World Religions
Rein/Reign/Rein
Interview
Cheating
New Format
February
Home/Homework/Homely
Beef
Kindergarten/Kindermusik
Talk Title: "The Church in Japan"
Pronunciation of "L-i-v-e"
True Life

World Religions
01/02/02

A basic characteristic of human beings is the ability to believe in what cannot be apprehended by their physical senses. Even though we may not see, hear, feel, taste or smell the object of our faith, we still believe in its existence. It is possible to present logical arguments in support of our beliefs, but finally they are accepted on the basis of faith rather than on reason. Despite the great variety of cultures, languages, geographic and atmospheric conditions, anthropologists have never found a society that is without beliefs that are expressed through religious rituals. Some religions are limited to certain areas or ethnic groups, but others reach across national and ethnic boundaries and are recognized as world religions. A recently compiled statistical survey indicates that Christianity continues to be the world's largest religion with some 1.9 billion believers or 31 percent of the world's population, accepted by a majority of the population in two-thirds of the world's 238 countries. The second largest world religion is Islam, with 1.2 billion adherents, followed by Hinduism with 811 million and Buddhism with 360 million. The statistics indicate that, during the past century, Christianity has evidenced remarkable growth in the so-called developing countries. Although some 768 million people consider themselves "non-religious", they also live their lives and make important decisions on the basis of an underlying faith, even though it is not expressed in certain religious formalities. Others are nominal members of a religion but do not live according to its teaching. What about you? (234)

Rain/Reign/Rein
01/02/04

The other day my tennis game was interrupted because of the drops of water from the sky which began falling upon us. While walking home in the rain, I recalled the oft repeated sentence in the popular musical, "My Fair Lady": "The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain". Four words in that sentence include the long vowel sound the teachers of "proper English" were trying to teach the "commoner" in that movie. And I thought of other words having the same pronunciation but which are spelled differently, including "pain" and "pane", "main" "mane" and "Maine", "plain" and "plane" and "rain", "reign" and "rein". In fact, my dictionary indicates that there are eleven different combinations of letters which may be used to produce that same vowel sound in English. Such irregular spelling is one reason that English is such a difficult language for non-English speakers to learn. Looking through the pane of a window, we may feel pain if we see the mane of the main horse in a Maine farmyard being roughly cut with a plain plane. On my way home from the tennis court on that rainy day, I recalled that Jesus taught in his Sermon on the Mount (in Matthew 5:45) that our heavenly Father does not discriminate against evil people but "sends rain on [both] the righteous and the unrighteous." The final book of the Bible records a song that was, or will be, sung in heaven: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever" (Revelation 11:15), but there is no mention of any reins on the horses in the vision in chapter 6. (235)

Interview
01/02/07

There are a number of English words that begin with the prefix "inter", from a Latin word meaning "between". Among them are "intercede", "intercept", "interject", "intervene" and "interview", derived from Latin roots meaning "to go/seize/throw/come/see", respectively. This message is related to the word, "interview", "to see between". In modern English, this word may denote a formal conversation, such as that conducted by a reporter, the "interviewer", to obtain information from an "interviewee". One of the distinctive characteristics of this Penney Retirement Community is the great variety of abilities, interests and experiences of its members: missionaries, pastors and church workers who have served in many different countries. In order to help residents learn more about their neighbors, recently a new program was begun to interview those who have particularly interesting stories to tell on the stage of the meeting hall. The interview is videotaped and then put in the library. The interviewer is a former pastor from Washington, D. C., who had a regular radio program in that area on which he interviewed important people. The first man to be interviewed here was the new administrator of this retirement community. The second one was a man who had served the church in China and the Philippines and who, with his wife, sailed across the Atlantic Ocean from England to the United States in a 9-meter-long boat. And, recently, at the third such meeting, my wife and I were interviewed regarding our life and activities in Japan. Of course, we mentioned this homepage. (236)

Cheating
01/02/09

In some of the more complicated Chinese characters, or ideograms, used in writing Chinese or Japanese, there may be three or four other characters included. In many English words also, shorter words are sometimes included. For example, the word "cheat", our word for today, includes the words "heat", "eat" and "at". To "cheat" is to deceive by trickery, to act dishonestly. According to a survey conducted by the Center for Academic Integrity, 68 percent of college students in the United States have engaged in one form or another of serious cheating. This includes such offenses as plagiarizing passages, turning in someone else's work as one's own or using a cheat sheet on examinations. An earlier survey indicated that 80 percent of high school seniors also had admitted to cheating. Furthermore, in the collegiate study, 88 percent of faculty members admitted they had observed some form of cheating in their classrooms but 32 percent never did anything about it because of administrative hassles and fear of being sued by an accused student. This is a sad commentary on the present state of morality in this country and may help us understand the reason for the kind of deception and dishonesty evident among some politicians, businessmen and ordinary citizens. In the New Testament Letter to the Ephesians (4:25), it is written: "each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor" and Sophocles, the Greek philosopher, wrote (in 409 B.C.): "I would prefer even to fail with honor than to win by cheating." (182)

New Format
01/02/11

Those of you who began reading these "Timely Words" messages before my recent trip to Japan are well aware of the significant changes that have taken place in the format of the homepage in the past two months. Although I am sure that during that time you were confused at times regarding the changes that were being made, the present format is much more attractive and practical than before. The man who is responsible for these improvements is a dentist by profession but is very knowledgeable about computers and how to make effective use of them. He attended the meeting of "Daily Word" fans that was held in Nagoya during my visit there in December and volunteered to give me instruction about adding voiced messages to the web site. He has very unstintingly given much time and effort to offer me instruction and to improve the homepage. Another man from Shiga Prefecture who also attended that meeting teaches at a university in Kyoto. He previously uploaded the "Daily Word" messages onto the NIFTY-Serve computer network, has faithfully preserved previous messages of "Timely Words" and has now made them available as one of the options on the homepage. I wish to express my sincere appreciation for the faithful, voluntary work of these two men. I am quite happy with the present format of the homepage, but comments or suggestions of readers are invited in regard to how it is now being used and other possible improvements. You may make use of the BBS (Bulletin Board System) in the "Guest Book" option or the "Mail" options to express your opinions. (239)

February
01/02/14

"February", the name of the second month of the Gregorian calendar now used around the world, is derived from the Latin name for the feast of purification which was observed that month in preparation for the new year which originally began in March. "Kisaragi", the traditional name for this month in Japan, originally denoted a regeneration of vegetation. In the United States of America, birthdays of the two most highly respected presidents are observed during this month. Public holidays in the U. S. A. are determined by the individual states, but the president and the U.S. Congress can designate holidays for the District of Columbia and for federal employees. These two presidents are the only ones whose birthdays have been so designated. Abraham Lincoln's birthday is February 12th and George Washington's is the 22nd. At the present time, the observances of both of them are combined into Presidents' Day, celebrated on the third Monday of the month. In Japan, February 11 is a public holiday called National Foundation Day commemorating the enthronement of Japan's first emperor, Jinmu. According to a mythological story, that event took place in 660 B.C. on what is now February 11 in the Gregorian calendar. Since that day fell on a Sunday this year, the 12th was observed as the substitute holiday to encourage patriotic spirit. Midway between these two Monday holidays in Japan and the U. S. is St. Valentine's Day, which is observed by many people in both countries. There are two different martyrs in the 3rd century who are called "St. Valentine", but how their feast day became associated with lovers is an enigma. (242)

Home/Homework/Homely
01/02/16

At times, the words "house" and "home" may be used to convey the same meaning. Often, however, a distinction is made between them. "House" denotes a material structure while "home" implies an emotional attachment to a place of domestic memories. There are a number of words or expressions that begin with "home". Just as "hometown" signifies the town of one's birth, the meanings of "homegrown", "homemade" and "homespun" are easy to imagine. "Home run" and "home plate", however, are terms used in baseball; "home rule" is a political term and "home room" and "homework" are related to schools. A "home room" is the classroom where pupils are required to report at the beginning of the school day and "homework" is the schoolwork expected to be done at home. A newspaper article reported that many parents of school children in the United States have complained that their children are overworked and stressed out because they are given too much homework and are unable to be involved in other activities. Research has found little relation between the amount of homework done and scores on achievement tests. Consequently, a school board in New Jersey has set limits on homework assignments: thirty minutes in grades one to three and two hours in high school. A lady who manages a household may be called a "homemaker" and one whose interests center on the home may be called a "homebody", but she would not like to be called "homely" because that means "not attractive or good-looking."(196)

Beef
01/02/18

In some ways Japanese terms are easier to understand than those in English. For example, when speaking of different kinds of edible meats, the particular kind of meat is identified by simply placing the character for the animal before the character for "meat". In English, however, completely different words are used. Sheep meat is called "mutton". Pig meat is "pork". Deer meat is "venison" and cow meat is "beef". As a slang term, "beef" may mean a complaint and the slang expression "beef up" means to reinforce or build up. Compared to prices in the United States, beef in Japan is very expensive. A recent study by the University of Florida related to beef consumption indicated that the higher one's level of education, the less beef one consumes. Also, as people get older they eat less beef. On the other hand, as the income level rises, more beef is consumed. Likewise, as family size goes up, beef consumption tends to rise in relation to poultry, pork and fish. Other studies likewise indicated that people who eat much chicken tend to be middle-aged and have college degrees. In fact, chicken consumption has now surpassed beef consumption with the average American consuming 81 pounds of chicken per year compared with 68 pounds of beef. According to the Old Testament law, some meats were considered unclean, but following the story related in the 7th chapter of the Gospel of Mark regarding the meaning of "unclean", Jesus "declared all foods 'clean'". (183)

Kindergarten/Kindermusik
01/02/21

Although my grandparents or great-grandparents came to the United States from Germany and even though I once visited some distant relatives in Germany on my way back from Japan, I never learned to speak, read or write German. If I had done so, I would have recognized the origin of the English word "kindergarten". "Garten" is the German word for "garden", but "kinder" does not imply that that garden is "kinder" than others. Rather, in German, "Kinder" is the plural of "Kind" which means "child". Thus, "kindergarten" literally means "children garden". With that in mind, I understood the meaning of a new term I found in a newspaper article about the international "Kindermusik" program that has been introduced into a community recreation center in the state of Georgia. This program brings music into the lives of children from birth to age 7. Children respond to the music by smiling, waving their arms, bobbing in rhythm, dancing in a circle or resting on the floor. It is said that classical music stimulates a certain part of the brain that helps in building balance as well as stimulating language development and self-awareness. A tape or CD of classical music is now made available to the parents of every newborn baby in Georgia. Music has always played an important part in Christian worship and serves both to create an atmosphere and to express the emotions of worshipers. The 95th Psalm begins with these words: "Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord . . . . Let us extol him with music and song." (185)

Talk Title: "The Church in Japan"
01/02/23

Many residents of this retirement community have served in foreign lands in various capacities and have had specialized training in particular areas. All have had interesting experiences which may be instructive or inspiring to others and opportunities are provided for us to share our experiences, expertise or the results of our research. Recently, I was asked to give a talk on "The Church in Japan". I began my talk with a somewhat intensive analysis of the meaning of that title. As I often do when speaking about Japan, I reminded the listeners that, although Japan is said to be in the "far east", actually it is in the "far west" on world maps which have the United States in the center and usually we go west to Japan from the United States. It is on maps with Europe in the center that Japan is in the "far east". I then displayed a world map from Japan in which Japan is in the center and America is in the "far east", reminding them that our view of the world (and of life) depends upon our viewpoint, what we put at the center. I explained the meaning of the name "Japan": a mispronunciation of "Nippon", meaning "sun-source", for Japan was considered the land of the rising sun. Next, I mentioned the unfortunate translation of the term "church" into Japanese, using two Chinese characters which literally mean "teaching meeting". I also noted that, in Japanese grammar, there is no definite article equivalent to the English word "the". My talk on "The Church in Japan" included a report of our recent visit and activities there, not all of which were related to a "church" in the narrow sense of that word. (244)

Pronunciation of "L-i-v-e"
01/02/25

Among the many irregularities and inconsistencies of the English language are those related to the pronunciation of certain letters and combinations of letters. The English vowel, "i", for example, has at least three different pronunciations and its pronunciation in a certain four-letter word depends upon the meaning of that word, whether it is being used as an adjective or a verb. The word is spelled l-i-v-e. When used as an adjective meaning "having life, living", the vowel is pronounced like the personal pronoun "I" or the word "eye" as in the word "lie" or "alive". This same pronunciation is given in such related words as "lively", "livelihood" and "livestock". As a verb meaning "to be alive, exist", however, the vowel is pronounced as in the words "lip" and "lid". This pronunciation is also found in such related words as "living" and "livable" as well as "livid", "liver" and "livery" which are derived from different roots. There are a number of reasons why some letters have different pronunciations depending on the word in which they are used, but the major reason is that English words have been derived from different languages with their varied pronunciations. Japanese words that have been transliterated from foreign languages are written in a special script. Although the pronunciation in Japanese may be different from that of the original language, the pronunciation of these special Japanese characters, each of which represents a syllable, does not change. (190)

True Life
01/02/28

Even as the word spelled l-i-v-e may be pronounced differently, the content of such words as "life" or "alive" may vary depending on the context and the speaker. A basic philosophical question is related to the nature and origin of life. What is "life" and where and how did "life" begin? The final answer to such questions is related to faith rather than to scientific research. We may clearly discern the difference between a living thing and a non-living thing, between what is alive and what is no longer alive, but what is "life" and where does it come from? According to the first book of the Bible, called Genesis, derived from a Greek word meaning "origin", the world and all that is in it is the result of the creative acts of God who bestowed "life" upon all living things. There is an obvious difference in the kind of "life" seen in plants, animals and human beings, but the source of that life along with the origin of matter itself is a question that is answered by faith, whether of scientists or of philosophers, of believers of a certain religion or of unbelievers. In the final analysis, all thinking people have a certain faith and the kind of faith they have is seen in the decisions they make in their daily lives. The Bible teaches that an almighty, loving God is the Creator and Giver of life and that a meaningful and satisfying life is found through faith in God, who was most fully revealed in the life and teaching of Jesus, the Christ. The Gospel of John begins with the same words as the book of Genesis, but proceeds to inform readers how true, abundant, eternal life may be received (John 1:1-5,14; 3:16; 10:10). (245)