The Neat-EST Thing

Many times our conversations start with, "I heard the neatest thing," or "I saw the neatest thing." In Greece 2 millenia ago, they had a single word for this "neatest thing" idea. It was used in the same way that we use the expression today. Usually people were pretty excited about something they wanted to announce to someone else. They wanted everyone to hear their good news. Many times, in fact, the translation of the Greek word is "good news."

But I wonder if that expression is getting the idea across in today's world. We live in a world of news, all kinds of news. We can get news from the war front with embedded reporters. That's pretty sensational. Then there are all the stories that are on one end of the spectrum or the other, sensational in one sense or another. No stories get told if they are average. Usually, good stories don't get told at all. But if they are sensational enough, they get published. So when it comes to telling someone else about "the neatest thing," we use the superlative form for "neat." Then people listen.

So, if I have a story I would like to tell or if it's not a whole story at all, but pieces of a story that I can tell over a period of time that equal a whole story, then I have just the phrase. I have this "fabulous story" to tell. In reality I do. It's a fabulous story because I become healed after the most outrageous darts are thrown at me by life. It's a fabulous story because at the heart of it is a clear message of reconciliation that I can have with others and with someone who died in my place. Fabulous, really, remarkable indeed. I think translations need to get busy clearly communicating what people in this society will listen to - something sensational, something of note, something fabulous and remarkable. It's just the neatest thing.