Mind Your Language

The Picketty Witch pub, Yeovil

In the area where I live, there used to be a pub called The Picketty Witch.  It has recently been sold and a large chain of supermarkets is planning to convert it into another of their stores.  The sign outside the pub showed a witch on her broom.  Looking into the history of the area, however, I discovered that the name has nothing to do with a witch.  The word ‘picketty’ comes from the old English word ‘piccede’ or ‘piked’ as in a very sharp point.  There is a particular spot that used to be a very sharp corner until the 1950s when it was rounded more for traffic to be able to manoeuvre more easily.  The word ‘witch’ is mis-spelt and should be ‘wice’ or ‘wych’, another name for an elm tree.  A late 14^th century document refers to the spot as ‘Pycit Cross’ and it was later referred to as ‘Pyked Weech’ which in turn became ‘Picketwitch’.  In maps dating around the middle of the 1800s there is evidence of elm trees growing in the area and one in that particular spot.  So Picketty Witch is nothing sinister nor does it have any connection with the occult but just a gross distortion of its original meaning of an elm tree in a corner plot of land.  What a difference!

 

Old English document

I guess not many people could read the real old English as written centuries ago and even if they could, the meanings of words often change over the years.  When I was a child, ‘gay’ meant ‘happy’ – we used to dance ‘The Gay Gordons’.  Now of course it has a completely different meaning.  Hardware meant buckets and brooms and shovels – implements for cleaning and scrubbing not something to do with technology.  Other words that come to mind are cool, hot, wicked … … and so we could go on.  And so even in my lifetime, words have changed their meanings.  Often sayings cannot easily be translated from one language to another, at least not word for word.  Such idioms are peculiar to a language or even a dialect within a language. 

There used to be a programme called ‘Call My Bluff’ when team members would give three different definitions of a strange word and the opposing team had to guess which explanation was the correct one.  There were words that were peculiar to a certain region or taken from some old dialect, now forgotten.  If they can make several series of such a programme, then it shows just how much language can change, be forgotten or misinterpreted.  If all that I have written so far applies to simply the last few hundred years, then how much more change would there be over the past 2 millennia?  Much was handed down verbally rather than written.  Indeed it wasn’t until years after the crucifixion and resurrection that the gospels were put down in writing.  Taking all this into account, I find it amazing that there are many who are so dogmatic about their interpretation of particular Bible verses to be the only truth.  The Old Testament goes back even more millennia.

 

Much of the Bible is written in symbolic language.  Jesus spoke much in parables, stories, figurative speech and picture language.  It seems unwise, therefore to take every verse of the Bible literally, as many fundamentalists tend to do.  Sometimes, because of the passage of time, we really need to look more deeply at Bible narrative and seek to answer the question ‘What is God really saying here?’ and not jump to the wrong conclusions influenced by our 21^st century mindset and 2000 years of church history and tradition and also take into consideration local expressions and changing words.  Paul Leader posted a good example of this on his blog here.

Communication

When I’m standing at the bus stop waiting for my bus, I like to people watch.  The other day on such an occasion I was intrigued by a young family who were communicating by sign language.  To see the adults signing is not so unusual but what caught my attention was their small child in the buggy, about 1½ - 2 years of age.  She was ‘conversing’ with her parents by sign language and was watching intently to their reply.  I was fascinated watching her.  Of course, by this age most children are beginning to communicate with others through the spoken word so really I shouldn’t have been so surprised that she was communicating in the way she had learnt in her own family.  Thinking about it, there are many ways of communicating.  It used to be by one to one conversation or by hand written letter.  Nowadays we have many forms of communication – phone, email, social networks, Skype, art, drama, poetry, newspapers, words, looks, tone of voice, reactions ... ... and so we could go on... ... each valid in their own right.  

 

I find reading other blogs interesting and sometimes comment – another way of interacting with people, some of whom I have not met in person and some who live far away spread across the globe.  We would never suggest that the particular way we personally communicate with someone is the only valid and true way.  And yet when it comes to expressing our spirituality, that’s exactly what we do.  As Richard Rohr comments,
 

Almost all religion begins with a specific encounter with something that feels “holy” or transcendent: a place, an emotion, an image, music, a liturgy, an idea that suddenly gives you access to God’s Bigger World. The natural and universal response is to “idolize” and idealize that event. It becomes sacred for you, and it surely is. The only mistake is that too many then conclude that this is the way, the best way, the superior way, the “only” way for everybody—that I myself just happen to have discovered. Then, they must both protect ... and spread this exclusive way to others. (They normally have no concrete evidence whatsoever that other people have not also encountered the holy.)

The false leap of logic is that other places, images, liturgies, scriptures, or ideas can not give you access. “We forbid them to give you access; it is impossible,” we seem to say! Thus much religion wastes far too much time trying to separate itself from—and create “purity codes” against—what is perceived as secular, bad, heretical, dangerous, “other,” or wrong. Jesus had no patience with such immature and exclusionary religion, yet it is still a most common form to this day. Idolatry is whenever we make something god that is not God, or whenever we make the means into an end. Any attempt to create our own “golden calf” is usually ... ... eventually false religion.
 

I also read a blog by a young Portuguese woman (she writes in English) who is very New Age.  Her profile says,
 

I started my pilgrimage around the world in 1996, year that my parents also moved back to Angola where they live now. In 1998 my life totally changed when I had a personal encounter, believe it or not, with Jesus Christ...this also in Angola...since then I've been walking with Him in a great adventurous life, which doesn't make any sense without Him anymore. I don't follow religion or "church" as an institution, I follow Jesus, my best friend, and I love to be and journey with those who have the same passion.   She hangs out with Jesus Freaks and other New Age people, lives in a commune, has piercings and tattoos.  She has had tattoos done since becoming a Christian. Somehow, I don’t think there are many denominations that would accept her into their flock unless she was willing to change and conform.  Yet through her tattoos she preaches to others explaining what the pictures and writing mean.  She goes to New Age gatherings and shares her experience of God with them.  I love her sense of freedom.  It’s not for everyone but surely her way of communicating with God and showing Him to others is just as valid as others who attend conferences and the latest centre of God’s outpouring of signs and wonders.  Looking at the variety of God’s creation, whether plants, animals, mountains, deserts or other landscapes, surely we know that variety is part of God’s nature.  He loves diversity.  There are many ways of communicating and mine is only one of them.  Others ways are not wrong or invalid, they are just different.  They say that variety is the spice of life.  We are in danger of making God smaller than He really is when we limit His expression to only our way.  We cannot limit God to our small way of thinking.  He has a habit of refusing to be limited.  We are reminded of when they tried to silence Jesus.  They thought they had been successful but then God ripped down the curtain in the Temple and burst out into the world.  That's my limitless God!

The Whole Truth

I was reminded this week of a very dear uncle in Argentina.  He was one of seven children born to Henry Booth and his wife. Henry was a missionary from the UK working with the Salvation Army in Argentina.  This particular uncle was christened William after the founder of the Salvation Army, William Booth.  He was known affectionately as Tío Willy (tío means uncle).  Many of the descendants of Henry followed in his footsteps and became full time ministers in the church.  Tío Willy was different.  As an adult he didn’t commit to organised religion.  He also remained single until quite advanced in years, eventually marrying a lady who had been a constant companion for many years.  Although I’m part of the family only through marriage, I have very fond memories of him.  What I do remember very well about Tío Willy was that everybody loved him.  He was always fun to be with.  He played with his nieces and nephews and as the years passed with their children also.  But amidst all the banter and fun there was always a wise comment that stayed with us, as cousin Tommy reminded me this week.  He ‘preached’ but in a different way and I think we probably remember his words more than the many sermons we heard.

E Stanley Jones

I was also reminded this week of a book I read about 50 years ago about another missionary, E Stanley Jones.  Julie Hogben is reading his life story and commented on it in her blog.  Thanks Julie for the reminder of this remarkable man. Often missionaries went to countries with a bit of empire spirit, going to convert the ‘heathens’ to a Western way of thinking, dressing and behaving.  E Stanley Jones was greatly influenced by the words of a Hindu judge when he said to him, ‘We want you, if you come in the right way’.  He discovered that a better way was to become more like those he had gone to teach and be with – being one of them and learning to understand their ways and lifestyle.  He was also greatly influenced by Ghandi with whom he became great friends and wrote a book about him and how he was a man who changed things for the better for his fellow Indians but by peaceful protest.  Ghandi was not a Christian but had great wisdom and truth.  It was this book and Ghandi’s example that influenced Martin Luther King to peaceful protest in the USA against racism.

Once on a long train journey E Stanley Jones, ever the eager evangelist, spoke to an English-speaking Muslim and shared with him the Sermon on the Mount.  When he had finished he expected the Muslim to seek conversion to Christianity and was surprised when he said, ‘We have the same thing in our Sacred Book’.  I also know of a person in my extended family who has become a Muslim of her own free will.  She had been born into and brought up in a Christian home with both parents being church ministers but wanted to learn about Islam and decided that it was how she felt she was able to express her spirituality in a better and more fulfilling way.  There is sometimes an attitude among non-Christians that all religions are the same and that only the paths to God are different.  As a Christian I can’t go along with that but believe that Jesus, the Son of God is the true way.  However I do think that we miss much by dismissing all non-Christians out of hand without really knowing much if anything about how they think or what they really believe.  I sometimes wonder if I had been born into a Hindu home in India would I be a Christian today?  Or if I had been born in Russia or China, would I be a Christian?

Someone once said, ‘everything in the Bible is true but not all truth is in the Bible’.  I do think that we can look and learn from the wisdom of others, even though they walk a different path.  It’s quite arrogant on our part, I fear, that we in the west think we have a monopoly on the truth.  For too many centuries western Christianity has sought to impose its way of thinking on others with a rather patronising, colonial attitude while at the same time missing some great truths and practices from which we could learn much.  We need only to think of history – the Crusades, the Inquisition and the massacre of whole tribes of New World Indians in order to ‘convert’ the world to our Christian beliefs and ways.  God is in all and loves ALL His creation, even those who are NOT like us and He appears where He wills.

I close with the words of E Stanley Jones in his book ‘The Christ of the Indian Road’.

Christianity is actually breaking out beyond the borders of the Christian Church and is being seen in the most unexpected places.  If those who have not the spirit of Jesus are none of His, no matter what outward symbols they possess, then conversely those who have the spirit of Jesus are His, no matter what outward symbols they may lack.  

Class

The three classes - upper, middle and lower.

This week we have been informed that now we are no longer three classes in the UK – upper, middle and lower (working) class.  We are now seven classes.  The BBC website allows you to ‘take the test’ and see which class you belong to.  I was intrigued, not to find out my social standing but to see what the questions were – on what is this decision based.  To be frank, I don’t really care what class other people think I belong to and if that bothers them then they have a problem, not me.  To be in the upper class, or elite as it is now known, much depends on your income and savings, in other words how much money you have.  No surprise there then.  Other questions are about social and cultural activities.  They give a list of various occupations and ask if you know any people in those occupations socially.  These range from Chief Executive, solicitor, university lecturer to shop assistant, farm worker or cleaner.  They want to know whether you go to the opera, ballet or listen to classical music, frequent the gym, take part in sports or have an account on Facebook or Twitter.  The answers to those questions apparently determine where I fit in society. 

There was nothing in there to ask about how I felt about injustice or if I was a cheat or frequently told lies or if I had killed anyone.  This week we have heard much about  Mick Philpot who deliberately started a fire that caused the death of six of his children.  Some attributed this to his social standing and way of living.  So I couldn’t help but think of Lord Lucan who also committed murder.  The only difference is that he somehow got away and his whereabouts are unknown so he was never judged for his crime.  It seems to me that being part of the elite (as Lord Lucan of the titled gentry is/was) or being unemployed and living on state benefits doesn’t seem to be a deciding factor.  Both committed a terrible crime against people they knew. 

Eton College

A ‘higher’ position on the social ladder depends a lot on hereditary factors, intelligence you happened to be born with, privileged background, expensive education and ‘who you know’.  There are liars, cheats, lazy, bad tempered and offensive people in all classes just as there are good, honest, hardworking and likeable people.  I’m sure we can all think of people from all classes of society who are good and bad.  Being educated at Eton and studying the classics at Oxford don’t guarantee you are a nice person just as going to the local comprehensive and leaving without any qualifications don’t make you a bad person.  But that seemingly is how the world judges us and labels us and so people desperately want to be thought of as more middle class than working class (as though somehow those in the middle class don’t actually work!).  Social status is important to them.

Does God really care whether I listen to classical music or nor?  Does it really matter in the big scheme of things whether I have an account on Facebook or Twitter?  (By the way Facebook I do but Twitter I don’t.)  Is it terribly important whether I rent or own the house I live in?  I am me, the person God made me.  Being what God wants me to be and doing what God wants me to do are what really count.  The Bible teaches that all are equal before God.  Paul says that it doesn’t matter about our gender, nationality or status in life, whether elite or lowest of the workers, we are all loved by God and are equal in His sight.  Jesus says in Luke (13:30) ‘the first shall be last and the last shall be first’.  God sees us in a different way.  He doesn’t see how much wealth we have accumulated or what music we listen to or which postcode we live in.  He sees beyond that into our hearts and sees what sort of people we are.  His ways are not our ways.  And He tells us that we shouldn’t judge others by outward appearances or what sort of clothes they wear or what sort of house they live in. 

Lord, help me to see others through Your eyes.