Church Building
Super Bowl
Progressive Dinner
Needles
Leap Year
Friday the 13th
Valentines
Colorful Meanings
Presidents' Day
Musical Terms
English Pronunciation
English Pronunciation 2
An Orderly Universe

Church Building
04/02/01

When spelled with a capital C, "church" often signifies a particular Christian denomination, such as the Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church, or the Methodist Church, but it may also denote all Christians, regarded as a mystic spiritual body. When spelled with a small c, it usually means a church building. In the more traditional churches, there are particular words that denote a specific part of the sanctuary or its furniture. The entry hall or lobby of a church is called a "narthex," derived from the Greek word for "box." From the narthex, the central aisle which leads to the "chancel," the most important part of the church, is called a "nave," derived from a Latin word meaning "ship." In the "chancel," there is an "altar," or a "communion table" in the center which attracts the attention of the worshipers. In some churches, a cross is placed in the center of the altar with candles or flowers beside it, or there may be a large opened Bible on it. At services when the "Lord's Supper," or "Communion" is included, bread and wine is placed on the communion table. Also in the chancel is the "pulpit," from a Latin word meaning "platform," from which the minister preaches his sermon. Many churches also have a separate "lectern" in the chancel from which the Bible is read. In some churches, there is a "choir loft" where choir members sit before and after they stand to sing. The traditional wooden benches on which the worshipers sit are called "pews," which is rooted in a Greek word for "foot." You are invited to visit a church on a Sunday morning and see how many of these things you recognize. (691)

Super Bowl
04/02/03

Some people who hear or read the word "bowl" may think of a game played in a bowling alley in which players roll a heavy bowling ball down a wooden alley to knock down large wooden objects called "pins." The more common meaning of the word, however, is a vessel to hold soup or fruit during a meal. At times, along with the soup bowl and fruit bowl, there may also be a small finger bowl with water in it to rinse one's fingers and, in some homes, we may see a fish bowl, in which small fish swim in the water. At the present time in the United States of America, there is another common meaning of "bowl:" a bowl-shaped stadium in which football games are played. There are a number of such "bowls." Games played there at the close of the football season are called "bowl games" and include the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Peach Bowl, Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl. The final professional baseball games played in the fall between the champions of the American League and the National League are called the "World Series," but the final game between the championship teams of the National Football Conference and the American Football Conference is called the "Super Bowl." Last Sunday, the 38th Super Bowl was held at the Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas. There, the New England Patriots beat the Carolina Panthers 32 to 29 as the result of a field goal kicked over 41 yards just four seconds before the end of the game. At that time, we were reminded of the expression used in baseball games: "The game is not over until the last man is out." And we also should not give up hope until the end. (695)

Progressive Dinner
04/02/06

As a noun, "progress" denotes movement toward a goal. As a verb, "progress" means to advance or proceed and the adjective "progressive" means moving forward, advancing. In U. S. history, there have been three different political organizations named "Progressive Party" in the presidential elections of 1912, 1924 and 1948. Twice a year, a "progressive dinner" is held in this Penney Retirement Community and at the dinner last week, over 150 residents participated. At this dinner, four courses are prepared: appetizers, salad, main course and dessert. The first three courses are prepared and served by hosts/hostesses in their homes, but we all meet together in the large meeting room for the final dessert course. About 20 diners were assigned to certain homes for the appetizer course. There, the individuals or couples were told which home they were to go to for the salad course. Six to ten people then enjoyed their salad together, after which each one was informed at whose home he/she would have the main course. The groups did not move together, so at each home we ate with different residents. The hosts/hostesses decide what kind of food to serve, and then submit their bills to the organizers who repay them from the fund into which each participant had paid five dollars. My wife and I always enjoy this "progressive dinner," for we are able to visit the homes of other residents and meet and eat with folks we may not be well-acquainted with. In this "progressive dinner," we not only progress from one home to another. We also make progress in getting to know our neighbors. (694)

Needles
04/02/08

A "needle" is a small, slender metal instrument with an eye at one end through which a length of thread is passed and held. Needles are used by women or men who sew while making garments. A woman who sews may be called a "seamstress," but a man who sews is usually called a "tailor." The stimulus for today's message is a traditional Japanese observance held annually on February 8th called "hari-kuyo," which a Japanese-English dictionary translates as "a needle-mass." On this day, it is customary for seamstresses, tailors and others who make use of needles to collect needles which have been used and broken during the past year and express gratitude for their usefulness by disposing of them in a formal way. The broken needles may be placed into a soft block of bean curd called "tofu" and then deposited into a stream or ocean or taken to a Shinto Shrine or a Buddhist Temple where a religious service may be performed for them. In this way, thanks are expressed for the needles along with a prayer for greater skill in sewing. In informal English, "needle" may be used as a verb meaning to goad, provoke or tease. According to a well-known saying of Jesus, found in Matthew 19:24, "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." Here, Jesus makes clear that wealth may be a hindrance rather than a help in gaining the hoped for spiritual state which requires humble faith. Some interpreters think that the Greek word for "camel" has been mistakenly substituted for "rope" which is written with one different letter in Greek. (693)

Leap Year
04/02/11

February, the name of this second month of the year, according to the Gregorian calendar, is derived from a Latin word meaning "feast of purification," for ceremonies of religious purification were held at this time of year in ancient Rome. In regular years of 365 days, there are 28 days in this second month, but every four years, this month has 29 days to synchronize the year with the solar cycle. Now, all years whose number is exactly divisible by 4, including this year, are "leap years," but those which are divisible by 100 but not by 400, are not leap years. Thus the year 2000 was a leap year, but the years 1700, 1800, and 1900 were not. To "leap" means to jump up or to jump over. In ordinary years, the day of the month that falls on Sunday that year will fall on Monday the following year, but in "leap years," it "leaps" over Monday to Tuesday. It is said that the final words of the English philosopher, Thomas Hobbes, who died in 1679, were: "I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark." People with a healthy faith, however, may view the future in brighter terms. The vision of heaven recorded in the final chapter of the last book in the Bible, includes the words, "There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light" (Revelation 22:5). And the vision of the future found in the Old Testament book of Isaiah includes this description: "Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy" (35:5-6). (692)

Friday the 13th
04/02/13

There are many different kinds of superstitions. Most of them are related to the language, history or culture of a particular people. In Japan, the number 4 is considered unlucky because it has the same pronunciation as the word meaning "death"(shi). Many people try to avoid that number. The first telephone number I was given in Japan was a number that I am sure had been rejected by Japanese applicants because the pronunciation of those numbers, 9242 (kyu-ni-shi-ni) may also mean "sudden death." After telling that number to others, they were able to remember it without writing it down. In countries where there are many Christians, the number 13 is considered unlucky by some for different reasons. One is that it follows the number 12, which has been considered a special number for various reasons. There are 12 months in the year, 12 hours in a day, 12 inches in a foot, 12 tribes of Israel in the Old Testament and 12 disciples of Jesus in the New Testament. Some superstitious people will refuse to attend a gathering where there are exactly 13 people present, which was the number of those present at the Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples. Following that Last Supper, Jesus and his disciples went to a lonely place to pray. There, Jesus was arrested and his disciples ran away. Because it was on Friday that Jesus was crucified, in the minds of some Christians, Friday the 13th is an especially unlucky day. It occurs only in the months whose first day falls on Sunday, which happens twice this year, one of which is this month and I hope you have a happy Friday the 13th. (697)

Valentines
04/02/15

On many English language calendars, February 14th is called "Valentine's Day" or "Saint Valentine's Day." On this day, it is customary among some people to give a greeting card called a "valentine" to their sweetheart or to someone they love, and chocolates may be given along with the card to express their sentimental feeling. The explanation for the customs related to "Saint Valentine's Day," however, is very confusing. In fact, even the identification of the person after whom this day is named is questionable. There were a number of men in the first centuries of this era who were called "Valentine." Two of them suffered martyrdom in the second half of the third century and thus may be considered "saints." Although their names are mentioned in early histories of Christian martyrs, little is known about either of them, but this 14th day of February has been designated the feast day of a Saint Valentine. In the Middle Ages, there was a belief throughout rural Europe, noted in English literature, that birds began to mate on February 14th and this belief became associated with Saint Valentine's Day. In England, customs related to this day have been observed from the 15th century. Sending valentines to one's sweetheart or lover developed by the 17th century and, following the pressure of the postal system and chocolate companies, the kinds of valentines changed. Customs related to Valentine's Day imply a certain kind of romantic love which is quite different from the kind of sacrificial love described in the New Testament--in I Corinthians, chapter 13, I John, chapter 4, verses 7-21 and elsewhere. (696)

Colorful Meanings
04/02/18

Certain colors have secondary meanings. The most common "meaningful colors" are black, white and yellow. The term "black-and-white" itself may mean "evaluating things as totally good or totally bad" and, unfortunately, some arrogant people view those who are different in that way. The colors, black, white and yellow have been used to denote differences between the Negroid, Caucasian and Mongoloid races, and those who are not Caucasian are considered "colored." Though the skin colors of different peoples are distinctive, classification according to color is arbitrary and misleading, and the secondary meanings of these colors are obviously prejudicial. "Black" may mean "evil or wicked." "White" may mean "unsullied or pure". And "yellow" may mean "cowardly." In Japan, I was called a "white person," but I often demonstrated that, although my ancestors were German, I was just as "colored" as Africans or Japanese by holding a piece of white paper next to my face to show that my skin is also colored. In fact, the skin color of many Japanese is lighter than mine. This second month of the year in the United States of America is now known as "Black History Month." During this month, the contributions of African-Americans in many different areas, including sports, politics, history, medicine and the arts are noted and emphasized. Although so-called "WASPs" (White Anglo-Saxon Protestants) have been notoriously inconsiderate in this regard, the teaching of the Bible is clear: all human beings, as creatures of a loving God, are members of the same family. (698)

Presidents' Day
04/02/20

The two most popular presidents of the United States of America are George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. In my atlas, 42 cities, towns or counties and one state in the U. S. A. are listed under the name of "Washington" and 34 cities, towns or counties are named "Lincoln." George Washington became the first president following the War of Independence in which he served as commander in chief of the Continental Army. Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president, presided during the Civil War between the northern (Union) states that opposed slavery and the southern (Confederacy) states that promoted it. In his 1863 Emancipation Proclamation, he declared that all slaves were free. Both of these men were born in the month of February and in my school days, in the northern state of Illinois, there was a state holiday on both of their birthdays, that of Lincoln on February 12th and that of Washington on February 22nd. In the U. S. A., each state determines the official holidays for that state. The federal government, however, determines the holidays for federal employees and most states follow its example. Since 1971, the federal government has combined these two holidays in a Presidents' Day holiday on the third Monday of the month. Two of the famous landmarks in the nation's capital, Washington, D. C., are the stark white obelisk called the Washington Monument, dedicated in 1885, and the statue of President Lincoln seated in a chair in the Lincoln Memorial, dedicated in 1922. They should remind viewers of the respect for justice, peace and freedom for all people that these men emphasized. (701)

Musical Terms
04/02/22

The stimulation for this message came from the monthly symphony orchestra concert my wife and I attend along with other residents of this retirement community. At the recent, unusual concert, the instrumentalists in the orchestra provided the accompaniment for four vocalists who sang solos, duets, trios and quartets. The vocalists were listed as a soprano, a mezzo-soprano, a tenor and a baritone. I wondered about the precise meaning of these words and, after checking my dictionary at home, this message was developed as a result. The word "music," which is the art of organizing tones to produce a unified composition, is derived from Greek mythology in which nine goddesses called Muses presided over the arts and sciences. "Mezzo" is derived from a Latin word meaning "half," and a "mezzo-soprano" is a voice having a range between soprano and contralto. "Soprano," from a Latin word meaning "above," is the highest singing voice of a woman; "contralto," derived from Latin words meaning "below alto," is the lowest female voice and is sometimes used as a synonym for "alto," derived from the Latin word for "high." "Tenor," from a Latin word meaning "continue," denotes the highest natural adult male voice and "baritone," from Greek words meaning "heavy tone," denotes a male voice lower than tenor, but higher than "bass," derived from a word meaning "low," which is the lowest male singing voice, (Another word, however, with the same spelling but a different pronunciation denotes a certain kind of fish.) As noted in Psalm 98, both vocal and instrumental music are included in Biblical worship. (699)

English Pronunciation
04/02/25

In both the "Daily Word" telephone messages transmitted in Japan and the "Timely Words" messages transmitted on this homepage, I have often noted the irregularity of the pronunciation of words in English. Recently, while looking through some old newspaper clippings I brought from Japan, I found one that pointed out this irregularity in a peculiar way. The article began with the question of what is the longest word in the English language. It noted that there is a longer word than "antidisestablishmentarianism." Since I cannot pronounce the longer word, I will not include it here, but I could not find either of these words in dictionaries I have on hand. The article then noted another long word, spelled g-h-e-a-u-p-t-e-i-g-h-p-h-t-h-o-u-g-h," that could be pronounced "potato." The explanation was that the first two letters, "gh," be pronounced as the "gh" in "hiccough," followed by the "eau" pronounced as the "eau" in "beau." The next two letters, "pt," are pronounced as the "pt" in "ptomaine," followed by the "eigh" as in "neighbor," the "phth" as in "phthisic" and the final "ough" as in "though." I am sure that many readers of this message will be unable to find some of these words in their dictionaries, but they are all listed in the two dictionaries I have on hand. This raises another question about spelling or pronunciation: which dictionary should be considered authoritative for in both spelling and pronunciation, there are differences between British English and American English. The problem of authority is also important in matters related to religion, philosophy, ethics and law. (700)

English Pronunciation 2
04/02/27

After composing the previous message related to the strange pronunciation and spelling of certain words in English, I found some even stranger examples. Consider the many different ways the sound of a long "u" is spelled. For example, the words spelled y-o-u and e-w-e are pronounced the same:iu. And the same pronunciation is given the letters e-u in the word "eucalyptus," e-a-u in "beauty" and i-e-w in "view." The long "u" pronunciation is also found in the following words with yet different spellings: "do," "due," "drew," "food," "fruit," "rude," "canoe" and "through." And that word, "through," stimulates further thought regarding the many different pronunciations given the letters o-u-g-h. Consider how these letters are pronounced in the following words: "through," "though," "thought," "thorough," "rough," "cough," "hiccough" and "plough." Needless to say, there are countless other examples of irregular pronunciation of English words. There is no need for the letter "l" in words such as "could," "should," "would," "calm" and "palm." There is no need for the letter "p" in such words as "pneumnia," "psychology" and "ptomaine." The student of Japanese, on the other hand, finds it difficult to remember the hundreds of different Chinese characters used in the written language and how to write them. In some of the more complicated characters, there are more than 15 strokes. Also, all Chinese characters used in Japanese have at least two different pronunciations and some of them have over ten. Clearly, it is advisable to learn a foreign language when we are young and our minds are still flexible (702)

An Orderly Universe
04/02/29

During the two decades of the "Daily Word" telephone service in Japan, it was our custom to hold meetings of listeners in a public meeting place in the city of Nagoya on the afternoon of the 5th Sunday of a month. Months having five Sundays occur every three or four months--about four times a year. At such meetings, all who attended expressed their thoughts on a certain theme that had been announced in a telephone message. English was the language used by my wife and me and by all who attended. Looking over the list of meeting dates, I find that we never held such a meeting in the month of February. In fact, it is very unusual for February to have five Sundays. This occurs only in a leap year when February 1st falls on a Sunday, which happens this year. The last year in which February had five Sundays was 1976. It is reported that on February 29, 1504, an interesting event occurred on the island of Jamaica, where Christopher Columbus and his sick and mutinous crew members were stranded. When the natives stopped providing them food, they were faced with starvation. Checking his almanac, Columbus discovered that a lunar eclipse would occur that night. He warned the natives that he would "blot out the moon" if they did not provide food. When the eclipse occurred, the natives were amazed and fearfully began providing food again. Because we live in an orderly universe, we are able to predict certain events. How do we explain this? The Bible teaches that the universe is the creation of God and human beings find meaning in their lives by adjusting their lives to conform to God's purpose for them. (703)