June
Twin Cities Connection
Mosquitoes
Flag Day
Sisters Visit
Summer
Red Hat Society
English Irregularities

June
07/06/01

This sixth month of the year in the Gregorian calendar is called “June.” There are different theories to explain the meaning of and reason for that name and for the name of the previous month of “May.” According to one theory, “May,” derived from the Latin word for “elders,” was the month in which the senior members of the population were honored, and “June,” derived from the Latin word for “juniors” was the month dedicated to the young. According to another theory, the names of these two months are derived from the names of two goddesses in Greek and Roman mythology. Juno, the wife of Jupiter, the chief of the gods, was regarded as the guardian of women, who played an important role in furthering and protecting marriages. From ancient times, Roman women considered June the most favorable month for marrying. In contrast, May marriages were thought to be unlucky. In many Western countries even today, June is a popular month for marriages and my wife also was a “June bride.” In Japan, the “rainy season” usually begins in June, but Anglo-Saxons called this month the “dry month.” As is the case with April and May, June is also a feminine name. Checking the directory of this retirement community, I was surprised to find the large number of women residents that had short names beginning with J. Of the approximately 350 women whose names appear in that directory, there are 3 named June, 8 named Jean (plus 2 named Jeanne), 6 named Jane, 5 named Joan, (plus 1 Joann and 1 Jo Ann), 2 named Jan and 1 named Jo. Except for June, these names are derived from the masculine name “John,” which is rooted in the Hebrew expression “the Lord (Jehovah/Yahweh) is gracious.” (1064)

Twin Cities Connection
07/06/05

Literally, a “twin” is one of two offspring born at the same time. Often such twins are identical and difficult to distinguish from each other. This word is also used to designate a couple of other things that resemble each other, such as “twin beds,” or that are closely coupled together, such as “twin cities.” Of the various “twin cities” in the United States of America, the most well-known are Minneapolis and St. Paul in Minnesota. There are various “connections” between these two cities, but this year a new “connection” was made, for it was in Minneapolis that the biennial meeting of the Japan Mission Connection 2007 was held from May 31 to June 3 on the beautiful campus of Northwestern College. For more than a decade, men and women who served in churches and schools in Japan over the years have gathered together to reminisce, renew acquaintances, share recent experiences and consider topics of common interest. This was the 4th such gathering in the 4th different state that my wife and I have attended since we retired from Japan in 1999. There were about 100 present and we enjoyed meeting old friends listening to lectures on Celtic spirituality, the Iona Community and practical action for justice and peace by a man who helped found the World Parliament of the World’s Religions and on Theology and Violence by a Japanese professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York. Speaking of “twins,” the birth of twins, named Esau and Jacob, is recorded in the last half of the 25th chapter of Genesis and stories of the mutual antagonism and final reconciliation of these twins are related in chapters 27 to 33. (1065)

Mosquitoes
07/06/10

This year, the state of Florida has had very little rain. As a result, lakes and ponds are becoming smaller and there have been many forest fires. Recently, a newspaper article warned that another unfavorable result might be an increase in the number of mosquitoes looking for “food” this year. It was reported that millions of mosquito eggs have been deposited in wooded areas from which mosquitoes will emerge when they become damp. And for what kind of “food” will the mosquitoes be searching? Male and female mosquitoes consume different types of “food.” It is the female mosquito, which sucks blood from mammals through its long “proboscis” (which the dictionary defines as: “1. A long, flexible snout or trunk, as of an elephant. 2. The slender, tubular feeding and sucking structure of some insects”). “The males may have beaks, or probosces, but cannot pierce, and they feed upon fruit and plant juices.” Some mosquitoes carry the parasites that cause malaria. According to another reference book, “Research indicates that mosquitoes do indeed tend to bite somebody who has recently eaten a banana.” On the contrary, some scholars contend, “people who eat a lot of garlic aren’t bitten by mosquitoes much, if at all.” Whether or not mosquitoes are attracted to you may be related to what you eat. I recall a short conversation I had with a Buddhist priest in Japan regarding mosquitoes. According to Buddhism, all life is related and killing of any living thing is wrong and should not be done. I asked the priest if he has any hesitation about killing a mosquito and his reply was that he does kill them but offers a short prayer for them at the time. (1066)

Flag Day
07/06/14

There are many different kinds of national flags, which symbolize certain facts or fancies about a country. Japan’s flag, Hi-no-Moto, consisting of a red ball on a white surface, represents the “Land of the Rising Sun.” The American flag, called “Stars and Stripes,” consists of thirteen alternating red and white horizontal stripes, representing the 13 original colonies which declared their independence from Great Britain in 1776 and fifty five-pointed white stars on a blue canton representing the fifty states which are now included in the United States of America. At the time of the Revolutionary War, the colonies were not yet united and different flags were raised during the battles. The first “Grand Union” flag had 13 red and white stripes with the British Union ensign in the canton, but on June 14, 1777, the former British provinces adopted a national flag with 13 stripes and 13 stars in a circle on the canton. In 1794, after two more states were admitted to the Union, two more stripes and two more stars were added. It was that flag with 15 stripes that inspired the poem, written by Francis Scott Key when he awakened after a battle between British and American forces during the War of 1812 and saw the American flag still flying, beginning with the words, “O say, can you see.” In 1931, Congress officially adopted that poem, called the “Star-Spangled Banner,” as the national anthem and in 1941, it officially designated June 14 as Flag Day, when national flags are supposed to be displayed. In the retirement community where my wife and I live, a Christian flag is displayed on the side of a large outdoor bulletin board to signify the death of one of the residents, whose name, time of death and time of the memorial service is written on the bulletin board. (1067)

Sisters Visit
07/06/18

In English, nouns related to family relationships are sometimes given a different meaning when used in a religious context. Thus, “father” may refer to a Roman Catholic priest, “brother” may mean a member of a religious order of men and a “sister” may be a member of a religious order of women, a “nun.” The three sisters who visited my wife and me for four days last week, however, were not nuns. They were daughters of my physical father and mother; we were all born and raised in the same home. There were four girls and two boys in our family. At our family reunion last summer in our hometown in northern Illinois, all six siblings, along with their spouses, children and grandchildren (55 in all) were present. These sisters, however, did not think they had had enough time to talk among themselves about many things, so we invited them to visit us and, fortunately, they were able to do so. They flew into Jacksonville from three different states. My wife and I met them at the airport and brought them to our home. Although my mother and father both died when they were 70 years old, now all six of their children are older than that. While my sisters were here, we spent much time reminiscing, talking about our parents and our early years at home, looking at old pictures and news articles. We showed them around our retirement community and took them with us to community meetings. We also took them to St. Augustine, the oldest continually occupied European settlement (since 1565) in North America, where we visited old historic places. We enjoyed reviewing our own family’s history and the history of our country. Such a review of the past stimulates feelings of both gratitude and contrition. (1068)

Summer
07/06/22

Those of us living in the northern hemispheres are now enjoying the warmest season of the year which comes between spring and fall. Actually, this three-month period starts when the sun reaches the summer “solstice,” when it seems to “stand still.” This natural event occurs every year on either June 21 or 22, halfway between the vernal “equinox” and the autumnal “equinox,” when day and “night” are “equal.” Because of the extended days of sunshine and the resulting period of high temperatures, summer is the prime growing season for plant life. The celebration of “Midsummer” has existed throughout Europe from pre-Christian times and Christian and pagan customs long ago became curiously mixed. Traditional bonfires on Midsummer Night are remnants of sun-worship and the Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, whom Jesus called “a burning and a shining light,” came to be celebrated on Midsummer Day. Actually, “midsummer” is a misnomer, for Midsummer Day does not occur in the middle of summer. Rather, it is near the time of the summer solstice. Midsummer is celebrated, with local variations, in Europe and many Latin American countries. It has special significance in the northern areas of Scandinavia, where the inhabitants of Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark have experienced dark, sunless days during the winter. This season of the year is noted in the concluding affirmation of the natural changes which are ordered and maintained by God, following the story of the flood and the salvation of Noah and his family. In Genesis 8:22, we read: “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” (1069)

Red Hat Society
07/06/26

Thirty years ago, the Senior Thesis required for her graduation from Earlham College written by our daughter was entitled: “A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Color Terms: ‘White,’ ‘Black,’ and ‘Red’ in English, Greek, and Japanese.” Glancing through that thesis, I recognize that “red” has different implications, depending on the language and culture in which it is used. In my English dictionary, I find the following words included that begin with “red:” “red-blooded,” “red carpet,” “red-hot,” “red ink,” “red light,” “redneck,” “red tape,” and many others. The definition of a “redcap” in that dictionary is: “A porter, usually in a railroad station,” but now, the term “red hat” has a new significance. A few years ago, my wife saw a group of ladies wearing red hats that were attending a concert of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra and inquired about them. Later, a Red Hat Society was organized in our retirement community and my wife is one of its faithful members. The name of the society is derived from the first lines of a poem written by an English lady in 1961: “When I am an old woman I shall wear purple with a red hat which doesn’t suit me.” Red Hat Societies are composed of middle-aged or elderly women who enjoy meeting together to eat and to stimulate happy feelings. It is the custom for those who attend such meetings to wear red hats and purple dresses. The local Red Hat Society has a meeting at a different restaurant every month. In Japan, because of its connection with fire and the sun, red may be considered a sacred color, but in the Old Testament book of Isaiah, chapter 1, verse 18, it is written: “’Come now, let us reason together,’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.’” (1070)

English Irregularities
07/06/30

While composing the previous message related to “red hats,” I was again impressed with the strange irregularities in the spelling and pronunciation of English words. “Red,” spelled r-e-d, signifies a color, but another word having the same pronunciation, is spelled r-e-a-d and is the past tense of a verb meaning to get the meaning of written letters. The present tense of that verb, which is spelled the same, has a different pronunciation, identical to the word spelled r-e-e-d, which signifies a stalk of tall grass. As you “read” today’s message, you may recall the message you “read” yesterday. Japanese students of English often find it difficult to distinguish between the “r” sound and the “l” sound. Every word in the previous sentence that begins with an “r” has an alternative that begins with an “l.” However, when “lead” is pronounced like “reed,” it is a verb meaning to guide or direct, but another word, spelled the same but pronounced like “red,” signifies a kind of metal. The guide who “led” you around the battlefield yesterday may not “lead” you tomorrow because of the “lead” bullets he found along the way. The past tense of the verb “say,” meaning to speak, is pronounced similar to “red” and “led,” but is spelled s-a-i-d. Not only are there irregularities in the spelling and pronunciation of English words, there is also a problem in understanding their particular meanings, depending on the context. Do you understand the meaning of the following statement I sometimes make to residents here in the U. S. A.? “In Japan, the right side is the wrong side and the left side is the right side.” (1071)