U OK HUN?

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I DON’T KNOW THAT I HAD MUCH INTEREST in the United Kingdom until The Beatles rocked the music world and transcended pop culture by making culture. That of course was the 60s. In the summer of ’70, I got to visit England. My main three take-aways, best I remember: 1. it seemed so old, 2. why can’t you get ice in a glass of water, and 3. why do they call cookies biscuits?

Of late, I’ve had a renewed interest in the the UK. It may have started with Downton Abbey, but has gained momentum at about three miles an hour, watching YouTube videos about narrowboats slowing chugging along on the canals, really old canals, that meander across the island. One in particular, is a vlog called “Cruising the Cut”. I wrote about it a while back.

Apparently some YouTube algorithm—not to sound too paranoid—has decided I would like to, or should like to, know more about the ways of the Brits via video blogs, adding them to my “if you liked this, you might like this” list. Watching the videos has spawned a fascination with the ways and words of the Crown’s Subjects (or are they Citizens of the Commonwealth?) It’s confusing.

from the internet. not likely an actual Churchill quote.

from the internet. not likely an actual Churchill quote.

One such phrase I learned just the other day: “U ok hun?” Apparently this is used when someone is being overly dramatic or seemingly stressed to the brink, particularly as expressed in their social media posts. It shows a bit of concern but with an unspoken hint of “maybe you’re overdoing it.” The fact that it’s made its way to t-shirts and coffee mugs (or tea cups for my British friends) signals it is woven into urban-speak.

It’s sort of like our: “Bless your heart.” Sort of sardonic sympathy, but not always. Sometimes it is full-on, beautiful empathy.

Isn’t it weird how almost everything can be divisive now?

I wasn’t there, but apparently back in the first century the issue of whether to eat meat that had been offered to idols was a hot topic. People were lining up, taking sides and throwing metaphorical stones. Paul the Apostle mentioned in a letter that sometimes knowledge can puff us up; even if that knowledge is based in truth and facts; or not. And when we’re all puffed up with superiority, knowledge becomes dogma and we become jerks. (That part wasn’t in Paul’s take on the matter. I added it on.) [I’ve included a portion of his letter below.]

What if we could sincerely embrace an attitude that regardless of how we vote, whether we’re mask/no mask, whether our favorite ammendment is the first or the second, we could say to each other with true compassion in these crazy times: “U ok hun?” And, no matter the answer, our response would be a sincere: “Bless your heart.”

And, if you’re thinking, “Bless his liberal, naive heart,” I feel that sarcasm. I’m empathetic like that. (Or would that be telepathic?)

Paul’s first letter to a group in Corinth (chapter 8, The Message)

The question keeps coming up regarding meat that has been offered up to an idol: Should you attend meals where such meat is served, or not? We sometimes tend to think we know all we need to know to answer these kinds of questions—but sometimes our humble hearts can help us more than our proud minds. We never really know enough until we recognize that God alone knows it all.

Some people say, quite rightly, that idols have no actual existence, that there’s nothing to them, that there is no God other than our one God, that no matter how many of these so-called gods are named and worshiped they still don’t add up to anything but a tall story. They say—again, quite rightly—that there is only one God the Father, that everything comes from him, and that he wants us to live for him. Also, they say that there is only one Master—Jesus the Messiah—and that everything is for his sake, including us. Yes. It’s true.

In strict logic, then, nothing happened to the meat when it was offered up to an idol. It’s just like any other meat. I know that, and you know that. But knowing isn’t everything. If it becomes everything, some people end up as know-it-alls who treat others as know-nothings. Real knowledge isn’t that insensitive. We need to be sensitive to the fact that we’re not all at the same level of understanding in this. Some of you have spent your entire lives eating “idol meat,” and are sure that there’s something bad in the meat that then becomes something bad inside of you. An imagination and conscience shaped under those conditions isn’t going to change overnight.