GAVEL (from) Old English gafol, tribute, rent. A civilized variation of a heavy club or hammer used for persuasion. Now, it is pounded upon a bench rather than about the head, neck and shoulders.

GAY RIGHTS (from) human rights. Another misapplication of the power of the people who may be missing the fact that our individual and human rights are eroding fast. The persecutor vs. the persecuted is one of many silly issues designed to polarize us, since we are all but children of Spirit and Nature. The persecution and destruction of the Earth and Her peoples for the gain of a few won't allow any of us to survive here. Nature is not a respecter of persons. We are Her child.

GENEROUS (from) Latin generosus, from genus, kind, race, birth. Noble by birth. Something we are born with, like original sin. Currently, the capacity to give rather than receive.

GENIUS (from) Latin, guardian spirit. Someone we are accompanied by, not something we possess. Read The Genius of Being Congenial if you will.

GIDDY (from) Old English gydig, possessed by a god, insane, from Germanic gudam, "the invoked." Invoking a few too many is not generally considered insane behavior unless someone gets hurt. Next time you have a few too many, remember, you are still a child of God, though you may not necessarily be God's own drunk.

GILT (from) Old Norse gylta, sow. A thin layer of gold. Something that the church favors, regardless of thickness or spelling. See GUILT.

GLASNOST (from) The need for American business to sell popular American consumer goods in the Soviet market place.

GOD (from) Old Germanic gudam, "the invoked." Not Her name, Her title. What's left over after we kick the "L" out of gold.

"I hope, for His sake, that God does not exist, because if He does He has an awful lot to answer for." -- Philip K. Dick

GOLD (from) Old English. A yellow metal that was held in abundance by early native Americans. They revered it as special because it is non-corrosive and malleable, but did not worship it (as the Europeans did) because they did not understand artificial wealth. Needless to say, they were dismayed at the murderous quest of white man for what the Sioux of the Black Hills called "the yellow metal that makes men mad."

GOVERNMENT (from) Latin gubernare, govern. Don't you think we ought to call the peanut brained politicians "gubernators"? I prefer to refer to said gang as The Bureaucracy.

GOVERNMENTALISMS:
1. Socialism: If you have two cows, you give your neighbor one.
2. Communism: If you have two cows, you give them to the government and the government gives you some milk.
3. Fascism: If you have two cows, you keep the cows, give the milk to the government and the government sells you some of the milk.
4. New Dealism: If you have two cows, you shoot one and milk the other one and pour the milk down the drain.
5. Nazism: If you have two cows, the government shoots you and keeps the cows.
6. Capitalism: If you have two cows, you sell one and buy a bull.

GREASE (from) Latin crassus, fat. Animal fat. When the flesh of a creature is cooked, the gourmet will do so in its own juices. When the meat is removed, the remaining animal fat is called grease. In restaurant frying, foods and meats are immersed in oil until brown and well cooked. The oil is soon saturated with meat juices, and when discarded, the oil is called grease. When we eat these food-like products, layers of fat are left on our plates and on the walls of our veins and arteries. We call it grease when we wash dishes, cholesterol when we have a heart attack. If we eat too much grease, it makes us crass.

GREED (from) Anglo Saxon graedig, eager; akin to Gothic gredags, literally, hungry (from) IndoEuropean gher-, to desire, crave. If greed is good because it drives Western-style "democratic" capitalism, how is the craving for food good among the world's starving millions? This word came from approximately the 4th Century AD when the Goths (pre-Germans) were changing the boundaries of the Roman Empire at swordpoint. In the environmental desolation that followed, the conquering hordes there were poor hungry folk called the "greedy." Since survival in urban America requires incomes over $40,000 a year, our definition of greed has certainly changed, and so have the greedy. The number one problem in the world is not over-population and too few resources, it is over consumption by the few who occupy the First World.

"How much is enough? Just a little bit more." -- J.D. Rockefeller

GREEN (from) To grow, to become green, grass. The color green is the middle of the spectrum of visible light and the choice of Nature for painting trees, grass and most everything else She produces under the sun.

"No ray of sunlight is ever lost, but the green which it awakens into existence needs time to sprout, and it is not always granted to the sower to see the harvest. He must plant in faith." -- Albert Schweitzer

GREEN WITH ENVY (from) greed. More correctly, envy of green(backs).

GREENBACK (from) The gold standard. American legal tender that used to have some value. Paper currency is green because it once represented the great agricultural production of America's farmers. America was great and strong early in this century because of the farmer and the family, not because of the policies of the money lenders or money printers.

GREENHOUSE EFFECT (from) Scientific Confusion. A temporary condition of the atmosphere just before the ice caps and glaciers begin to grow. The correct name for our atmospheric problem is "Outhouse Effect."

GROOVE (from) Middle Dutch groeve, ditch. Every once in a while, due to an accident or lack of control, we end up in the ditch of life. The ditch gets a lot of bad press because it's the place we are not supposed to be. But something happens in the ditch that can't happen to those speeding along in the fast lane. We get a little rest and some sympathy, and we have to face the fact that we gotta ask someone for help to get out. We meet most of our true friends there, and we learn that by helping others out we get help when we need it. Can you dig it?

GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT (from) Commerce. Slow war, since the ultimate GNP is war. The term is not Gross Domestic Product. Does that make it feel better?

GROUND (from) Old English grund. What all humans have in common.

"The trouble with always keeping both feet firmly on the ground is that you can never take your pants off." -- J.D. Smith

GRUMPINESS (from) Dutch grommen, to grumble. Utterances of discontent that all must learn to live with, since all are known to utter same. A reaction to the pressures of civilization, which is an excellent excuse (among many) for not accepting self-control. It will always be easier to blame one's misfortunes on circumstances outside one's self than to deal with our reactions inside. For example, "Need grumble about the price of this book? You got your money's worth."

GUBERNATOR (from) Latin. What the Romans called their governor. How close we come when we refer to a gubernatorial candidate! Try this, "All three governortorial candidates are certain they will be elected gubernator in the next election." It might be linguistically allowable if it didn't sound so much like "goober eater," and if politicians weren't so afraid of being called "peanut brained."

GUILT (from) Middle English gilt. Remorseful awareness of having done something wrong just before doing right. For example, "Religious absolution of guilt is in direct proportion to the gift of gilt. Praise the Lord and pass the plate." Return to Gilt.

GYMNASIUM (from) Greek gymnasion, where exercises are practiced, from gymnazein, to train naked; gymnos, naked, stripped. The Greeks so appreciated physical ability that they did not encumber the trained body with clothing, and eventually added baths, porticos, lecture rooms and schools of philosophy to their gymnasiums. Can you imagine the Sans Frockcisco Giants or the Milwaukee Bucks naked studying Aristotle on the deck by the pool?