Category: Kids/Padawans

“Perfection is impossible. In the 1,526 singles matches I played in my career, I won almost 80% of those matches. But what percentage of points did I win? 54% In other words, even top ranked tennis players win barely more than half the points they play. When you lose ever second point on average, you learn not to dwell on every shot. You teach yourself to think: ‘Okay, I double faulted…it’s only a point.’ ‘Okay, I came to the net and I got passed again…it’s only a point.’ Even a great shot, an overhead backhand smash that ends up on ESPN’s top 10 playlist – that too is just a point. Here’s why I’m telling you this. When you’re playing a point, it has to be the most important thing in the world. And it is. But when it’s behind you, it’s behind you. This mindset is crucial – because it frees you to fully commit to the next point with intensity, clarity, and focus.” –

@rogerfederer

The Philosopher Plato has Socrates ask “is it (1) pious [holy] because it is loved by the gods, or (2) loved by the gods because it is pious?”

This question is an issue today because some religious people think we can’t have a real morality and ethics unless there is a God to tell us what is right and wrong. For the atheist, right and wrong are just opinion and taste.

Does this make sense to you? In the same way, would we say we can’t judge writing as good or bad unless this is revealed by God? What other areas do we make judgments in without needing these criteria to be based on the will of God?

And, are these religious people even being biblical. In Genesis with creation things aren’t good because God declares them so, but rather God see that they are good.

It depends what we do with it. Here are one author’s thoughts:

What would you like AI to do for you?

Have you ever wanted to make your writing more interesting? There are a lot of words out there you can use instead of the ones you usually do: synonyms. Try using a thesaurus, like this one. If you check out a thesaurus, look at all the words you can use instead of “said.”

Question: Have you ever known someone who uses lots of big words? Do you think people who often use big words instead of small ones really know the differences between the many synonyms they use?

Are you a philologist, someone who loves words? If so, did you know words have a history? For instance, did you know the word lunatic comes from the word luna, meaning moon. We can picture the person changing into a werewolf on the full moon.

To check out the history of some of your favorite words, explore an online dictionary of etymology!

Ever wonder how poets are able to come up with just the right rhyme, such as pop stars do. It’s probably not that they are brilliant, but more likely they have a rhyming dictionary, such as this online one

Here is a poem I quickly came up with using that online rhyming dictionary:

LUCKY ME

Such a vision was He, when I looked upon God,

Though some thought him flawed, and others a fraud.

I too saw his Son, who died that I might be free.

Some disagreed if he was one, or should be considered to be three.

There seem just as many gods, as there are folk.

Thank God I was born into the right faith, so my beliefs aren’t a joke.

ACTIVITY:

Use a rhyming dictionary to more easily come up with your own poem!

No, this was an idea made up long after our oldest writings about Jesus of Paul and Mark:

@maklelan

#maklelan1689

♬ original sound – Dan McClellan