This morning I decided to get back into the swing of rising a little early to have a few minutes to myself and spend some quiet time before switching on the the technology. I found a small book I have not read in nine years--Take Time by Eknath Easwaran. Eknath Easwaran was an Indian professor born in 1910. He came of age during India's struggle for independence and, as a college student, met Ghandi, who influenced a number of stories in this first chapter.
While reading I was struck by the language used in this book, which led me to the differences between American English and British English. We American choose words or phrases that (imho) have a slightly negative tint. Take for example the word vacation. American vacation, or "vacate" their lives, while the British take a holiday. Another phrase is "stand in line." Would you prefer to "stand in line" or "join the queue"?
This line of thinking also leads me down the road of derogatory terms, a topic I have discussed with people from church a couple of times and, most recently, with my children. That old saying "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me" is not truthful. Words have the ability to cause harm, invisible and lasting hurt. I have never been physically assaulted, but still carry wounds deep inside from words carelessly thrown out by family or friends. There are words we throw about in everyday conversation that can inadvertently cause harm. Have you ever heard a comment like "That so-and-so
gypped me" or "That vendor tried to
jew me down"? The words "gypped" and "jew" refer to discriminatory and stereotypes of gypsies and Jewish people. How about "Indian giver"? That one really is an ironic statement since it was not the Native American nations, but the U.S. government, who made a habit out of taking back that which was supposedly "given." Then, of course, is the modern put downs referring negatively to gays and lesbians. Those sentiments make me cringe whenever I hear them (or read them in chat). We may have made many advances in our society, but there is still much work to be done on our attitudes and tongues.
¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!
~N
Let me begin by stating.... I. Love. Rain. Being a fair-skinned red-head growing up in the South Pacific and the desert of Southeastern California, I have had my fill of sun and sunburns. Bluntly, I would be very happy living in perpetual cloudiness. With a soccer playing son, however, I need the rain to go away. Last September Kyle injured his knee--fractured growth plate--and missed most of the fall season, so we were looking forward to this year. Instead, Middle Tennessee has had rain every day for the past the last fifteen days with more predicted for the weekend. What this means to a soccer family is canceled games, canceled practices, canceled tournaments.... in other words, no soccer! On the plus side, we get to spend more time this weekend at our all-church retreat, so we're going to make the most of a soggy situation. Have a great weekend!
