In the 1980s, Rich Hall performed a comedy routine called Sniglets. A Sniglet was any word that should be in the dictionary but isn’t. Like the word “snackmosphere.” That’s what he called the huge pocket of air inside a potato chip bag when you first open it. Or “Pepsiluvium.” That’s the soda that bubbles through the plastic lid when you push your straw through.
Sniglets show the limitations of language. English contains more than 170.000 words. Every year, more words are added. Even these are not always enough to express the depth of human experience.
Certain realities can be difficult to explain. What about the love we feel for our family members? What about the hope that we find through prayer? Or perhaps the loss of someone dear to you? Life is filled with mysteries that are as real as anything we can see or touch – even though those things can’t be seen or touched. We are unable to fully explain them.
That’s why we love great movies and music – they communicate the human experience in ways that transcend words. Faith is the same. It fills up the gaps between what we can be sure of and things that we can only speculate about.
If you’re struggling with…
