bum-fuz-zled /buhm-fuhz-uhld/
–adjective Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. meaning baffled; befuddled; confused.
[Origin: 1900–05; bum- (expressive prefix, perh. to be identified with the initial syll. of bamboozle) + fuzzle to confuse (perh. expressive alter. of fuddle) + -ed2]
From Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.0.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Random House, Inc. 2006.
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A few sports takes this morning...
*The Mets and Cardinals have played four games and nothing's decided. It's down to a best 2-out-of-3 series. My hunch? Both teams are playing for the right to be runner-up. The ex-Rangers, err, Tigers are just playing out of sight this postseason.
*The Miami/Florida International bench-clearing brawl that resulted in the suspension of 31 players was as sad a display of sportsmanship as I can ever remember.
*Near the end of his latest blog entry, my uncle throws me under the bus, accusing me of not giving just due to the Razorbacks on their amazing season. The Hogs have had an incredible run, but I've seen one-too-many Houston Nutt implosions to get too excited. Beat Tennessee in Fayetteville and I might be hunting for a seat back on the bandwagon.
*Kudos to Colt McCoy on setting an all-time Texas passing record by throwing for six touchdowns Saturday night against Baylor. Colt's a terrific quarterback and, from the time I spent with him in Marble Falls, an even better person.
*During my journey to Arkansas and Texas last week, I read Lute!: The Seasons of My Life, a chronicle of the life and career of Hall of Fame basketball coach, Lute Olson. Olson's leadership principles sparkle throughout the book and the story of dealing with the passing of his late wife, Bobbi, is especially gripping.
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Last night, I preached on depression. Never would I have envisioned preaching on depression in the first three months of my ministry at Woodward Park, but I did so in response to a request from a member.
Depression as a term is never found in Scripture but illusions to the concept of depression are found throughout the Bible. Using terms like "groaning, troubled, filled with sorrow, sighing, despair, and cast down," Scripture alludes to the reality of moments of depression, even in the lives of some of God's greatest servants. Men like Moses (Numbers 11.10-15), Elijah (1 Kings 19.1-5), Job (Job 3.20-21), even Jesus (Matthew 26.37-38) exhibit very real feelings of depression on the pages of Scripture.
Since depression attacked some of our greatest heroes of faith, including the Son of God, we must realize that being a Christian doesn't give us immunity to natural, normal human responses to life's circumstances. Just as pain serves as a warning to our bodies that something physically is wrong, depression serves as a warning that something mentally or emotionally is wrong. Depression forces us to retreat and to deal with, or at least cope with, whatever is ailing us mentally and emotionally.
As a community of faith, we must come to see depression for what it is so that we aren't guilty of "shooting our wounded." One too many spiritual lives has littered the battlefield of life because the people of God mistook depression for personal weakness. My hope is that when one among us is depressed (mentally and emotionally ailing), we as a family of believers will rally to their aid with the same intensity we do when someone is physically ailing.
When it comes to depression, may there be an end to the stigmas so that grace, love, mercy and prayer might abound.
