Lei Day
Constitution Day
Constitution/Bylaws
Inlet/Outlet
Surprise
Middle
Slides
Earthquakes/Typhoons
Lei Day
05/05/02
The verbs "lay" and "lie" are frequently confused. "Lay" is a transitive verb and takes an object, but "lie" is an intransitive verb and does not take an object. Thus, when I take a nap in the early afternoon, I lay my glasses on my desk before I lie on my bed. Another kind of "lie," a noun spelled and pronounced the same as the verb, means a false statement, but if the vowels are reversed, the pronunciation becomes the same as "lay," and the meaning changes also. In many Western countries, the first day of the month of May is called May Day and is celebrated by displaying flowers as symbols of the arrival of spring and the beauty of this season of the year. "Lei," however, is a Hawaiian word denoting a garland of flowers worn around the neck and, in Hawaii, May Day is known as Lei Day. Leis, composed of carnations, jasmines or orchids, are often presented to visitors and guests to these islands at any time of year, but a special effort is made for everyone to wear a lei on Lei Day. This tradition began on May 1, 1928 and the slogan that "Lei Day is May Day" became popular. In some areas, schoolchildren in homemade costumes present programs of Polynesian songs and dances on this day before a school queen and her court. Contests are held and prizes are awarded for the most beautiful garlands, fashioned out of blossoms, seeds, leaves, ferns and pods. Both residents and tourists are urged to dress in gaily colored island clothes--muumuus and aloha shirts. My wife and I have worn leis during visits to Hawaii on our way to or from Japan and have both a muumuu and an aloha shirt, which we seldom wear. (851)
Constitution Day
05/05/04
The first week of May is known as "Golden Week" in Japan because of the series of holidays that are observed during that time. May the 3rd is Constitution Memorial Day, for it was on that day in 1947 that the new Constitution was put into effect. Under the previous Constitution, the Emperor was considered a descendant of the Sun Goddess, an absolute ruler who was to be revered. The first Article of the present Constitution, however, which was composed and enacted under the influence of the occupation authorities following the end of the Pacific War, clearly states that "the Emperor shall be the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people, deriving his position from the will of the people with whom resides sovereign power." And the most significant and controversial part of this document is Article 9: " Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as a means of settling international disputes. In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized." Now that Japan has again become one of the main economic and political powers in the world, it is difficult for it to literally follow these criteria, even as it is difficult for some Americans to literally follow certain rules or implications of the American Constitution\or for Christians to follow certain commandments in the Bible. (852)
Constitution/Bylaws
05/05/07
It is not only countries and other organizations that have constitutions; people have them also. One meaning of "constitution" is "the system of fundamental laws and principles that prescribes the nature, functions and limits of a government or other institution," but another meaning is "the physical make-up of a person." A healthy man may be said to have a "strong constitution." Many organizations that have constitutions also have "bylaws." When "by" is used as a prefix, it denotes something secondary or incidental. A "bypass" is "a road or highway that passes around or to one side of an obstructed of congested area;" a "bystander" is "a person who is present at an event without participating in it;" a "by-product" is "something produced in the making of something else;" a "byline" is a line at the head of a newspaper or magazine article with the authorfs name," and a "bylaw" is a "secondary law, a law or rule governing the internal affairs of an organization." For many years, the Association of Penney Retirement Community Residents, of which my wife and I are members, has had both a Constitution and Bylaws, which were last revised five years ago. At a recent meeting of the Association, we were given the draft of a proposed revision which would merge the two documents into one. If this draft is approved by a majority of the members at the next business meeting, it will simplify the legal basis of the organization since we will then need to refer to only one document instead of two. In the case of legalistic documents, we recall the "byword," "the fewer the better." (853)
Inlet/Outlet
Last Sunday, my wife received telephone calls from all three of
our children, who live in New Mexico, Thailand and Japan. Of course,
that second Sunday in May is celebrated as Motherfs Day. (I think it
would be reasonable to put the apostrophe in that term either before or
after the "s," but I will follow the customary usage.) In response to
a request from our daughter in Thailand, the following day, we went to a
large shopping area, where there are 95 different "outlets," to buy
something she wanted. While waiting there for my wife, I thought about
the meaning of "outlet." It would be natural to think that "outlet"
would be the opposite of "inlet," but that does not always seem to be
the case. I considered making a comparison of the usage of these two
terms with the terms "upload" and "download," which are now commonly
used in relation to computers. However, to my surprise, I did not find
either of these words in my American Heritage Dictionary, published in
1985. In that dictionary, the common meaning of "inlet" is related to
a bay along a coast, a stream leading inland from the ocean or a narrow
passage between two islands. But the meanings of "outlet" are not
related to water. Rather, the definition that fits the shopping area we
went to is as follows: "a store that sells the goods of a particular
manufacturer or wholesaler." I was reminded that the usage and meaning
of words change and that translations are always imperfect\whether in
reference to political or religious documents or to a common
conversation. (854)
Surprise
Sometimes I find it difficult to decide on a subject for these
"Timely Words" messages. My primary aim is to continue to provide
interesting, informative, meaningful messages for the former listeners
to my "Daily Word" telephone messages in Japan (many of whom I hope to
see next month), so I compose messages related to the meaning,
pronunciation and usage of words as well as those related to annual
events or personal experiences. This message was stimulated by a
telephone call a couple of days ago from Dallas, Texas. When I answered
the phone, I was amazed to be informed that the caller was a childhood
friend of mine who lived in my neighborhood and with whom I often
played. While still young, he moved away and I do not think we have
been in contact with each other for over 70 years. He found my phone
number here in Florida by calling the church in northern Illinois with
which I have been related since my birth. After informing him of the
address of this homepage, I reread the "New Message" on it and found a
serious mistake in it. I immediately corrected it and informed the man
who is responsible for the "Previous Messages" file, who sometimes
contacts me regarding words or details that he questions. In that
message, I had mistakenly written "input and output" instead of
"upload and download." That mistake should also be corrected in the
files or memories of all who read it. I am embarrassed and I apologize
for any confusion it caused. Although I clearly recognize my
fallibility, I will try to be more careful in the future. (856)
Middle
"Middle" denotes an area or point that is equally distant from extremes.
When used in mathematics, the "middle" of a line or a circle may be very
exact, but when used in theoretical contexts, the "middle" is not so
clear. In political or religious positions, the "middle ground" is
often a matter for debate. "Middle School" is the educational unit
between elementary school and high school, but who to include in the
"middle class" in a society is more difficult. In Japanese, it is common
to divide months into three divisions of ten days each (called jun), so
we may speak of the beginning of the month (jô-jun),the middle of the
month (chû-jun) or the end of the month (ge-jun), and the meaning is
very clear. This is the middle of the month of May (go-gatsu no chû-jun).
In the Gospel of John, chapter 19, verse 18, it is written that Jesus
was crucified with two others, "one on each side and Jesus in the
middle," so the place of Jesus' cross is very clear. But how to define
"middle age" is much more difficult. It has been humorously defined by
various American writers as follows: "That time in life when one wishes
that there was some other way to start the day than by getting up;"
"When each day makes you feel two days older;" "When you are too young
to take up golf and too old to rush up to the net;" "When the hardest
thing to raise in your garden is your knees;" "When you want to see how
long your car will last instead of how fast it will go;" "When a man
feels he gets less for his money each time he goes to the barber," and
"The uncomfortable feeling that perhaps your gray hair isn't premature."
(857)
Slides
What is a "slide?" There are many different kinds of "slides.
" Children may think of the fixture in a playground on which they
climb a ladder and then slide down a chute. A baseball player may think
of a way to reach a base safely without being tagged out. But the "
slide" which stimulated this message is "an image on a transparent
plate for projection on a screen." My wife and I are now preparing for
our trip to Japan later this month where we will join in the celebration
of the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Nagoya International
School. Included in that preparation is looking through the many boxes
of slides that we have of people and places around the world. I think
present teachers and students might be interested in seeing the farmland
on which the school was built before there was any building there and
some of the historic events or ceremonies that took place 35-40 years
ago, so I have chosen such slides to take with us to Japan in case there
is an opportunity to show them. While choosing certain slides from the
thousands which we have, I wondered what will happen to those slides
after my wife and I depart from this life. In this era when digital
cameras, CDs and DVDs are becoming popular and people or organizations
having slide projection equipment are very few, it may well be that the
slides which are meaningful to us will slide into a garbage can. Some
American presidents build museums or libraries in which to store
documents they consider important. My wife and I do not plan to do so,
but if we find the time, we will sort through our slides to choose those
we think are worth saving. (855)
Earthquakes/Typhoons
A recent article in our local newspaper was titled: "Agency
produces earth-shaking map." It told of a new U.S. Geological Survey
Website that provides an up-to-date quake-probability map for the state
of California. Using various systems of measurement and historical
records, the website includes a "forecast of earthquake hazard in the
next 24 hours" for the entire state. While my wife and I lived in Japan,
from 1951 to 1999, we experienced many earthquakes and the tremors that
preceded or followed them. Earthquake drills along with fire drills
are regularly practiced in schools there. Earthquakes do not occur in
our home state of Illinois and the first time we experienced one was in
San Francisco, California, while we were waiting for the arrival of the
freighter which was to take us to Japan on our first trip there. The
freighter was delayed so we had to remain in San Francisco for a couple
more days during which we felt the earth quake. After boarding the
freighter, we spent the next two weeks on a turbulent ocean blasted with
strong winds caused by a typhoon. This was the second fearful event
that helped prepare us for the natural situation in Japan just before
our arrival there. Both earthquakes and typhoons are common
occurrences in Japan and if they can be accurately predicted, it will be
of great benefit. There is an interesting story in the Old Testament
book of I Kings, chapter 19, verses 11-12, where the prophet Elijah
experienced the presence of God, not in a powerful wind or earthquake or
fire, but in a "gentle whisper." (858)
Visit to Japan
As the month of May draws to a close, my wife and I are
preparing for our visit to Japan--the third since our retirement in
1999. The first two visits were related to churches we had served in
the cities of Kariya and Takahama in Aichi Prefecture. This time, we
will join in the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the
establishment of Nagoya International School, with which we have both
been related (along with our children and grandchildren) throughout the
years. Sunday afternoon, we plan to drive 220 kilometers to the city of
Orlando in a rented car and spend the night in an inn near the airport,
from which we are scheduled to leave early the next morning. After
changing planes in Chicago, we begin the 13-hour flight to Nagoya. We
are looking forward to the NIS Gala on Friday night, June 3, and to the
Graduation Ceremony on Sunday. A meeting of former listeners to my
"Daily Word" telephone messages is scheduled for June 11 at the Tsurumai
Public Hall and I am planning to preach at the churches in Kariya and
Takahama on June 12 and 19. We also hope to visit the EXPO. I recently
obtained a new International Driving Permit in the expectation that a
car will be available for our use and that I will remember which side of
the road to drive on. We hope to see former students, parents, members
of churches and Bible Classes as well as readers of these "Timely Words
" messages. We plan to stay at the home of our son along with our
daughter from Thailand and are scheduled to depart from Nagoya
International Airport on the afternoon of June 30. (859)
05/05/12
05/05/14
05/05/17
05/05/20
05/05/24
05/05/28