October
Debate/Dialogue/Discussion
Three-day Weekends
Columbus and Vespucci
An American Cemetery
Circus
Hymn Translation
October
04/10/03
There are a number of English words beginning with o-c-t, derived from the Greek word for "eight." An "octagon" is a plane figure with eight angles and eight sides. An "octave" is a series of eight musical tones. An "octopus" is a mollusk with eight tentacles. "October" was the eighth month of the year in the old Roman calendar and the name was retained after two new months were added at the beginning of the year, so it is now the name of the tenth month of the Gregorian calendar. People living in Temperate Zones associate October with autumn, or "fall," when days become shorter, leaves of the trees change color and then "fall" to the ground. Also, the weather becomes cooler and farmers begin harvesting their crops. In Japanese tradition, this was the month when all the "kami" (or "gods") left their local shrines and territories to gather together at the main shrine in Izumo, so the month was traditionally known as the "godless month." At the present time, the one Japanese holiday in this month is October 10th, Sports Day, when mental and physical health are promoted through the enjoyment of sports. The day was established in commemoration of the Tokyo Olympic Games, which began on October 10, 1964, but since October 10th falls on a Sunday this year, it will be celebrated on the 11th. In the U. S. A., the one holiday in October is on the third Monday of the month. Columbus Day commemorates the arrival of Christopher Columbus at an island in the Bahamas on October 12, 1492. Residents in this country must remember that Daylight Saving Time ends on the last Sunday of October when we must turn our clocks back one hour to Standard Time. (790)
Debate/Dialogue/Discussion
04/10/06
These days in the U. S. A., there is much discussion related to the televised debates between presidential and vice-presidential candidates. Such debates will certainly be influential in the coming national election. How to decide who wins such debates depends upon the preconceptions and political preferences of the viewers. One might ask how a "debate" differs from a "dialogue" or simply a "discussion." A "debate" is a formal confrontation between speakers with opposing views regarding some matter and there are certain rules which must be followed. At the conclusion of a debate, a "winner" and a "loser" are usually recognized. A "dialogue" is an exchange of ideas or convictions in a less formal setting and often involves more than two people. The rules are less restricting and the range of opinions is usually broader. A "discussion" is a still broader interchange of opinions and does not necessarily imply confrontation or disagreement. Discussions of one kind or another are carried on daily by all thinking people. In my personal experience, I participated in debates at times in my student days. During more than four decades in Japan, I was often involved in dialogue with people whose traditions and convictions were different than mine--including those of different Christian perspectives as well as those of dissimilar cultural and religious traditions, and the interreligious dialogue group I organized in 1980 continues to meet monthly even today. In this retirement community, I have become the president of the Dialogue Class that meets weekly on Sunday mornings before the Worship Service and I continue to be involved in discussions, not only with my wife but with other residents as well. (791)
Three-day Weekends
04/10/10
"Genesis," meaning "beginning" or "origin," is the name of the first book of the Bible. According to the story of the genesis of the universe related at the beginning of Genesis, the world was created in six days and God, the Creator, rested on the seventh day. Consequently, a week, consisting of seven days, was established and, for Jews, the seventh day of the week is considered a holy day, a day of rest. A command to observe the "Sabbath" day was included in the Ten Commandments given by God to Moses, as recorded in the book of Exodus, chapter 20, verses 9-11. Christians, at first, followed that custom, but later changed the holy day to the first day of the week, in commemoration of Jesus' resurrection from the dead on that day. In the Gregorian calendar, now used in most countries around the world, a year is divided into 12 months and 52 weeks. In many industrialized countries, both Saturday and Sunday, called the "weekend," are considered holidays, when many employees are not required to work. In recent years, some countries have changed the dates of traditional holidays to a Monday to provide a longer, three-day weekend. So it is that in the United States, Columbus Day is no longer celebrated on October 12th, the day when Christopher Columbus arrived in the Western hemisphere in 1492, but on the second Monday of October. And in Japan, Sports Day, commemorating the beginning of the Tokyo Olympic Games on October 10, 1964, is now celebrated on the second Monday of October also. So, at the present time, the second Monday of October is a holiday in both countries. (792)
Columbus and Vespucci
04/10/13
Residents in this Penney Retirement Community are very thankful that, within the community, there is both a small post office and a small branch of a bank, which is open three days a week. There is no mail delivery, however, so all residents have their own post office box in the post office to which they must go regularly to pick up their mail. On Monday of this week, I stopped both at the post office and the bank and was not surprised to find both of them closed for that was the holiday to commemorate the arrival of the Italian seaman, Christopher Columbus, on an island near this North American continent on October 12, 1492, over two months after leaving Spain and over one month after leaving the Canary Islands. Shortly before land was finally sighted, the sailors began to rebel and sought to persuade Columbus to return to Europe, but he continued the search for a new route to Asia. Some people thought this newly discovered continent should be named after him and, although that did not happen, "Columbia" has been used as a poetic name for this land. There is one South American country named Colombia (the spelling of which includes a second "o") and in the U. S. A., there are 9 cities and 8 counties named "Columbus," but the two continents in this Western hemisphere were named after Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian navigator who also made trips to the "new world." On his first trip in 1499, he landed on the mainland of South America, whereas Columbus had only landed on islands. Vespuccio later made maps of areas he visited and introduced certain scientific measurements that were remarkable at that time. (793)
An American Cemetery
04/10/16
The Penney Retirement Community, in which my wife and I reside, has its own cemetery just outside of town. All residents of this Christian community are expected to participate in various kinds of voluntary activities for the benefit of the community and the world at large. One of the activities I have chosen is to work with a group of men to keep the cemetery in good condition. Every Monday morning, we gather there to mow the lawn, clip bushes, etc. American cemeteries are quite different than those in Japan. In this cemetery, all grave markers are the same size and made of bronze. They lie flat on the ground so the tractor mowers can mow the grass around them without obstruction. In most of the graves, corpses have been buried in wooden caskets. Graves in which cremated ashes have been buried are half the size of the others, but such graves also are only for one person. Recently, a new area of the cemetery has been prepared. It is a "cremation garden," in which the ashes of the deceased are scattered on an area of granite chips. In this case, there are no individual grave plots. The ashes of all those who choose to be cremated and have their names engraved on a common memorial at the entry to the garden are all scattered in the same area and fall on top of or in between the granite chips. This "cremation garden" has been named "The Garden of Hope," but that name could be applied to the entire cemetery, for hope for the future, even after death, has been a important element of the Christian faith from the time of Jesus' resurrection from the dead (as reasoned by the Apostle Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians, chapter 15). (794)
Circus
04/10/21
Life in this retirement community is very varied. My wife and I began this third week of October as usual by attending the Dialogue Class on Sunday morning. I led the discussion that morning related to the question of whether the conveniences of our technological society may be more burdensome than liberating. Following that class, we attended the worship service where we are serving as ushers during this month along with another couple. On Monday morning, I went as usual to the cemetery, where I trimmed bushes for a couple of hours. In the afternoon, I attended a continuing education class on "Worship." In the evening, we invited a couple we knew in Japan who are now visiting this community to go with us to a circus performance in a neighboring town. A circus is "a public entertainment consisting typically of a variety of performances by acrobats, clowns and trained animals." "Circus" is derived from the Latin word for "circle," and it was in a central circular area under a huge tent that the performances took place. The two dozen members of this circus family played a variety of roles. The juggler was also one of the animal trainers and the clown was also a stage manager. We enjoyed the procession and tricks of dogs, ponies, horses, camels and elephants, but the most spectacular performances were displayed by a couple of young ladies. One was an agile acrobat who performed many dangerous feats while swinging on a long rope and a trapeze high up in the air with no net beneath her. The other was a 12-year-old girl from Argentina who appeared to be double-jointed for she was able to bend her body into impossible positions. We were amazed to see the spectacular results of practice, discipline and skill by both animals and human beings. (795)
Hymn Translation
04/10/28
All readers of these messages must realize the difficulty of translating words or thoughts from one language to another. The problem is complicated when poetry or songs are involved. In Christian churches, it is common to sing hymns during the worship service. (Note: "hymn" and "him" are homonyms.) Most of the hymns in the Japanese hymnal are translations of hymns in so-called Western languages, but since they must be adjusted to fit the music, exact translations are not possible. Recently, my wife and I taught the chorus of a well-known children's hymn in Japanese at a meeting of American adults. The chorus of the English hymn, which begins with the words "Jesus Loves Me," is as follows: "Yes, Jesus loves me; yes, Jesus loves me; yes, Jesus loves me; the Bible tells me so." But a literal translation of the Japanese translation is: "My Lord Jesus, my Lord Jesus, my Lord Jesus loves me." After explaining that the written Japanese language includes Chinese characters and two different syllabaries, one of which is used primarily for foreign words, it was noted that all three systems were used in that chorus. The only Chinese character used was the character for "Lord," which has an additional mark on the top of the character for "king," indicating that the "lord" is even greater than a "king." And the only word using "katakana" syllables was the name "Jesus." The important message of that childrenfs hymn is that "Jesus is Lord" (as noted in the New Testament book of Romans, chapter 10, verse 9) and that Jesus loves us. (796)