Continuing Service (10/01/04)

One of the characteristics of the Penney Retirement Community, (http://www.penneyretirementcommunity.org/) in which my wife and I have been living since our return from Japan ten years ago, is the voluntary service that is contributed by its residents. J. C. Penney, whose name is well known throughout the United States because many department stores around the country bear that name, founded the community. Mr. Penney’s father was a clergyman who had no retirement benefits. From the beginning, special consideration was given to ministers, missionaries and church workers who were expected to continue their tradition of serving others in the retirement community. As a result, there are many jobs that are done by residents without remuneration rather than bringing in outsiders and paying them for their work. For example, in the assisted-living unit called Beyer House in which my wife and I are now living, meals are served to residents three times a day by other residents who are contributing their time and effort. The meals that are served at stated times in the dining hall are brought from the kitchen in another building in a special cart that keeps the food warm and then are transferred to a steam-heated device from which they are delivered to the residents seated at the tables. At each of the three meals during the day, there are three workers who distribute the meals. These workers do not get paid but contribute their service at a certain meal on a certain day of the week. My wife and I have served meals in the past, but now we are the recipients of such service rather than the servers. Such continuing service, which is not limited to serving meals by residents, is a characteristic of this retirement community. (1276)

Broom Tree (10/01/05)

In our church in Japan, the person who led the worship service was called a shikaisha, which literally means "meeting leader". In the interdenominational church at the center of this retirement community, that person is called a "liturgist". "Liturgy" is a religious ritual and since many of the residents here are retired ministers or missionaries, we take turns serving as liturgists and preachers. The first time I served as the liturgist, the Old Testament reading was from the first part of the 19th chapter of I Kings, where it is written that the prophet Elijah withdrew to the desert, sat under a tree and prayed that he would die. I was surprised to find what that tree was called. In the modern English version I used, it was called a "broom tree". After reading it, I wondered, "what kind of tree is a 'broom tree'?" Checking other translations of the Bible, I found a couple of other names for that woody plant and one of them did not give any name. A "broom", of course, is a brush made of twigs or straw with a long handle, used for sweeping. According to a dictionary, the woody plant called "broom" is a bush with small leaves, slender branches, and flowers of yellow, purple or white and it is because brooms were originally made of twigs of the broom tree that they were called "brooms". An enquiring mind can discover different kinds of knowledge, or truth, in the pages of scripture. (016)

Naps (10/01/15)

Following my first year in college, I spent part of the summer vacation in Mexico City, where I lived with a Mexican family and attended classes at the University of Mexico. At that time, it was customary to take a siesta after lunch. This Spanish word denotes a time of rest and relaxation usually taken after the midday meal. During that hot time of day, many shops were closed as shopkeepers also rested. "Siesta" is derived from the Spanish word for "sixth", for in the old method of calculating time, the sixth hour after sunrise was noontime. This word is also used in English and now that I am retired, I sometimes take a siesta following our noonday meal. The more common English word is "nap". But there are different kinds of "naps" and even different ways to spell words with that pronunciation. It may surprise foreign students of English to know that there are two different "knaps" that begin with a "k". These words are not so common, but one of them means to strike sharply or to bite suddenly and the other denotes the top of a hill. One word spelled n-a-p denotes the soft, fuzzy surface on a fabric, but the more common word means a short sleep. It is this kind of nap that I sometimes enjoy after my dinner. According to George Bernard Shaw, a nap is "a brief period of sleep which overtakes superannuated persons when they endeavor to entertain unwelcome visitors or to listen to scientific lectures." (026)

New Modem (10/01/18)

Over the years, as I have made messages for “Daily Word” and “Timely Words,” I not only informed readers of the meaning of words, but I have learned the meaning of many words myself and I realize that there are many new words related to this “computer age” that I do not recognize or understand. Recently, as my wife and I have been busy moving our belongings from our previous home to our present one, our computer was not functioning well, so I requested help from a friend. He discovered that our modem was bad and ordered a new one. I did not know what a “modem” was, so I looked in my dictionary and found the following definition: “A device that converts data from one form into another, as from one usable in data processing to one usable in telephonic transmission.” Now that the new modem has been installed, the problems some readers of these messages had in trying to communicate with me should be solved. This past month has been one of the busiest months of our lives as we have transported furniture, clothes, books, documents, etc., from the larger living quarters to the smaller one. Although on the day we transported furniture and heavy boxes of books, etc., we were helped by a crew from the Maintenance Department and many friends in the neighborhood offered to help us, my wife and I did most of the moving by ourselves and can affirm the saying that “It's no fun getting old”, but we are thankful for the concern and prayers of friends nearby and far away. With this new modem, readers, both near and far, will be able to contact us without a problem and we would be happy to receive reactions to the messages you have read on this webpage and any suggestions you might have regarding the future. (1277)

Pressure (10/01/23)

The word “pressure” is a noun related to the verb “to press,” which signifies the exertion of steady weight or force. But “press” may also be used as a noun denoting a machine that applies pressure. Such a machine, known as a “printing press,” prints newspapers, magazines and books and the place where regular periodicals are printed may also be called a “press.” Obviously in the world today, where reading material is so influential, many people, both celebrities and common folk are influenced by pressure from the press. Recently, I also have become aware of the pressure from various directions that is directed toward my activities and me. Some of the pressure is good and should be accepted and followed. Some pressure should be rebuffed and rejected. Sometimes, it is difficult to distinguish how to use or react to pressure. After my retirement, I feel that I am able to view events from a more balanced viewpoint, since I am not personally involved. In some cases, I am now merely an observer rather than a participant and am able to view the situation more objectively. I feel the pressure to continue making these messages for the English students who find them helpful. I do not feel that I have tried to pressure readers or listeners to accept my view or religion, but I do admit trying to clarify elements of my faith and to share it with them. My wife and I have felt much pressure in our movements during this past month as we moved to an assisted living unit. We did not have time to do everything we were expected to do, so it was necessary for us to establish priorities and seek to be faithful both to our own faith and tradition and to the needs of others. (1278)

Moon (10/01/27)

Calendars are divided into three divisions based on natural movements of the sun, which is the center of our universe, the earth, which is a satellite of the sun, and the moon, which is a satellite of the earth. A “day” is the period during which the earth completes one rotation on its axis. A “year” is the period of a little more than 365 days, during which the earth makes one rotation around the sun. And a “month” is the period during which the moon makes one revolution around the earth in a little more than 27 days. Although we consider the moon a source of light in the night and in the creation story in the first chapter of the Bible, it is written that “God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night” (Genesis 1:16), actually, the moon does not produce light of its own. “Moonlight” is simply a reflection of sunlight and “moonshine” may refer to foolish, nonsensical talk or to illegally distilled whiskey. A “new moon” denotes the phase of the moon occurring when it passes between the earth and the sun and is invisible or visible only as a narrow crescent. A “full moon” denotes the phase of the moon when it is visible as a fully illuminated disk. And now there is another kind of “moon” that may attract the attention of some people. “Moon” is the surname of a Korean man, who claims to be the messiah, savior and lord and seeks to accomplish the ministry envisioned but not fully achieved by Jesus. His followers in the Unification Church are called “Moonies” and they consider this Moon to be the culmination of Jesus’ ministry, but other Christians would relate him to Jesus’ prophecy in Matthew 24:4-5. (1279)