At first blush, the word ubiquitous’s history is routine. It’s from the Latin ubique and shows up in English around 1600 as ubiquitary, meaning everywhere - “Move along, buddy, nothing to see here”. But guess what. Sometimes words and their meanings are hugely controversial, especially when religion or politics are involved. For ubiquitous, it’s a double whammy concerning both God and man and, holy mackerel, things get arcane in a divine New York Minute. The question turns on a simple notion, “Where’s Jesus, say, during the Communion service?” Doesn’t sound like a doozy, but read on…
© 2024 John Oliver
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