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Two words in one day! A Facebook friend was commenting on the word "brandish" today. He said it was usually in a negative sense as in brandishing a good. But it could also be used more neutrally as in a preacher brandishing a Bible, presumably waving it around. A Germanic word, it comes from a root meaning sword.

Too many preachers brandish their Bibles and their total selves before a suffering congregation that is waiting for someone to rightly divide the word of truth. Brandishing from a preacher is not a neutral act to me. That kind of preacher is the kind that runs congregations away and cause churches to look foolish. Let everything be done peaceably and in order. The next thing that loses membership in a church is long sermons. If the preacher can’t say it in twenty-five minutes he/she has bitten off more than she/he can chew. (I know that other cultures than mine seem to like long sermons.) When we were kids we used to time sermons, hymns, and especially prayers. For prayers we would assign different timing tasks to different boys (John for the invocation; Bill for the deacon’s prayer, Andy for the offertory prayer, and Harry for the benediction) and the one who timed the longest prayer was the winner. I have heard entire srcond sermons preached in the guise of a prayer.

Leave the saber rattling and endless ranting to the politicians.

I'm not quite sure of the pejorative sense here. What does brandishing a good mean? I'm thinking the friend has transferred the meaning of flaunt to brandish.

I'm all for brandishing a stick at a dog that is acting like it might want to find out how I taste.

And there are a lot of people who love to brandish the flag every chance they get.

I'm not sure where the word good came from. I intended "sword" from which brandish comes.

I'm not sure where the word good came from. I intended "sword" from which brandish comes.

Ah, perhaps you were thinking of our dear leader; Dr. Good Sword?

No doubt, probly.

Brandish is certainly not always pejorative. Swords are for brandishing. Bibles aren’t, except in kid’s Bible drills. Just because you've got it, doesn't mean you should flaunt it.