Faith: Take a Paul-like attitude for a win-win outcome in God

Word salad, here we come.

Miniskirt. Degradable. Scuzzy. Prefaded. Lite. Porn. Salsa. Nucleosome. Cockamamie. Turista. Gigawatt. Interrobang. Bioweapon.

And some two-word entries. Zip code. Fender bender. Tumble dry. Satellite dish. Launch window. Road rash. Log on.

And let’s not forget some hyphenated contenders. Artsy-fartsy. Three-pointer. Get-go. T-ball. One-liner. Mixed-media. Coffee-table. Anti-seizure.

My question: What do all of these words or combination-words have in common? I’m sure you spotted the connection immediately, but I’ll tell you anyway. Each of them was first found in print in the year 1962.

Honestly, I don’t blame you for not knowing that interesting fact. (At least, it’s interesting to me.) I could have listed many more words, but I chose the ones above as being generally more common and less technical than a good many more options. The list I was perusing came up on the Merriam-Webster online site under its very entertaining section, “Time Traveler.” Nerds like me could spend hours there and enjoy every moment immensely.

“Nerd” first hit print in 1951. I just thought you’d want to know.

I was hooked and reeled in by “Time Traveler” as I looked up the definition of a hyphenated word familiar to us all: “win-win.” Yes, it was found in print for the first time in 1962, and it describes a situation, deal, or outcome “advantageous or satisfactory to all parties involved.”

So, as I was looking for the dictionary definition, I managed to get an interesting history lesson regarding 1962. Win-win.

When the Apostle Paul penned his Letter to the Philippians, he was imprisoned and “in chains,” but he wanted his dear friends at Philippi to know that he was not only surviving, he was thriving, and that whatever happened, he had no fear of the outcome at all. He writes that he was rejoicing that Christ would be “exalted in his body” whether by his life or by his death. He went on to write, “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain” (1:21).

The apostle makes it clear that he expects that God’s will was for him to continue living at that point, and to do so would mean “fruitful labor.” But he also expresses his deep belief that for him to “depart” and be with Christ would be “better by far.”

So, he exults, “I am torn between the two.” The apostle, writing in Greek some 1900 years before “win-win” showed up in 1962, seems to be embracing his situation as exactly that type of scenario.

A friend told me last week of a married couple facing a health situation that could very well spell the end of the earthly life of the husband. In all of their lives together, they had placed their trust and hope in Christ Jesus, and as they were moving into this trying time, they made the choice to adopt Paul’s attitude.

For them, they affirmed, it would ultimately be a “win-win.”

Yes, there are words for that. Faith. Hope. Confidence. Love.

Win-win indeed.

Curtis Shelburne writes about faith for The Eastern New Mexico News. Contact him at:

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