbling that words with two syllables can go either way. One site advised that er and est should be used UNLESS the newly created words sound awkward. Glad we cleared that up.

Comparisons include a subgroup of irregular words that march to the beat of their own drummers. Examples: good (better, best), many (more, most), and bad (worse, worst).

Another group called absolute adjectives allow no comparison or superlative. Examples: perfect (nothing can be MORE perfect) and unique (something cannot be uniquer).

I’m a self-professed grammar geek with the proud motto To Serve and Correct. Therefore, strive to be righter in your comparisons and most carefulest in your grammar. Otherwise, you might look like the most foolishest one of aller.

Weather reporters come from hardy stock. Chronic miscalculations never daunt them. Whatever the weather, they project confidence whether right or wrong.

Georgia’s climate is predictably unpredictable, making forecasts a risky business. The ancients divined the future by reading animals’ entrails. Modern meteorologists employ computer models, satellite images, and Doppler radar. Both approaches share equal odds of success.

Meteorologists during my childhood limited themselves to predicting the immediate future. The public demanded more, so they introduced the three-day forecast following by its five-day and seven-day bigger brothers. Then came the mother of all reports: the ten-day forecast.

An inverse relationship exists between time and accuracy. Projections past twelve hours contain more fiction than fact; but meteorologists remain a tenacious lot.

I saw a Weather Rock for sell in the store. The instructions said to place it outside and regularly check it. Dry suggests sunshine. Wet means rain. Cool to warm indicates temperature ranges. The device promises a higher degree of accuracy than my local TV station.

The Bible says that it rains on the just and unjust alike. Just do not depend on the local weather reporter to forecast when.