Daylight Saving Time
General Election Day
Tippecanoe
Veterans Day
U. S. Capitol
Proof-reading
Calendars/Time Abbreviations
Thanksgiving Days
Turkeys
Perspectives
Daylight Saving Time
04/11/01
One meaning of "day" is "the period of light between dawn and nightfall." The length of a day varies depending on the season of the year. In spring and summer, days are longer than in fall and winter. In order to take advantage of the longer daylight time and to conserve lighting power, most communities in the United States of America observe Daylight Saving Time from the first Sunday in April to the last Sunday of October, when clocks are set an hour ahead of Standard Time. Those who neglect to change the time on their clocks and watches ("spring ahead and fall back"), will find themselves early or late for meetings. Daylight Saving Time has been humorously compared to the attempt by a simple-minded man to make a blanket longer by cutting off one end and sewing it on the other end. Although Benjamin Franklin, when serving as the U. S. minister to France in 1778, wrote an article recommending earlier opening and closing of shops to save the cost of lighting, Daylight Saving Time was first observed by a number of countries during the First World War. The world is now divided into 24 time zones, 12 on each side of the prime meridian which passes through Greenwich, England. The time in each zone is one hour different from that in the adjoining zone. In the continental U. S. A., there are 5 time zones and beginning this week, our area will revert to Eastern Standard Time. The number of hours in a day will not change, but we should reflect on the way we have used the daylight hours we have saved. According to the New Testament book of Colossians, chapter 4, verse 5, we should use our time wisely. (797)
General Election Day
04/11/03
During the early years of the U.S.A., dates on which elections were held varied, depending on the state, but in 1845, Congress decreed that the Tuesday after the first Monday of November was the day to select presidential and vice-presidential electors every four years. That also became the day when members of the House of Representatives and Senate were chosen. The Constitution gives each state the right to establish voting qualifications for federal elections, but amendments state that the right to vote shall not be denied on account of race, color, previous condition of servitude, sex, or failure to pay a poll tax. An amendment passed in 1971 gave the right to vote to all citizens who are 18 years of age or older. The country has just held a General Election following one of the most controversial campaigns in the nation's history. There have been many negative attacks not only on the policies but also on the character and truthfulness of those running for office. Many questions have also been raised about the accuracy of both voting records and voting machines. In the town of Penney Farms, Florida, with a population of about 700, my wife and I walked about 15 minutes to the Town Hall to vote. The Hall opened at 7:00 a.m.; we arrived there about 7:20 and took our place at the end of a line of about 20 people. We showed our drivers licenses for identification and were given ballots, on which we used a special pen to connect lines from the front and back of the symbol of an arrow to indicate our votes for President and Vice-President, Senator, Congressman, judges and proposed amendments to the state constitution in one of the ten voting booths. After depositing our ballots and receiving an "I Voted" sticker, we left less than half-an-hour after we arrived. (798)
Tippecanoe
04/11/07
A "canoe" is a narrow, light boat moved with paddles and to "tip" means to cause to tilt or slant. Thus I would feel uncomfortable if I had to ride for a long time in a "tippy canoe." In the state of Indiana, there is both a river and a county that have that pronunciation but they are spelled T-i-p-p-e-c-a-n-o-e. This name is related to the Native American name for that "buffalo-fish" river. The name has become well-known in American history because of a battle that occurred 193 years ago, on November 7, 1811, between troops of the United States government and the Native Americans who lived in that area west of the Appalachian Mountains. Because Native Americans had fought on the side of the British during the Revolutionary War, the "invaders" from the east considered it reasonable to force them off of their land. In some cases, they were forced to sign treaties giving up land as "war reparations." According to the convoluted view of some of the invaders, Native Americans should welcome such European concepts as individual ownership of property, European methods of intensive agriculture, animal husbandry, etc., but they did not. At the Battle of Tippecanoe, neither side scored a decisive victory and both sides suffered about an equal number of casualties. Later, the governor of the Indiana Territory, William Henry Harrison, who had led the government troops, was elected president of the United States with the slogan, "Tippecanoe and Tyler too," for John Tyler was his vice-presidential running mate. For many Americans, this was another embarrassing event in our nation's history--as was our recent election. (799)
Veterans Day
04/11/11
In its general meaning, a "veteran" is a person who has a long record of service in a particular activity. In this Penney Retirement Community, there are many veteran missionaries and pastors who have served in many countries around the world and in many areas of the United States of America. In a more specific sense, a "veteran" is one who has been a member of the armed forces. The eleventh day of the eleventh month is a national holiday in the U. S. A. commemorating the armistice that became effective at 11:00 a.m. on that day in 1918, which ended the fighting of World War I. That war in Europe lasted for four years and resulted in the deaths of over ten million people. On November 11, 1921, the United States, following the example of England and France, honored its veterans who had died in the war. At 11:00 a.m. on that day, the remains of an unidentified American soldier which had been brought back from Europe was interred in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery. A federal holiday, called Armistice Day, was established in 1926, but in 1954 the name was changed to Veterans Day to honor all men and women who have served in the armed forces of the country. On Veterans Day, many people visit cemeteries to decorate the graves of veterans and others. Ceremonies are held in some communities accompanied by parades and brass bands. The way in which the dead are remembered differs depending on cultural and religious traditions, but while remembering the sacrifices of the past, we should all work to avoid repeating such catastrophes in the present and in the future. (800)
U. S. Capitol
04/11/14
One kind of "capital" is the top part of a pillar. Another word with the same spelling and pronunciation has a number of different meanings, one of which is the city where the official seat of government is located. The capital of the United States of America is Washington, D. C., also called the District of Columbia. The most important building in this capital is the Capitol, which is spelled differently but has the same pronunciation. It is on the third floor of this Capitol that the Congress of the United States meets: 435 representatives in the House Chamber on the south side and 100 senators in the Senate Chamber on the north side. As a result of the recent election, the Republican Party has a majority in both chambers with 231 representatives and 55 senators. The site of the Capitol was selected by President George Washington, who laid the cornerstone in 1793. The first session of Congress met there seven years later, after moving from Philadelphia, the foremost city and first capital of the United Colonies. Seventy years later, the huge iron dome, one of the largest domes in the world, weighing over four million kilograms, was completed. At first, not only the legislative bodies but also the Supreme Court met in the Capitol, but since 1935, it has met in its own Supreme Court Building. The third area of authority in the United States government, along with the legislative and judicial, is the executive, over which the president presides. The president's home and office, in the White House, which has been in use since 1800, will be occupied by the same family for the next four years. (801)
Proof-reading
04/11/17
The common meaning of "proof" is evidence to establish the validity of an assertion. In judicial proceedings, proof is required to support the declarations of the prosecutors or the defenders. In religious matters, it is difficult or impossible to provide proof of assertions made on the basis of faith. According to the New Testament Letter to the Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 1, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Another meaning of "proof" is a trial sheet of printed material that is checked against the original manuscript and on which corrections are made. In this Penney Retirement Community, a monthly newsletter is printed to provide residents with information regarding the many kinds of activities being carried on here. In its 8-12 pages are many matters of interest, including a schedule of coming events, the names of speakers or programs at the regular or irregular meetings, special announcements and other news items of interest to residents. For the past three years, I have been serving as one of two proof-readers of this newsletter. The editor, who served as a missionary to India, obtains the information, arranges it and types the manuscript. He then gives a copy to us proof-readers, who in our own homes, read it carefully to discover any typographical, grammatical or factual errors that need to be corrected. We then return our copies to him with the corrections noted and he takes it to the printer to have it printed. It is well to have two proof-readers for sometimes mistakes overlooked by one of them are found by the other. (802)
Calendars/Time Abbreviations
04/11/19
The three natural divisions of time are the periods during which the earth makes one rotation on its axis, which is a "day," during which the moon makes one revolution around the earth, which is a "month" and during which the earth makes one revolution around the sun, which is a "year." How to combine these natural time periods into one system has been a problem throughout the centuries. According to the Gregorian calendar, introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582, this is the year 2004 A.D. According to incorrect calculations made centuries earlier, this is the 2004th year after the birth of Jesus, the Christ. Consequently, it is often followed by the abbreviation "A.D.," for the Latin term "Anno Domini," meaning "in the year of the Lord." The abbreviation "B.C." meaning "Before Christ," is used for those years prior to the birth of Jesus. According to the Islamic calendar, based on a lunar year of 354 days and beginning in 622 A.D., the year of the Hegira in which Muhammad emigrated from Mecca to Medina, this is the year 1425. According to the Jewish calendar, based on both lunar and solar years, this is the year 5765. The stimulation for this message occurred when I was proofreading the new issue of this Penney Retirement Communityfs newsletter. In it, I found the starting times for certain meetings written with the time followed by "am" or "pm" without the periods. While correcting them, I reviewed the meaning of the abbreviations: "a.m." for the Latin term, "ante meridiem," meaning "before noon" and "p.m." for "post meridiem," meaning "after noon." Whether we think of hours, days, months or years, we should make productive use of the time allotted to us. (803)
Thanksgiving Days
04/11/24
In this fourth week of November, there are holidays in both Japan and the United States of America related to thanksgiving. In pre-war Japan, November 23rd was the day when a special ceremony was held in which the emperor invited the gods to partake with him the first fruits of the harvest. After the war, this day was designated a holiday celebrating both labor and its fruit--"Labor Thanksgiving Day." In the U. S. A., special days for giving thanks were held on various days by the early settlers from Europe during the harvest season. Thanksgiving days varied depending on the area and other factors, but in 1863, President Lincoln issued a proclamation designating the last Thursday in November as the national Thanksgiving Day. This custom was generally followed in subsequent years until 1941 when Congress chose the fourth Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day, the day now celebrated throughout the country. Over the years, many different kinds of holidays have been designated, commemorating certain people, events or concepts, on certain dates. In recent years, a number of holidays have been changed from their original date to a Monday to provide a longer weekend, but it is unusual for a certain day of the week to be designated a holiday and Thanksgiving Day is the only holiday that is always celebrated on a Thursday. "Thanksgiving," however, should not be limited to one day or season of the year. It is a daily feeling of thinking people. In Colossians 3:15, it is written: "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. . . . And be thankful." (804)
Turkeys
04/11/28
The word "turkey," spelled t-u-r-k-e-y, has very different meanings, depending upon whether or not the first letter is capitalized. When written with a capital T, the word denotes an intermediate country, 97% of which lies in Asia and 3% in Europe. In Turkey, the two continents are divided by three small bodies of water. Two straits called the Bosporus and the Dardanelles connect the Sea of Marmara with the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea. The capital city of Istanbul lies on both sides of the Bosporus. During our visit there in a camping car 34 years ago, we crossed the Bosporus on a ferryboat. When "turkey" is spelled with a small t, it denotes a large North American bird that did not come from Turkey. This kind of turkey has become the center of a Thanksgiving Day feast in North American tradition, although the supposition that turkey was served at the first Thanksgiving celebration by the pilgrims in 1621 seems to be incorrect. At that celebration, the meat evidently included venison, duck, goose, seafood and eels. On Thanksgiving Day this year, my wife and I enjoyed a turkey dinner at the home of the family with whom our eldest granddaughter from Japan spent her senior year in high school. That home is about 320 kilometers south of our retirement community, but our granddaughter also was there, having come from the city, about 400 kilometers to the southeast, where she is now attending a university, so it was a very enjoyable time. As a slang term, "turkey" denotes an inept or undesirable person and we are happy that there were none of these "turkeys" present. (805)
Perspectives
04/11/30
Regular readers of these "Timely Words" messages may have noticed that since I no longer feel pressured to add a new message every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the content of the messages has become more personal. Rather than taking time doing research on certain themes in accordance with the calendar, I have noted personal experiences or events related to activities in this retirement community; I feel more relaxed in deciding what to write about. My previous message noted the Thanksgiving dinner my wife and I attended in St. Petersburg, Florida where we enjoyed seeing our granddaughter from Japan who is now attending a university in Miami. In the message, I mistakenly wrote that she had come from a city "about 400 kilometers to the west." My son, who lives in New Mexico, informed me by e-mail that that was a mistake. "400 kilometers to the west" would be in the Gulf of Mexico. Actually, Miami is "southeast" of St. Petersburg, so our granddaughter had to go west to attend that dinner. I corrected that message, but I wonder if any other alert readers had noticed the error. I often mention in talks I give about Japan that, from the North American perspective, Japan is not in the "Far East" but in the "Far West" so we go west to get there from here. It is when Europe is at the center of a world map that Japan is in the "Far East." Such decisions regarding "Far East" or "Far West" along with what is "right" or "wrong," "good" or "bad" depends on onefs point of view and the standard one uses to determine them. We should be aware of the standard we use to attain moral judgments. (806)