Messages of other months can be read by clicking HERE.

Siblings Names (10/05/01)

“Acts of God” (10/05/07)

Two Lips and Tulips (10/05/12)

Calendars (10/05/17)

Names of Months/People (10/05/22)

Exercise (10/05/30)

Siblings Names (10/05/01)

Both of my parents were born in the United States of America in German families that had come to this country a couple of decades earlier. They were married in 1919 and lived in the same house in Zion, Illinois for over forty years where each of their six children were born and raised. I was the fourth child and my parents were planning to name me “Clarke.” (The pronunciation of the name is the same whether or not there is an “e” at the end.) When my elder sister pointed out that the names of both parents (Henry and Mabel) and of their three children (Carol, David and Flora) all had five letters, they decided to eliminate the “e,” at the end of “Clark” and my two younger sisters were also given names having five letters (Leola and Mavis). Chinese characters used in Japanese names have meanings so parents seriously consider the implications of the names they give their children. In my experience in the U. S. A., however, not many parents know the meaning of names. Checking a reference book, I find that “Clark” may mean “a cleric, scholar or secretary,” so I do not consider the name inappropriate, even though my parents did not know its meaning. (In the case of my wife, however, I do not think I ever informed her parents that her name [Barbara] is derived from “barbarian.”) Although all six of us siblings have five-letter names, the informal form of four of them has been shortened (Dave, Flo, Lee and Mae) and some people continue to mistakenly add an “e” at the end of my name.(1300)

“Acts of God” (10/05/07)

People who are well acquainted with the many stories written in the Bible, both in the Old and New Testaments, are able to describe many “acts of God” that are written there, including many “miracles.” Both Jews and Christians could relate numerous illustrations of merciful actions of a loving, almighty “heavenly Father.” Checking modern English language dictionaries, however, we find that the term “act of God” has a special meaning in legal contexts which is not related to deeds of love and mercy. Rather, it has quite an opposite significance. The definition given in my dictionaries is: “an unforeseeable or inevitable occurrence, such as a tornado, caused by nature and not by man;” “a happening for which no one is liable, because no one could foresee or prevent it.” I was especially surprised at the Japanese translation: fukakouryoku, which literally means “bad, wrong, improper effect.” In recent months, many so-called “acts of God,” such as volcanoes, earthquakes, tidal waves, tornadoes and floods have occurred which have caused some people to think this is the time of the end, which they consider to be prophesied in the Bible. Although the term “acts of God” does not appear in the Bible, I consider the “acts of God” to be the kind of loving, merciful “acts,” noted in the 103rd Psalm. In verse 7 (in the classical King James English translation) of that psalm, it is noted that God’s acts were made known to the children of Israel. It is his acts of love and mercy that I wish to emphasize in my ministry. (1301)

Two Lips and Tulips (10/05/12)

One of the basic failures of religious individuals is the obvious difference between what we profess with our lips and what we demonstrate with our actions in our daily lives. Jesus approved the statement made in Isaiah 29:13, where it is written: “The Lord says: ‘These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.’” (See Mark 7:6-8) It is easy to say nice things about God and other people with our two lips, but we must also consider what to do with the tulips that may be given us to enjoy or utilize at this time of year. The four-day Tulip Time Festival begins on the Wednesday nearest May 15 in Holland Michigan, the nation’s largest center of Dutch culture. In preparation for the event, which will attract hundreds of thousands of visitors, the mayor and town council members, join other residents in a street scrubbing activity. Following the scrubbing, parades and performers, including bands, floats, folk dancers in colorful Dutch dresses, baggy pants, starched hats and wooden shoes, move along the cleaned streets. During the festival time, music and entertainment prepared for the occasion by the music and fine arts departments of local high schools and a college symphony orchestra concert are presented. To beautify the city, over a hundred thousand tulip bulbs have been planted along the Tulip Lanes and visits to the Netherlands Museum and other historic sites can be made. At this time of year and in this place, tulips will certainly be an emphasis of the two lips of the residents. (1302)

Calendars (10/05/17)

On the wall in front of my desk hangs a large calendar. Under the beautiful picture of Japanese scenery, the 31 and 30 numbers listed under the 5th and 6th months of this year of 2010, printed in black and red, are divided into weeks of 7 days each. The red numbers indicate legal holidays in Japan. English abbreviations of the names of the 7 days of the week are written at the top of each month’s listing and the traditional positive/lucky or negative/unlucky superstitious influence for that day is written in Chinese characters on each day. Composing an accurate calendar is very complicated because so many different calculations must be considered—including the earth’s daily rotation and its irregular connections with the moon (lunar calendar) and the sun (solar calendar). An ancient Roman calendar had 10 months in a year, beginning with March. Their names, which were related to their numerical order in the year, remained the same even when two more months were added at the beginning, which is reflected in the English names of the last four months of the present Gregorian calendar. The calendar introduced by the Roman emperor, Julius Caesar, in 46 B.C., is called the Julian calendar. In 1582, after much argumentation based on religious and political assertions, a calendar revision sponsored by Pope Gregory XIII was recognized and has become the universally accepted Gregorian calendar even though other calendars continue to be recognized by certain religious, political and cultural groups. In the Christian church calendar, the seventh Sunday after Easter (May 23 this year) is the day of Pentecost when the descent of the Holy Spirit (Acts chapter 2) is celebrated. Adjusting or harmonizing the various calendars continues to be a complicated task. (1303)

Names of Months/People (10/05/22)

Looking at the calendar in front of me, I realize that we are now in the final week of the fifth month of the year, the month of May, according to the Gregorian calendar. Next week, the sixth month, the month of June, will begin. Names given to the months of the year differ according to the history and culture of the area. In present-day Japan, the names are numbers, related to the number of that month in the current year. In Japan, depending on the document, the number of the year may be 22, the number of years in the present imperial reign. In regard to the names of the months in English, five of the twelve names have been used as names of people also. The two masculine names of ancient Roman dignitaries, related to July and August, may be found in the two historical accounts in the New Testament written by the Greek historian, Luke, in the Gospel According to Luke, chapter 2, verse 1 and in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 27, verse 1. Feminine names (related to the months of April, May and June) continue to be used at the present time, although there are variations in how they are spelled. The Residents Directory in the retirement community where my wife and I live includes 3 residents named “June,” but there are 8 named “Jean,” 4 named “Jane” and 5 named “Joan,” which may be pronounced as one syllable or two. The spelling and pronunciation of words vary from place to place and those of us who come from another area with its peculiar traditions should try to sincerely understand their cultural/nationalistic background before seeking to change or discard them. (1304)

Exercise (10/05/30)

One of the ways to keep in good physical and mental condition, as we get older, is to regularly engage in some kind of both physical and mental exercises. From the time when this Penney Retirement Community, where my wife and I now live, was established over eighty years ago, former pastors, missionaries and church workers have been the core of the Community and residents are encouraged to volunteer to do the work which is usually done by non-residents. This process has a number of beneficial results. First, it saves the Community money. It also enables the volunteers to better understand the business matters of the Community. It encourages personal contact with other residents whereby we come to know others and their situations better. It also provides the volunteers with meaningful exercise. In this retirement community, there are two assisted-living units. At both of these units, three meals a day are served by residents who volunteer to serve one or more meals a week. While preparing this message, I was reminded again of the irregularities of the pronunciation of English words. There are very few English words that begin with X, this 24th letter of the present English alphabet. The word “exercise” begins with “ex,” but the pronunciation of that first syllable is different than the pronunciation of the first syllables of many other English words, including the following words. Can you recognize (or enunciate) the different sounds as noted? [Exercise (ek sur siz), executive (ig zek ya tiv), exile (eg zil)]. (1305)