The Day of Words

My day started out with the word discernment ... a word I'm hearing way too much of lately as we work our way through a visioning process at church.  


Being the dictionary geek that I am I decided to look up "discernment" to get a better handle on what our lead pastor is asking us to do in this "time of discernment".   Well, the dictionary had 2 definitions:   
1 the ability to judge well;   -and-
2 (in Christian contexts) perception in the absence of judgment with a view to obtaining spiritual direction and understanding.
Huh?  Say what?  The phrase "perception in the absence of judgment" is what throws me off.  Perception (the ability to become aware of through the senses) in the absence of judgment (the ability to make considered decisions). So, is discernment then "feeling" a conclusion due to a lack of concrete bases for decision?  And if that is the case, what exactly is our lead pastor asking us to do as we "discern" our vision?  I'm so confused!
Then he throws in the latest Christian catch phrase:  we need to be"missional".  "Missional"?  Missional is not a word.  It is not in the Oxford English Dictionary.  It is not in the 2009 Encarta Dictionary.  I've read the Christian writers who coined this term -- Frost, Van Gelder, etc.  -- and I totally understand what they are getting at when they speak of the "missional church".   Nevertheless, I dislike the word "missional".
This evening, Amy posted a Facebook status of "Here I raise my Ebenezer, hither by thy help I've come."  And I suddenly I realize here is a word (obscure though it be) that I understand and like:  Ebenezer.  An Ebenezer is a "stone of help".  As a reminder of the great victory God gave to Israel, Samuel took a great stone and raised it as a memorial. As he raised it, he called it Ebenezer (or stone of help). Whenever the Israelites looked at the stone, they would remember how God had helped them.  (Is this where cairns originated?)
My frustrating Day of Words included a simple word with a somewhat obscure meaning, a manufactured word, and an obscure word with a simple meaning.  My thanks to Amy for letting me end the day so nicely with the word Ebenezer.