It is always nice to hear someone use basic vocabulary related to faith, theology, moral life, and prayer during casual conversations.

The other day, I passed a man on the running track. He said, “Good morning, brother!” I replied, “Hey man, good morning.” Then he added, “Bless you!” Those two words surprised me, and I stammered, “Hey man…..yeah….Thanks!…Bless you, too!”

I think the people who speak “faith” also worship God. When they use terms like “blind faith,” “have faith,” and “leap of faith,” they mean faith in God. They bring to mind the Eight Commandment, which instructs us to witness the “truth of the faith” (Catechism, 2506).

I also think those who depart from, disregard, or deny the worship due to God also don’t or rarely use the vocabulary of faith. Instead of the word “faith,” they use phrases like “maybe I’ll get lucky,” “I’m hoping for the best,”  “I’ll keep my fingers crossed,” etc. (They disrespectfully say “Oh my God!”, “Oh God!”, and “Jesus Christ” but mean nothing about God.)

The vocabulary of moral life

There is a vocabulary of the moral life which belongs to all of us, not just theologians, philosophers, and clerics. The general trend in usage is away from these words. On the timeline for American English history, according to Google Books Ngram Viewer, the following terms had written occurrences that peaked in the early 19th Century, decreased until the 1960s, and remain far below their peak.

• Conscience
• Feelings
• Fraternity
• Will (peaked in 1918)
• Grace
• Intellect
• Sin
• Soul
• Virtue

The second edition of Garner’s Modern American Usage has, with one exception, no entries from this list of words.

There needs to be more of the vocabulary of faith spoken among people in passing, in movies, in the press, and in public places.