Someone has come up with some new words and phrases for our technological age:

ALPHA GEEK - The most knowledgeable, technically proficient person in an office or work group. "Ask Larry, he's the alpha geek around here."

BEEPILEPSY - the brief seizure people sometimes suffer when their beepers go off, especially in vibrator mode.

BLAME STORMING - sitting around in a group discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed and who was responsible.

CHIPS AND SALSA - Chips = hardware, salsa = software. "Well, first we gotta figure out if the problem's in your chips or your salsa."

COBWEB SITE - a World Wide Web Site that hasn't been updated for a long time.

CUBE FARM - an office filled with cubicles.

EGO SURFING - scanning the Net and print media looking for references to one's own name.

IDEA HAMSTERS - People who always seem to have their idea generators running.

IRRITAINMENT - entertainment and media spectacles that are annoying, but you find yourself unable to stop watching them.

KEYBOARD PLAQUE - The disgusting buildup of dirt found on computer keyboards.

MOUSE POTATO - the on-line generation's answer to the couch potato.

OHNOSECOND - that minuscule fraction of time in which you realize you've just made a big mistake.

PERCUSSIVE MAINTENANCE - the fine art of whacking an electronic device to get it to work again.

PRAIRIE DOGGING - when someone yells or drops something loudly in a "cube farm" and everyone's heads pop up over the walls to see what's going on.

STRESS PUPPY - a person who thrives on being stressed out and whiny.

SWIPED OUT - an ATM or credit card that has been rendered useless because the magnetic strip is worn away from extensive use.

TREEWARE - computer slang for documentation or other printed material.

I don't think it's likely that many of the words and phrases above will ever actually be accepted and incorporated into our English language, but perhaps they should be because they all have meaning that we can easily relate to. And that's the purpose of words -- to convey meaning.

That explains why when Jesus came to this earth and took on human flesh, he was described by John as "the Word". He didn't just preach about what God was like and about how we ought to live. His very life expressed both with
clarity. Jesus didn't just speak words; he was the Word -- a Word that conveyed meaning in a way no other words ever had or ever could. It was a "new" Word brought about not by the onset of a technological age, but by the fact that God came to be with us more closely than He ever had before.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God....And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:1-2,14).

There are some great words in our language, words that convey meaning in a powerful way. But none so powerfully as that one Word. Praise be to God for the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us!