In a perfect universe, each of these blog entries would break new ground. Or at least find some unexplored conceptual niches close to the heart of older adults. In the real world, I know that I repeat myself, obviously or otherwise. And if that happens too frequently, I could become a *yammering older fellow, something I dread.
It’s not so much the repetition that stands out as a problem. For good reasons, I might actually want to state a useful thought more than once. What I hope to avoid, though, is the habit of constantly expressing sorrow or grief. I don’t want moaning and groaning to characterize everything that finds its way into my words.
A Yiddish expression adds meaning here: Kvetching—literally “squeezing” or “pinching”—is the kind of yammering that evolves into something else. A kvetcher seems to be a yammerer who turns into a constant complainer, grumbler or faultfinder. Carping and nitpicking add blaming-and-shaming into the yammering mix. Legitimate laments morph into a mindset that helps no one and solves nothing.
At this stage in life, and in some contexts, yammering and kvetching could become the major content of my conversations, or the default attitudes by which I approach life. Even worse, perhaps, as the most accurate description of my personality.
Even though events and circumstances—including other people—might pull me in that direction, I don’t want to be that kind of person. And I don’t want to fill these entries with words and ideas that drag you into that vortex, either.
So instead, let’s rejoice together in what God offers us this day. Let’s take our sorrows into prayer postures. Light candles in the darkness. Forgive yammerers. Trust God’s providence in all things.
And maybe give up on the notion of a perfect universe?
*Yammering (From Old Saxon and German roots with no Latin or Greek cognates)—Originally denoting the feelings and the sounds of mournfulness. Whining and whimpering might be synonymous ideas. The term gradually assumed its contemporary meaning: oft-repeated expressions of negative thoughts or feelings.
