Month: June 2013

hamlet

 

Immanuel Giel

hamlet– def.

1. a small village in Medieval Europe; 2. the Crown Prince of Denmark in William Shakespeare’s play; 3. future bacon.

So…, what’s in a name?!? Words are funny things. In latter medieval days the Oxford English Dictionary recorded more than 21,800 Old English words in use, many of them amalgamations of Norse, Old English, and Latin. Between 1576 & 1650 an additional 44,500 were included, bringing the total close to 70,000. By the late Renaissance, the number of words had risen above 100,000. By the turn of the 2nd Millennium (1900) the total was closer to half a million. A Millennium later, by January 1, 2012, the OED listed 1,019,729.6 words, excluding scientific, technological, and medical terminologies.

So…, what is in a word? Putting aside prefixes, suffixes, tenses, homonyms, and nuances English is a convoluted language. Chinese may hold the record for number of characters (106,230 in the 2004 Yitizi Zidian Dictionary) but English takes the trophy for confusion. Add to that our postmodern propensity to invent meanings for conventional words on the basis of individual, personal preference and you have one “mell of a hess!”

For one, take cursing. Our media bleeps-out words like f*#k and s@%t, but uses the Name of God and Jesus Christ in profane manners. Our culture can’t even get cursing right! We extricate vulgar language and gloss over genuine blasphemy! Not worth a comment.

Aweful is another example, totally flipped in meaning in just 300 years. Once it referred to the glory and greatness of our God: today, it’s just Awful, meaning really terrible! Diddo.

George Bernard Shaw, (1856-1950) the Irish playwright, once quoted “God created man in His image and then man returned the favor.” The quote is not original with Shaw but his point is palatable. It is also transferable to language—Words evolve imbued with history & meaning; then we change their meanings to suit our fancy. Stephen Colbert’s idea of truthiness comes to mind.

Words do evolve and change in their usage over time, be it 300 years (aweful) or 2 years, “Tweet me.” Redefining words for personal pleasure should not be endured in civil society. Yet, in our postmodern/postChristian societies, we actually encourage the re-defining of words to fit our penchants. When we talk about sin the meaning should be clear. A lie is a lie, not a mis-speaking. Contracts should be written clearly, with NO questions about the meaning of its words.

Sometimes it feels like we’re dredging up the Tower of Babel because it suits our predilections.

For what it’s worth, [Whatever that means to you.]

Gary

that ringing in my ears

Stop! Listen! You can hear it if you think about it— that delicate ringing in your ears just below the surface of your conscious thought. Normally, most of us tune out its persistent ringing (although some of us are unable to silence it). Most of the time it is a background noise; that is all. But it can be a distraction. And in those quiet moments of self-conscious thought, it can be heard below the din of our ruminations.

Our ears tune into all kinds of ambient distractions. For some, music beckons like the Sirens of ancient lore, disrupting us from completely engaging in present conversations. For others, music provides a soothing underscore enabling us to focus more fully on the tasks at hand. For still others any ambient noise, the whirling of a fan, the clicking of a keypad, the laughter of children playing, distracts us from focused engagement. Distractions all!

So why is it, then, that too often we choose to focus on the distraction rather than the present undertaking? Could it be that some tasks put to us are too complex or immense? Then, the distraction becomes so much more appealing, drawing us to its fancy. Or might it be that we simply choose to not think too deeply, too hard, about anything. It’s just too much work. We’d rather tune into anything else, even that ringing in our ears, than give ourselves to proactive, difficult thought.

Dare it be said? The modern mind is no more. It has been supplanted by a simple mind, a lazy mind, for a mind poised for mediocrity. Rather than rising to the occasion we choose to wait to see what happens. Easier to respond; more difficult to initiate. So?!?

If a majority of us continue along this path we will be absorbed by the postmodern mindset of rejecting past wisdom simply because it is from the past. Instead, we will grasp the dribble of postmodern/postChristian philosophies that merely reflect majority sentiment and leaning. Brilliant!

For example, do we really believe that human nature and morality are mere societal constructs for the safe perpetuation of the human species?!? REALLY!?! Then evolutionary theory has degenerated into mere human mechanics. Human decency has descended into no more than what each individual thinks they can get away with. Individual commitments become mere conveniences.

You can believe whatever you want. I choose to learn from the past, live graciously in the present, and risk our futures on faith in a personal God and human integrity rather than on a closed universe and humanistic mechanizations. There may be ringing in my ears, but I still choose to think.

For what it’s worth,

Gary

pretending to be dead

“… he’s in the bedroom pretending to be dead.” was the declaration a 6 year old ‘Bekah announced to her parents when they inquired as to the whereabouts of her 3 year old brother, Duke. Kids say the darndest things. Of course, he emerged a few moments later, very alive, seeking a treat.

Not unexpectedly, there are a lot of us who pretend to be dead when we want to avoid certain uncomfortable situations; a drop-by at the office, unexpected relatives, a former boyfriend who wants to stay in touch, a boss coming down on you when you’ve screwed up, getting caught hedging on your tax return, being seen out with another woman.

Personal hide-outs & fantasies start to look quite appealing when we want to get out from under a potentially itchy predicament. Kids play at being dead all the time. The problem comes when this playing dead continues into adulthood. We don’t like what we see coming, so we hide, find our schedules suddenly over-booked, have another commitment, etc. In essence, we play dead; just for the sake of avoidance. Inevitably, however, there will come a day when we must face the Grim Reaper of personal accountability… in this life or the next.

So what can be done to avoid those special situations where we’d rather pretend to be dead?

  1. Prudent Transparency is a good place to start. Wisdom dictates our honesty at all times: caution guards our degree of openness and trust.
  2. Taking Responsibility is another initial posture we should practice. Most cover-ups and side-steps are eventually discovered. Don’t waste the energy.
  3. Placing Character before Compromise is also a good idea. There is nothing like a consistent trait of integrity that will encourage another person to criticize you with friendly impunity. Character builds both community and comradery, not to mention open lines of communication.
  4. Confession is good for the soul, it is said. It also expedites a return to sincere relationships. Clearing the air early-on always avoids further complication and hesitancy.
  5. NEVER pass the buck!

We have arrived at that stage in our cultural development where a man, a woman, of integrity is a rare commodity. Some even believe they can be a detriment to an organization. But in the long view this has not proven so. It is people who face their fears, or the consequences of their actions (or inaction), who lead us all into a more God-honoring, people-honoring world community.

Have a nice week,

Gary