My question regards the meaning of the word "spiritual." I was involved in a discussion the other day about the words to a song. I said that even if the song seemed, on the surface, to advertise drugs, the content was actually against drugs -- and so I said it had a "spiritual" meaning. That triggered an extended talk about how appropriate it is to use the word "spiritual" to define something good, but from the world. My thinking is that all that's good on earth comes from God, so it is spiritual. What's your opinion on this? -- Alin Paun (Bucharest)

While you may be right, technically, I would be careful how I used the word "spiritual." The Bible teaches a sharp distinction between darkness and light, good and evil. It depends on whom you are talking to, and the other person's understanding of the meaning of the word. Select your words carefully, "like apples of gold in settings of silver" (Proverbs).

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