There are two different English words pronounced hare (hair). The
one spelled h-a-r-e, denotes a small animal similar to a rabbit, but having
longer ears, large hind feet and long legs adapted for jumping. North
American hares are also called jackrabbits. (Unlike the term “jackass,” this
word does not apply only to male hares.) The other word with the same
pronunciation is spelled h-a-i-r. It signifies the threadlike growth on the skin
of mammals. The hair of hares, however, is not called “hair.” For some
reason, dogs, horses and goats have “hair,” but cats, foxes and hares have
“fur.” I have more hair than most male residents in this retirement
community, so I regularly go to have it cut at the same place that women go to have
their hair taken care of. The place where women have their hair cut is
often called a “beauty shop” while men go to a “barber shop.” It may be that
women go to the beauty shop to become more beautiful but men go the barber
shop simply to get barbered. In this retirement community both men and
women have their hair cut in the “Pamper Room” by a lady hairdresser. To
“pamper” means to “treat with excessive indulgence,” but I really don't feel
pampered when I go there. To portray the wonderful loving care of our heavenly
Father, Jesus said to his disciples, in Matthew 10:30, “even the very hairs
of your head are all numbered.” (035)
- Campus/Palms
(09/12/07)
The word "campus," from the Latin word for "field," usually denotes
the grounds of an educational institution, but the area of Penney Retirement
Community, where my wife and I now live, is called a "campus" by its
residents. This campus, which includes about 192 acres, or 77 hectares, has been
designed so that streets run north and south and avenues run east and west.
At the center of the community is the Penney Memorial Church, located at the
end of a boulevard. Most of the cottages and independent housing units on
this campus are surrounded by spacious lawns and there are many trees both
in the lawns and along the streets, avenues and boulevard. These trees
include magnolias which bear pretty flowers, which bloom and fall down, and
evergreen trees such as pines, live oaks and palms. Branches of the
magnolias, pines and oak trees extend far out from the trunk, providing shade for the
surrounding area, but palm trees do not have branches. The large palm
leaves, or fronds, grow out of the top of the trunk. Palm leaves were symbols
of victory from ancient times. In the 1st century B.C., the Latin poet,
Horace, wrote of the "victor's palm" and in the heavenly vision recorded in
Revelation 7:9, there was a multitude "wearing white robes and holding palm
branches in their hands." In the Christian Church year, the Sunday before
Easter is called Palm Sunday, commemorating the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into
Jerusalem, when, according to John 12:13, people "took palm branches and went
out to meet him, shouting, 'Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of
the Lord.'" (400)
- “Downsizing”
(09/12/11)
Ten years ago, my wife and I left Japan, after serving churches and
schools there for 48 years, and came to the United States of America, our
homeland, to retire. There were various reasons why we chose the Penney
Retirement Community in Penney Farms, Florida. In this Christian community there
are different kinds of residences available. There are independent houses
with their own yards around them. There are hotel-like buildings having
one or two-room apartments that remind me of a college dormitory. There are
also assisted-living units for residents who require or desire special help
of some kind. For the past ten years, my wife and I have been living in
an independent house having five rooms plus a small kitchen. Because of my
Parkinson’s disease, we have had our names on a list of those interested in
entering an assisted-living unit. Recently, an appropriate unit became
available and we agreed to move immediately. We are now in that new two-room
unit, but are still moving our things into it. We have one month to
complete the move to the unit only a short distance from our previous location.
We continue to go back and forth between the two places, but we find that
“downsizing” from five rooms to two is very difficult—deciding what to
discard, what to keep and where to put things. Our postal address and telephone
number remain the same and we continue to participate in many activities.
Although I continue to drive a car, I also make use of a walker and a cane
when I walk and sometimes go a short distance in a motorized chair.
(1272)
Beyer House (09/12/15)
As noted in the previous message, my wife and I are now living in an
assisted-living unit in this retirement community. The main such unit,
which serves as a nursing home (“a private hospital for the care of the aged or
chronically ill,”) is called the Pavilion. “Pavilion” may simply
designate a large tent, but in this case, the name is derived from the statement in
the Old Testament book of Psalms, chapter 27, verse 5 that “in the time of
trouble, he [God] shall hide me in his pavilion.” The unit in which we are
living is called Beyer House. It was erected in 1975 and although its
name is pronounced the same as “buyer house,” it was named after the president
of the Community at that time, Harold C. Beyer. There are about forty
residents in Beyer House now and the “assisted-living” we enjoy here includes
housing, meals, housekeeping and laundry services. We eat our meals with
other residents in the dining hall and are able to choose certain menus.
While we are eating breakfast, workers enter our rooms to clean them, make our beds
and dispose of our trash. Laundry service is provided once a week. There
are other activities, which Beyer House residents can participate in and we
are still members of the larger community. My wife and I are continuing to
carry items from our former home to this new one and find it very difficult
to make decisions regarding what things to discard and what to keep. We
realize once again how truly blessed we are in comparison with the majority of
people in the world today. (1273)
- East and West
(09/12/19)
Since returning to the United States, I have had a number of
opportunities to give talks on Japan. At such times, I often begin with the
question of where Japan is located. I surprise most listeners by my statement
that Japan is located in the far west for it is commonly thought that Japan is
in the Far East. Nevertheless, when going from the United States to Japan,
it is usual to travel west. World maps printed in the United States
usually have the U. S. A. in the center and Japan is located in the far western
area of such maps. It is on world maps with Europe at the center that Japan
is located in the far east. Of course, maps made in Japan have Japan at
the center and on such maps, the United States is in the far east. So it
all depends on one’s perspective. We tend to look at the world with our
homeland at the center and at other people with ourselves as the standard. One
of the advantages of living for a while in a foreign country is to be able
to view our own culture, traditional customs and ways of thinking from a
different perspective. It can be a very broadening experience and should
result in a better understanding of our own nation and both its positive and
negative aspects. On a global map, there are north and south poles which
indicate the limits of those directions, but it is not so for east and west.
To express the unlimited nature of God’s compassion, in Psalm 103:12, it is
written: “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our
transgressions from” . (037)
- Christmas
(09/12/24)
In many countries, December 25 is a holiday called “Christmas” to
celebrate the birth of Jesus, who is called “Christ,” although we are not sure
of the day, the month or even the year, when Jesus was born. In Japan,
December 25 is not a holiday, but December 23 is a holiday, the birthday of the present
emperor, who was born on that day in 1933. The word “Christmas” is a
combination of two words: “Christ” and “mass.” “Christ” is derived from the
Greek word for the Hebrew term, “messiah,” meaning “anointed one,” used for
those Hebrew men who had been anointed by the high priest under divine
direction to serve as kings or priests in ancient Israel. There was also the
expectation that a special “Messiah,” or “Christ,” would arise in the future
to save Israel and the world from their miserable conditions. Jesus did
not fulfill the hopes of the people of his day, but Christians consider him
the promised Messiah who came to manifest the spirit of God and to redeem
suffering, sinful people. “Mass” is the Roman Catholic term for the
liturgical expression of Jesus’ command to his disciples to remember him by taking
bread and wine as symbols of his body and blood, which many Protestant
churches call “communion.” Thus, the original meaning of “Christmas” was to
remind people of the person and work of Christ. Nowadays, we often see “Xmas”
instead of “Christmas.” Although this may reflect an elimination of
Christ from the Christmas celebration, which actually is so in many
communities, the “X” is simply an abbreviation of the Greek term for “Christos,”
which begins with that letter. During this Christmas season, let us not only
remember the birth of Jesus, but his life and teaching as well, being conscious
of his spiritual presence and power here with us as we partake of the
common food before us. (1274)
- The Month After Christmas
(09/12/29)
One of the many groups that residents of this retirement community are able
to join, either for their own enrichment or for the benefit of others, is
the Clown Group. My wife is a member of this group, attends its weekly
meetings, paints her face and wears her clown costume for programs. Recently,
she noted the following poem, a parody of the well-known poem “The Night
Before Christmas,” was presented and I thought readers would be amused to read
it.
’Twas the month after Christmas, and all through the house
Nothing would fit me, not even a blouse.
The cookies I’d nibbled, the eggnog I’d tasted
At holiday parties had gone to my waist.
When I got on the scales, there arose such a number!
When I walked to the store (less a walk than a lumber),
I’d remember the marvelous meals I’d prepared;
The gravies and sauces and beef nicely rare,
The wine and the rum balls, the bread and the cheese
And the way I’d never said, “No thank you, please.”
As I dressed myself in my husband’s old shirt
And prepared once again to do battle with dirt—
I said to myself, as only I can,
“You can’t spend a winter disguised as a man!”
So— away with the last of the sour cream dip,
Get rid of the fruit cake, every cracker and chip.
Every last bit of food that I like must be banished
’Til all the additional ounces have vanished.
I won’t have a cookie—not even a lick.
I’ll want only to chew on a long celery stick.
I won’t have hot biscuits, or cornbread, or pie,
I’ll munch on a carrot and quietly cry.
I’m hungry, I’m lonesome, and life is a bore—
But isn’t that what January is for?
Unable to giggle, no longer a riot.
Happy New Year to all, and to all a good diet!
(1275)