“You ” and “Him ”
Meaning of X
9/11: Mahatma Gandhi’s Legacy
Post Office and Beauty Salon
Ombudsman
Near/Middle/Far East   
Rosh Hashanah

“You” and “Him”
06/09/01

I must confess that one reason I have continued writing these messages over the past 26 years is that I enjoyed doing it when I had the time. I have learned much as I prepared them and have been stimulated to think further about many topics.  For example, after writing just a month ago about the different spellings and meanings of words pronounced  “ai” (“I,” “eye,” “aye”), I realized that there was a similar situation related to words pronounced “you.” U, of course, is the 21st letter of the modern English alphabet and, in some dictionaries, the term “IOU” is found.  It is the simplified version of the statement “I owe you” and signifies recognition of a debt that must be paid.  Another word pronounced the same as “you” is spelled e-w-e and designates a female sheep.  The opposite of “ewe” is “ram.”  Many Japanese speakers of English find it difficult to distinguish a “ram” from a “lamb,” which means a young sheep.  After noting the irregular spellings of words with the same pronunciations as “I” and “you,” I realized that the word “him,” the objective case of “he,” also has a homonym, spelled “hymn.” A “hymn” is a religious song of praise or thanksgiving.  Hymns are regularly sung in Christian Churches and a basic characteristic of a lively, healthy church is the joyful hymns that are sung there.  In the New Testament Letter to the Ephesians, chapter 5, verse 19, it is written that “psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” should not only be sung to the Lord, but be reflected in the lives of believers as well.   (998)           

Meaning of X
06/09/07

In the United States of America, the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November is Election Day.  On that day, citizens cast their votes for candidates who won places on the ballots as a result of the primary elections which were held earlier.  As I voted in the Primary Election at the Penney Farms Town Hall on Tuesday, I was reminded of the different meanings the symbol or letter “X” may have.  X is the 24th letter in the English alphabet, but in mathematics, it is the sign of multiplication and in algebra, it stands for an unknown quantity.  In Roman numerals, X is the symbol for 10 and some letter writers use x’s to symbolize kisses.  Because it is the same shape as the first Greek letter in “Christ”, an X is sometimes used as a substitute for that word, as in the term “Xmas”.  In the voting booth, I realized that we are no longer required to put an “X” in the square next to the name of the candidate we are voting for.  Now, we merely connect the head and tail of an arrow pointing to our choice.  Until a few years ago, however, an “X” on a ballot indicated the approval of the voter, which is the opposite of the meaning of an “X” in Japanese tradition.  In Japan, “X” is a symbol indicating disapproval, opposition or rejection.  The symbol for approval, favor or acceptance is a circle.  As an “outsider” living in Japan, I noticed that Japanese and Westerners drew circles differently.  Although both draw them in the same direction--from left to right, Westerners start at the top and Japanese start at the bottom and I wondered why.  According to tradition, Jesus’ disciple, Andrew, suffered martyrdom on a cross in the shape of an X, which is now called St. Andrew’s cross.   (999)

9/11: Mahatma Gandhi’s Legacy
06/09/11

When the numerical date “9/11” is mentioned these days, people immediately think of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001. However, there is another anniversary of a meaningful event of a very different kind that occurred one hundred years ago on September 11, 1906, which should also be remembered.  On that day in the South African city of Johannesburg, a nonviolent, resistance movement to oppose injustice, oppression and discrimination was initiated by an Indian lawyer, Mohandas Gandhi.  Gandhi had studied law in England but experienced hostile discrimination as a lawyer in South Africa.  Influenced by the teaching of both the Christian Bible and the Hindu Bhagavad-Gita, Gandhi, who was given the name “Mahatma,” meaning “Great Soul,” by his admirers, sought to call attention to and oppose unjust laws in nonviolent ways.  Since that time, there have been many civil disobedience campaigns, resulting in the arrest and incarceration of many conscientious, normally law-abiding citizens.   Gandhi called war an “unmitigated evil” and emphasized that non-violence is not simply an attitude that one manifests to attract publicity.  It is “not a garment to be put on and off at will,” he said.  “Its seat is in the heart, and it must be an inseparable part of our very being.”  Following his return to India, Gandhi continued his efforts to improve the social situation by renovating rural educational systems, promoting cottage industries like spinning and advocating civil liberties for the “untouchable” classes.  Gandhi’s life ended in 1948, when a Hindu fanatic shot him when he was on his way to an evening prayer session.  An estimated 2 million people attended his funeral.  (1000)  

Post Office and Beauty Salon
06/09/15

The Penney Retirement Community in which my wife and I have resided since our retirement is a very quiet place.  A state highway is the border of one side of the community, but the traffic on that road is not so great.  There are no gasoline stations, churches or stores along that part of the highway.  To go shopping, residents must go to neighboring towns, some 5-10 miles away.  Although some people would consider this very inconvenient, we are very happy to live in a place characterized by quietness and natural beauty.  In the community itself, there is only one building that has commercial implications.  In one half of that building is the town post office.  Since there is no delivery service, every resident has a post office box into which mail is inserted daily.  Residents must go to the post office regularly to get their mail.  The other half of the building is used as a beauty salon, called the Pamper Room.  There, two qualified women cut the hair of those women and men who have made appointments.  They also wash, curl and set the hair of those who request it.  Both my wife and I regularly go to both the post office and the Pamper Room.  We are thankful that there is a salon, where people are made to look more beautiful, but no saloon, where people drink alcoholic beverages and get drunk, in this area.  Our country and the world at large would be a much better place if there were more salons and fewer saloons.  We should not only be concerned about our external beauty, however, but about our internal beauty as well.  It is for this reason that places for worship, meditation and moral instruction are important. (1001) 

Ombudsman
06/09/19

One of the active groups in this retirement community is the Swim and Health Club.   Not only do members enjoy swimming and exercising in the large swimming pool, they also hold monthly meetings to which all residents are invited.  At such meetings, outside speakers come to speak on a theme that is of interest to all people our age.  Recently, the speaker informed us about his work as a volunteer ombudsman.  Like many words in modern English, this is a word from a foreign country that has been Anglicized.  In Scandinavian countries, an “ombudsman” is an official appointed by the legislature whose duty is to protect the rights of citizens against infringement by the government.  Sweden has had one since 1809, Denmark since 1955 and Norway since 1962.  In this American state of Florida, there are now hundreds of volunteer ombudsmen in 17 designated areas, each of which has an official ombudsman.  Many volunteer ombudsmen specialize in seeking to solve problems or investigate complaints or charges that elderly residents of nursing homes, assisted living units and retirement communities have against officials or managers they believe have acted in illegal or unfair ways. An ombudsman can even help cut through the layers of bureaucratic red tape to bring a speedy solution to such complaints as an unfair traffic fine or unjustified increase in real estate taxes.  We are thankful that there are such helpers available in a democratic society.  Also, in the beginning of the 2nd chapter of the First Letter of John in the New Testament, we find this soothing statement: “if any one does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”   (1002)

Near/Middle/Far East   
06/09/23

The four directions in the English language are: north, south, east and west.  Using the first letters of those words, we may make the word “news.”  Much of the “news” these days is centered on events occurring in what, in “western” countries, are called the “near east” or the “middle east.” As I often mention in my talks about Japan, it is natural for us to look at the world from our particular viewpoint, with our homeland at the center.  On maps with Japan at the center, the U.S.A. is in the far east, but in maps with the U.S.A. in the center, Japan is in the far west.  It is on world maps with Europe at the center of the world that Japan and China are in the “far east;” countries on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea are in the “near east” and countries in between are in the “middle east,” but the exact lines of demarcation are unclear, so whether certain countries are included or excluded depends on the speaker/writer and the context.  Within the U.S.A. itself, the meanings of such words as “west,” “far west,” and “mid west,” have changed as the European invaders/settlers moved further to the west.  Over the years, “west” has changed its meaning from “west of the Appalachian Mountains” to “west of the Mississippi River,” to “west of the Rocky Mountains.”  It is interesting to see how such words have been translated into Japanese.  The words for “near east” and “middle east” are literal translations, but although there is not an “east pole” similar to the “north pole” and “south pole,” the Japanese term for “far east” is literally “pole east.”  In closing, I recall the first lines of Rudyard Kipling’s The Ballad of East and West:” “Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet, Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment Seat.”   (1003)

Rosh Hashanah
06/09/27

Time measurements such as the year, the month and the day are based on natural cycles.  A year is the time required for the earth to complete one revolution around the sun.  A month is the time required for the moon to make one revolution around the earth and a day is the time required for the earth to complete one turn upon its axis.  According to the Gregorian Calendar, the most popular calendar used in these United States of America, we are now in the final days of the 9th month of the year 2006.  However, there are many people who make use of other calendars, related to their religions or cultures.  According to the Jewish Calendar, these final days of the 9th month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar are the first days of a New Year.  Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, which fell on September 23 this year, is the first of 10 Penitential Days that end with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.  For pious Jews, the New Year begins with meditation, self-examination and prayers of repentance.  It is the custom in some Jewish homes to include in the holiday meal bread or apples dipped in honey to symbolize the hope for a sweet new year.  Actually, the day observed as the beginning of a new year is an arbitrary choice, unrelated to natural phenomena.  Thus the “new years” recognized by Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindus or Chinese are all different.  Nevertheless, I believe that all human beings have a “faith” of some kind (even those who call themselves “atheists’) that influences both their daily attitudes and actions and their view of the future.  Those with a healthy faith in an almighty God of love can always look forward to a sweet and happy future.  (1004)