Sometimes I can't help myself: I have to look up a word in the dictionary and find out where it comes from. Dazzle drew me to the dictionary, but I promise to add in extra pictures starting with this one of dazzling Christmas cards.
The Middle English word daze meant and still means "stunned confusion or bewilderment." By the late 15th century daze led to dazzle which means a "blinding brightness." As I type this, I realize the shepherds on the hillside in Bethlehem must have been dazzled by the blinding brightness of an angel choir. Certainly that would lead to stunned confusion and bewilderment!
Today, someone or something with an impressive quality which amazes or overwhelms us dazzles us. The first picture that popped into my head for "dazzle" was a picture I thought I took of a nearby lake when the sun hit it in such a way that it looked like thousands of diamonds glittered on the surface. Alas, I did not have that picture so I tried taking another and my timing was off.
I found other older pictures with the diamond in the water quality.
Several thoughts came out of this meditation on the word "dazzle." Are situations more dazzling when they are rare? Do people weary of that which is dazzling when they see a constant barrage of "razzle dazzle"? Or, does it depend on our mindset? If we expect dazzle as our right and want each spectacle to be more dazzling than the next, we're bound to be disappointed. If we look for dazzling in the everyday, maybe we'll have more moments of overwhelming amazement at the beauty of people and nature and, yes, even things like Christmas cards. Truly all that glitters is not gold, and I neither worship temporary dazzling things nor eternal dazzling created beings, but my soul is drawn to that which is dazzling because my Triune God is dazzling first and always.
At the end of this day, I find my heart filled not only with amazement but also with gratitude.
The Middle English word daze meant and still means "stunned confusion or bewilderment." By the late 15th century daze led to dazzle which means a "blinding brightness." As I type this, I realize the shepherds on the hillside in Bethlehem must have been dazzled by the blinding brightness of an angel choir. Certainly that would lead to stunned confusion and bewilderment!
Today, someone or something with an impressive quality which amazes or overwhelms us dazzles us. The first picture that popped into my head for "dazzle" was a picture I thought I took of a nearby lake when the sun hit it in such a way that it looked like thousands of diamonds glittered on the surface. Alas, I did not have that picture so I tried taking another and my timing was off.
I found other older pictures with the diamond in the water quality.
Several thoughts came out of this meditation on the word "dazzle." Are situations more dazzling when they are rare? Do people weary of that which is dazzling when they see a constant barrage of "razzle dazzle"? Or, does it depend on our mindset? If we expect dazzle as our right and want each spectacle to be more dazzling than the next, we're bound to be disappointed. If we look for dazzling in the everyday, maybe we'll have more moments of overwhelming amazement at the beauty of people and nature and, yes, even things like Christmas cards. Truly all that glitters is not gold, and I neither worship temporary dazzling things nor eternal dazzling created beings, but my soul is drawn to that which is dazzling because my Triune God is dazzling first and always.
At the end of this day, I find my heart filled not only with amazement but also with gratitude.
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