Waste/Waist and Wait/Weight
St. Nicholas
Pearl Harbor Day
Post Office & Birdcage
Social Security Problem
Teacher Run Month
Emperor’s Birthday
Mary/Marry/Merry
Texas
Waste/Waist and Wait/Weight
05/12/01
Whenever my wife and I came back to the U. S. A. for a visit while living in Japan, the abnormally large bodies of many Americans impressed us deeply. Not only were they overweight, they were obese, and doctors warned that people whose weight was great were more likely to have heart problems. People were advised to wait before adding to their weight. Recent studies, however, have indicated that such problems are not simply related to weight, but to the particular part of the body where the weight is located. Fat around the waist, in particular, is considered conducive to heart disease, diabetes, strokes and breathing problems. The “waist” is that part of the human trunk between the bottom of the rib cage and the pelvis. Health surveys have shown that, over the past four decades, the average waist size for American men has increased from 35 to 39 inches (88 to 97 centimeters) and from 30 to 37 inches (76 to 94 centimeters) for American women. Instead of adding to their waist, diners may add to the waste by leaving food on their plates. Such waste may be thrown away or fed to animals. English teachers in non-English-speaking countries often have a problem communicating because many English words have homonyms with completely different meanings. As Americans prepare for the special holiday festivities and meals served during this final month of December related to Christmas and the end of the year, they should wait before adding weight to their bodies and be willing to add food to the waste instead of to their waist. According to I Corinthians 6:19, the bodies of believers are temples of God’s Holy Spirit and should be kept in good condition. (915)
St. Nicholas
05/12/04
In many of the introductions of the New Testament letters to churches, all believers are called “saints,” meaning “holy ones.” However, “saint” is now generally limited to special people who have been officially canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. The Church has also determined a feast day for each “saint,” even though details regarding the life and activities of the “saint” may not be certain. December 6th is the feast day of St. Nicholas, about whom very little is known. He was bishop of Myra, which is now part of Turkey, in the 4th century and became known for gifts he gave to those in need. Following his death and burial, Christians from Italy came and secretly stole his remains to keep them from being desecrated by non-Christian invaders and buried them in Italy, where a church built in his honor became a very popular shrine for pilgrims from all over Europe. In various areas, gifts were given to others on his feast day. The Dutch settlers of New York, in what has become the United States of America, retained the custom of giving gifts on the feast day of St. Nicholas, whom they called “Sinterklaas.” In the speech of non-Dutch Americans, this name became “Santa Claus” and his feast day and the gift-giving custom became related to the Christmas celebration. Over fifty years ago, my wife and I first arrived in Japan about two months before Christmas. A lasting impression of the way the Christmas season was celebrated and the decorations which were displayed at that time was the popularity of Santa Claus and an almost complete absence of anything related to Jesus, the Christ. Has anything changed since then? (916)
Pearl Harbor Day
05/12/07
In Japan, August 6 is remembered as the day in 1945 when an atomic bomb was dropped from one American airplane and exploded over the city of Hiroshima. As a result of that first use of nuclear power as a weapon, about 100,000 people lost their lives and a large area of the city was destroyed. From the American point of view, that bombing ended the Pacific War although it was 8 days later that Japan officially surrendered. Many of the memorial activities that are held in Japan on that day are critical of the American action. From the American point of view, however, Japanese should remember what happened on December 7, 1941, which is known as Pearl Harbor Day in the U. S. A. On that day, over 350 Japanese airplanes dropped bombs and shot bullets at the ships, planes and people in the Pearl Harbor area of the Hawaiian island of Oahu. As a result, eight battleships, three light cruisers and eight other naval vessels were destroyed or damaged, almost all the airplanes at the nearby bases were destroyed and over 2,400 sailors, soldiers, marines and civilians lost their lives. In certain states or cities, December 7 is known as Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. It is now recognized that the U. S. government and military forces should have known about the coming attack and have been prepared, but a lack of sharing of information between different branches of the government and military forces brought about that surprising result. It is feared that a similar lack of sufficient sharing of information between agencies, committees and governments influenced the decision to go to war in Iraq and the prolongation of that war. Countries and individuals should both learn from the past. (917)
Post Office & Birdcage
05/12/11
The English word “post” has three quite different meanings. It may denote a stake set upright into the ground to serve as a marker or support. In Japanese, there is a well-known proverb that “The stake that sticks up gets hammered down,” which indicates the Japanese emphasis on community rather than independence. Another meaning of “post” is a military base or a place to which someone is assigned for duty. And a third meaning denotes the delivery of mail. The local office where mail is received and assorted, where stamps and other postal matter are sold is called a “post office.” Most communities in industrialized countries have a post office at which mail is not only received but also delivered. In the small town of Penney Farms, Florida, in which the Penney Retirement community is located, however, although there is a post office in a convenient location where mail is received, mail is not delivered to the homes of residents. Rather, all residents rent a small post office box into which their mail is deposited daily and which they are able to open using the key for that particular box. Thus, most residents make daily visits to the post office to pick up their mail and the post office has become a social place where people meet friends and neighbors. For communications between residents themselves, however, there is another small building where there are small, doorless boxes on which the names and house numbers of every resident are printed. This is commonly called the “birdcage” and is used for announcements from the business office, notes and general communication between residents. (918)
Social Security Problem
05/12/16
Social Security is a government program that provides economic aid to retired citizens who have paid into its program over the years. Recently, I telephoned their office and had to listen to a recorded voice asking various questions to verify that I was the person I claimed to be, questions regarding my birthplace, birth date, my mother’s maiden name, etc. I was then informed that there was a mistake in my response so my call was not acceptable and, at that time, I was unable to talk to a living human being. While wondering whether I had misspelled my mother’s maiden name, I remembered that when I first applied to Social Security many years ago, I was told that, according to their computer record of my birth date, I was born on the 11th day of the month rather than on the 16th as I had informed them. Then I recalled a typewritten birth certificate I had received from my hometown office when I submitted my first application for a state driver’s license. It had three typewritten mistakes on it, including the spelling of my father’s birthplace, my mother’s birthplace and my birth date. I still have that copy on hand and see the corrections I made using a pen. I imagine that, on an earlier, handwritten document, before typewriters were used, the loop at the bottom of the number 6 was too small and appeared as a number 1, but I had no trouble getting a driver’s license with my correct birth date on it and I also have a valid copy of my correct birth certificate. However, when I applied for Social Security, I was told that I now have two birthdays and that in Social Security records, my date of birth is the 11th day of the month. It is fortunate that I remembered that, for after informing the lady on the telephone of the situation, I did accomplish the purpose of my call. (919)
Teacher Run Month
05/12/18
At the present time, the Japanese names for the twelve months of the year are composed of two Chinese characters, or ideograms, the first of which signifies a number followed by the character for “moon,” or “month.” Thus, this month of December is “juuni gatsu” (“twelfth month”). In old Japan, however, every month had a special name that was related to some event or custom that was related to that time of year. This twelfth month of the year was called “shiwasu,” composed of Chinese characters meaning “teacher run,” but nowadays, it is not only teachers who are “on the run.” Many people become very busy as the yearend approaches and they try to accomplish their aims before the end of the year. Customs related to the Christmas season, which also comes at this time of year, just adds to the “busyness” of normal “business.” Looking up the word “shiwasu” in my Japanese-English dictionary, I was surprised to find that, along with such expected translations as “the last month of the year” and “December,” I found the strange word “hogmanay.” This was a completely new word for me, so I looked it up in my American dictionary and found that it is a word of Scottish origin, denoting “New Year’s Eve, when children traditionally go from house to house asking for presents.” I will enquire of a resident of this retirement community who hails from Scotland whether that tradition continues today, but in old Japan, it was not children but Buddhist priests who “ran” from house to house, seeking offerings. During this busy time of year, it is important that we keep our minds focused on matters, values and aims that are most important, not only for ourselves but for others as well. (920)
Emperor’s Birthday
05/12/21
In the United States of America, the birthdays of certain important historical figures are celebrated as public holidays, including those of Martin Luther King, Jr. on January 19, Abraham Lincoln on February 12, George Washington on February 22 and Jesus on December 25. There are no holidays to celebrate the birthdays of living persons, but in Japan, December 23 is a national holiday to celebrate the birthday of the present emperor. It was on that day in 1933 that the entire country rejoiced at the news that the wife of Emperor Hirohito had given birth to their first male child, who was destined to succeed his father on the throne. In present-day Japan, it is not only the Western calendar that is used to designate the year, for a new era begins when a new emperor begins his reign. “Showa,” the era of Emperor Hirohito, lasted from 1926 to 1988. Emperor Akihito began his reign in 1989, when he was 56 years old. The present era name is “Heisei,” and this year, 2005 according to the Gregorian calendar, is the 17th year of Heisei in Japan. Until the end of the war, the emperor was considered divine, but following Japan’s surrender, the Emperor confessed that he was simply a human being. According to the present Constitution, the Emperor is “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.” The postwar education of the present Emperor included being tutored by an American lady who was a Quaker and he broke with tradition when he chose a commoner to be his wife, a girl he had met on a tennis court. We wish him a happy 72nd birthday. (921)
Mary/Marry/Merry
05/12/24
“Merry Christmas” is a common greeting during this Christmas season, when the birth of Jesus is being celebrated. Many people will repeat this greeting and celebrate in various ways without thinking of the reason for the season, but for those who are interested, the stories related to Jesus’ birth are found in the first two chapters of the New Testament Gospels of Matthew and Luke. In these stories, the name of Jesus’ mother, Mary, frequently appears and her name has become one of the most popular girls’ names in English-speaking countries. In both Gospels, it is noted that Mary had become pregnant before she was married because the child she gave birth to was the Son of God and did not have a human father. While thinking about this, I was reminded of the irregularity of English spelling and pronunciation. Considering my own pronunciations of the words “Mary,” “marry” and “merry,” I concluded that, for me, their pronunciations were identical. Others also replied that they pronounced them the same, even though dictionaries indicate a slight difference in the pronunciation of the vowel. Some English teachers are very concerned about correct pronunciation, and correct pronunciation should be emphasized. However, communication is more important than perfect pronunciation and communication is possible even with poor pronunciation. We should remember this when we read the New Testament Gospels also, including Jesus’ parables. What is being communicated by the stories is more important than the details of the stories themselves. During this Christmas season, I suggest that you read the Christmas stories and consider the message that is being communicated. Merry Christmas! (922)
Texas
05/12/28
The name of the large tract of land that became the 28th state of the United States of America 160 years ago, on December 29, 1845, is derived from a Native American word meaning “friend.” For the next 114 years, Texas was the largest state in the Union, until Alaska, with an area more than twice that of Texas, became the 49th state in 1959. The population of Texas, however, which ranks second after California, is more than 3 times that of Alaska; it did not become a state until 11 years after its independence from Mexico, 6 months after its annexation by the U.S.A. The size of Texas can be imagined by considering that the distance from the city of Beaumont in the east to the city of El Paso in the west is greater than that between New York and Chicago. The Rio Grande River forms the boundary between Texas and Mexico for 1610 kilometers. Many Texan towns along the border have a colorful Mexican flavor; some are bilingual and in some areas, persons of Mexican descent make up as much as 80% of the population. Pine trees provide lumber; cotton plantations, rice fields, citrus fruits and vegetables are also important, but the main source of income comes from large, rich oil fields. One anonymous visitor depicted Texas as “a state where everything either sticks, stinks or stings.” Can you think of possible specific examples of what he may have had in mind? The motto of Texas is “Friendship” and its nickname is “Lone Star State.” I do not know how or why it got this nickname, but at this time of year, the term “lone star” reminds me of the story in the first part of the second chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew, the star that led the Magi to Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus. (923)