"Everyday we run into friendly people and we don’t even know it.... If you just tripped over a curb, proving to the world your inability to walk and chew gum and someone says, “Are you okay?” don’t be afraid or embarrassed. Have that conversation, that’s when life happens. If you don’t interact with the rest of the world then you’re the only one missing out." --Brett, Amtrekker.com

Brett's journey, well-documented on his fascinating website, revolves around the truth of that statement. Depravity be damned, the genuine kindness of strangers adds verve to life. Brett is travelling America, marking off life-goals from a list of 50 experiences he wants to have and he's not going home until all 50 are complete. In the meantime, he's run into dozens of interesting people whose kindness and generosity have clearly had an impact on him.

Reading through Brett's blog of this journey has reminded me of some of my experiences with total strangers that bring a smile to my face now, even years later. I think of a two-hour conversation I had with an alcoholic homeless man on the streets of London. His pain and his weakness still touch me.

A kind grad student who was able to explain the train routes to me when I was lost in Philly on the way home from a mission trip. An elderly, Zambian bishop's weariness with the world. Another homeless man in a bus station who drew a portrait of me in exchange for some french fries. His friendliness and perseverance stay with me even now. A self-proclaimed "Christian Buddhist" whose obviously-once-sharp mind had been dulled by years of drug abuse.

Other people have influenced my life who might have stayed strangers had I not stepped out of my self-important world on rare occassions. Two older women janitors at the church where I used to work come to mind immediately. Both women were compassionate and cared deeply about the people with whom they had contact and I'm thankful to have known them.

Brett's quote at the beginning of this post has a shocking amount of truth to it! Too often I'm concerned with the people and events that play out in the melodrama I call a life. It's easy to forget that people you meet suddenly and whose presence in your life is only tangental are human beings with their own stories. When you get the chance, learn their stories! You will never be disappointed and some have thus entertained angels without knowing it. And, like Christ at the well, you never know the kinds of needs you might find and the fulfillment that will come by being able to provide for them. Every human being has a story and we honor God by listening to each one.

"What a pity we cannot curse and swear in good society! Cannot the stinging dialect of the sailors be domesticated? It is the best rhetoric, and for a hundred occasions those forbidden words are the only good ones." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

I wrote this in response to Mr. Oak's recent article Cursing: Where should Christians draw the line?

Your quote from Mr. Pine seems to assume that all Christians should say nice things all the time. I believe this misses an important aspect of Christian life that demands that, sometimes, we have to say mean shit. Sometimes we have to say mean shit in service to the Kingdom, especially to the religious.

If we look at the Scriptures, the apostles didn't say nice things all the time (they actually say a lot of mean and blunt things). It's not even how Jesus acted! Jesus called the Pharisees a "brood of vipers" which is roughly equivalent, in our culture, to calling someone a "son of a bitch". Both are common insults in their respective cultures that were considered very rude.

Again, we have in Phillippians the word "skubula" used by Paul to describe the worth of his previous Pharasaical practices. Based on my study of the word, I would translate the word as "bullshit." This word study seems to place the naughtiness of the word somewhere between "crap" and "shit". Regardless of one's translation, it seems hermeneutically necessary that one acknowledges that Paul used a cuss word. And not just in daily life, in his epistle to a church.

Basically, in answer to the question posed by the title of your post, Christians should cuss. Paul did it, Augustine did it, Luther did it, Lewis did it, and that's how I'm gonna do it! Haha.

If you look at our faith's history, I believe it is relatively apparent that Evangelical Christianity's aversion to cussing is an effect of the Holiness Movement/Fundamentalist Movement which sought to set Christians apart from "the world". While I don't doubt their noble intentions, we have taken it to the point that we refuse to eat with sinners (or, rather, speak their vernacular) and could use a few Pauls to pull our Peters aside, look 'em in the eyes, and ask them, "WTF?"

In the coolness of the evening
When stars poked out around the clouds
I could breathe.

The whiteness of the stones
Against the brownness of the dirt
Gave to me a sense of clay.

I sat on a bench
The cement against my soles
The subtle sound of the tiny fountain

Splash
I stood, then moved
To violins and trumpets only I could hear.

I tapped a step across the circle
My toes numb against the pavement
I spun to smell the ivory blossoms.

O, to be reborn!
I danced in the courtyard
And no one but the shepherd saw.