The Most Bestest Post Ever!

So I was laying in bed (read: couch) this morning and was thinking about, of all things, superlatives and hyperbole. Now just hear me out on this one, because chances are you engage in this very serious faux pas on a daily basis just as I do. For those of you who need a little English lesson on what superlatives and hyperbole are; they are this:
S. of, pertaining to, or noting the highest degree of the comparison of adjectives and adverbs, as smallest, best, and most carefully which are the superlative forms of small, good, and carefully.
H. an extravagant statement or figure of speech not intended to be taken literally, as “to wait an eternity.” (dictionary.com)

Okay, so that probably still doesn't mean anything to you, so allow me to elaborate. We humans have the innate tendency to make things either sound better than they are or use our most colorful language to say that something is the best, most amazing thing we've ever seen/heard/read/done/etc. Which then forces everything else to a lower status. "That is the cutest kid I have ever seen in my whole life!" "That was the greatest movie ever made!" "That book is the last best book ever!" "He/she is my best friend ever!" Well, you get the idea.

Now I would like to look at the Creator of our universe and see what he has to say and what, if any, superlatives or hyperbole He uses to describe His creation. If you will, turn with me to Genesis chapter 1. In verses 3-25 we see God creating the earth, the atmosphere, and the living things to inhabit the planet. He calls His creation good. Okay, our finite human pea-brains can handle good, we understand good; if we were doing the writing, we might've used a different word, but we can leave good enough alone. We can see that He was pleased with Himself enough to call it good when He was done. Then we get to verse 31. God just finished forming man from dust and woman from man's rib and He sits back and says of His work that it is, wait for it, very good. Wait a cotton-pickin' minute. Very good. What the heck is that. We are the crown jewels of the created world, we are what He made for His please, we are told to multiply and subdue the earth and He has the audacity to just call us VERY good?! Why not something like, the greatest thing He's ever made, the most amazing species on any planet, the list is as long as there are adjectives out there, but come on, very good. I feel sick to my stomach now. A story with the words "very good" in it would be kicked back with an editor's mark saying, "Be more creative, use better word choice".

Let's take a lesson from God Himself on this one. We, being created in His image, are very good. You are very good, your kids are very good, your friends and family are very good, the people you don't get along with are very good, those coworkers who seem a bit "off" are very good, that guy who cut you off on the freeway is very good, my wife and four sons are very good; you get the drift. It's time to stop making the unfair comparisons of things and people at the expense of the other things and people in our lives, cutting them down to a point where very good just doesn't seem to do it anymore. Leave the unnecessary superlatives and hyperbole to the literary geniuses who know how to properly handle them.

Lets just love the people we know and be kind to those we don't.