Like-the Universal Word

So, like, I'm talking to this 19 year-old like college student at like camp and like I kid you not ever other freakin' word was like like. Seriously, I like could not even follow her train of thought because she like kept saying like. Has this ever like happened to you? Or are you like one of those "like" people who feel like the need to liberally pepper like every sentence with" like"? If so, Dante had a like level of hell reserved just for like you.
Before you jump to conclusions this is not some "they spoke better English in my day" rant. The word like was used and abused since I was in high school in the 80s. Perhaps longer. I just wonder when" like" became the universal word, capable of being a noun, verb, adjective, adverb, etc. And why "like"? There are millions of word in the English language, how did "like" win the uni-word award? My money was always on "dude." Granted, it was limited to being a noun, but talk about universal application. Everyone and everything can be and is a dude. Or "sweet." Now there is a word that could fit into almost any sentence and even has the added possibility of dripping with sarcasm, my first language (English came second, ask my Mom).
I guess in an increasingly virtual world "like" makes sense as the uni-word. So many things are like something, but not really the thing itself. Technology allows us the ability to create complex scientific experiments that would be impossible to construct in the "real" world. Many people who have never set foot on an actual farm, and thus don't know the joy of stepping in manure, are expert farmers in Farmville (and yes, there is a level of hell for you folks as well. And it is filled with dirty, smelly real animals with digestive tract issues! Try posting that on your Face Book status!) "Like" as the uni-word makes sense in our culture, even if it can like grate on your nerves when the person you are speaking with like can't go two seconds without like using like.
What does all of this virtual reality, "like" as the uni-word, society we live in mean for God? Is God real or virtual? If God is real (and I like to like think that God is like real) do we have the language to talk about God? Does "like" possess a profound, yet still really, really annoying, theological depth? For most of human history we have had to describe God as being like something else. God is like a Father, a Mother, a Warrior, a Healer. "Like" the uni-word fits in well with this tradition.
So, next time you are in a conversation with someone who uses "like" as a uni-word take a deep breath and think of God. It will not only help you see God in like a new way, but it may be the only thing that like gets you through the conversation without like losing your mind.