Category Archives: Words

Why Two Words are Better than Three -A Short Spanish Lesson-

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Words have the power to bring life or death; joy or sadness; clarity or confusion; liberty or captivity. It is just amazing how much of our lives are built upon the words we have said and the words we have heard.

It is true then, that to know which words are better to use, and when to use them, is not an easy business. Now, if you happen to know more than one language you will find it very interesting to see how some words that are not part of your mother tongue are the perfect fit for a certain occasion, and no matter how hard you try to find a substitute for them in your own language, all seem too short.

For me this has been true, especially with one phrase, a powerful one: I love you

In English we love our cars, our new shoes, our country, our brownies, our coffee in the morning. In Spanish we like those (we could even be “enchanted” by those, as in the phrase: “Me encanta el café y el chocolate”).

In English we love our friends, our neighbors, our husband, our God. In Spanish we don’t.

We have two different phrases that help us distinguish between the way we love some of our friends and the way we love, for example, our husband.

In Spanish we have two ways of expressing our love:

Te quiero
 
 Te Amo

The difference?

Te quiero is a phrase that you would use to express your love for a good friend, for example.

Te amo is a totally different story.  

Te amo is special.  

Te amo is never said lightly.
 
Te amo is more intimate.

Te amo are the two words that are spoken softly in the ear of the wife.

Te amo are the words that a wife uses to sign a love letter for her husband.

Te amo are the words that a mom whispers to her baby in the arms, and the ones she says on the phone to her son living in another country.

Te amo are the words we say to our best friend, our brother, our sister who prays and cries with us through the darkest nights.

Te amo are the words a father tells her daughter every night.

Te amo are the words that I say in prayer to my God.

I am thinking that at times two words are better than three. Te amo and I love you will never mean the same. At least for me.

Learning to love,

Becky

On Learning the Art of the Handwritten Note -and a Winner-

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The journey on the Vast Ocean of Words continues and I am so happy that I am not sailing alone. Thank you, dear Friends, for joining me. You make it even more special.

Among the books I have planned to read on this journey is the one I started reading yesterday evening with one of my daughters: The Art of the Handwritten Note; A Guide to Reclaiming Civilized Communication by Margaret Shepherd. We enjoyed the preface and the first chapter so much that I just thought I would love it if you and I could have the opportunity to sit on a beautiful café to talk about this. Oh how I would love it if I could read some parts of it aloud to you (Yes, and you would finally get to hear my Mexican accent!) But well, let us pretend we are there… a little street in San Miguel de Allende in Mexico, and you are listening to me as I read to you…

“The handwritten note has so many virtues that you ought to reach for pen and paper first, before you pick up the phone or move the mouse. In contrast to a phone call, a handwritten note doesn’t arrive demanding to be read when you’ve just sat down to dinner; it courteously lets you know who sent it even before you open it; you won’t be annoyed by the sounds coming from the pens of compulsive note-writers at the next table in your favorite restaurant… And in contrast to e-mail, a handwritten note looks beautiful and feels personal; you won’t get an electronic virus from opening a handwritten note nor find a list of last week’s lamebrained jokes. You can still write a note by candlelight when your electricity fails, and mail your note while your server is down.”

“When a handwritten note comes in the mail, people pay special attention to what it says. It announces beyond a doubt that the reader really matters to you. Your handwritten insures that your words will be read and thought about in a way that can’t be mimicked by print, e-mail, or voice.”

 

“Furthermore, the handwritten note does more than inspire the reader who reads it; it inspires the writer who writes it. Your words not only look better when you write them, but the act of writing them enables you to choose better words. You’ll probably be pleasantly mysteriously surprised to find that the flowing line of pen and ink lets you express yourself in ways that key tapping just doesn’t allow.”

 

“A handwritten note is like dining by candlelight instead of flicking on the lights…”

 

What do you think? Do you have the habit of writing handwritten notes? Any thoughts on this?

*********************

As I promised, today I am announcing the winner of Douglas Wilson’s Book, Wordsmithy. Are you ready?

The winner is:

SUZANNE!
Suzanne, please send me your mail address at dailyonmywaytoheaven at yahoo dot com; I would love to send you your book soon.

Have a joyous week and take the time write a few beautiful and thoughtful handwritten notes.

Always under His shadow,

Becky

On Words Like Contemplation, Meditation, Thanksgiving, Religion and a Few More

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One of the many reasons I have decided to sail into the Vast Ocean of Words is that I would love it if we could be free again (like the Puritans, for example) to use words like contemplation, meditation, thanksgiving, religion, experience, emotion, hearing, silence, without being accused of promoting a false religion. I know, I know, context reigns, but let’s be sincere here. Many today have come to the point that the moment they see such words, they stop reading and just label the author as a terrible mystic (and there you have it,  another forbidden word: mystic)

So yes, I will be brave and I will take the risk (today and in the near future) and will use those words to say, for example:

I am a religious person who loves to contemplate God’s creation, and meditate on His Word in silence. (and no, I am not a Pantheist)I love it when I can hear God’s voice speaking to me in His Word. The whisperings of the Holy Spirit through the day reminding me of a Bible verse,  a person to pray for, or a hymn to sing.

I love to give thanks, one thousand times to my God when I see the gay colors in nature, the rainbow across the sky, my husband and children. I love that God made sex for His glory and I love the marriage bed. I am amazed that God used the allegory of marriage as his favorite to describe our union with Christ.

The experiences I have lived are real, and so are the emotions. I don’t ignore either of them, I face them, I deal with them. I bring them subject to the Word of God; I crucify those that oppose themselves against God’s Word and at the same time I cherish those that have helped me grow more in the faith.

I am not ready to give up the use of these words. They are rich and God-given to us; and maybe it is time for us to redeem them instead of censuring them by locking them up in a dark dungeon. Instead of excommunicating them from our vocabulary, we could start using them, I am sure many times those are just the right words we are looking for.

And to follow the advice of the experts in the craft of writing, let us look at some etymological definitions:

Meditation c.1200, “contemplation; devout preoccupation; devotions, prayer,” from L. meditationem (nom. meditatio), from pp. stem of meditari “to meditate, to think over, consider.”

 

Contemplation c.1200, “religious musing,” from O.Fr. contemplation or directly from L. contemplationem (nom. contemplatio) “act of looking at,” from contemplat-, pp. stem of contemplari “to gaze attentively, observe,” originally “to mark out a space for observation”

 

Thanksgiving 1530s, “the giving of thanks,” from thanks (n.) + giving. The noun thanks is attested from mid-14c., from the verb thank. In the specific sense of “public celebration acknowledging divine favors”

 

Religion c.1200 “conduct indicating a belief in a divine power,” from L. religionem (nom. religio) “respect for what is sacred, reverence for the gods,” in L.L. “monastic life” (5c.); according to Cicero, derived from relegere “go through again, read again,” from re- “again” + legere “read” (see lecture). However, popular etymology among the later ancients (and many modern writers) connects it with religare “to bind fast” (see rely), via notion of “place an obligation on,” or “bond between humans and gods.” Another possible origin is religiens “careful,” opposite of negligens. Meaning “particular system of faith” is recorded from c.1300.

Zinsser recommends in his book, On Writing Well, that one of the best ways to end a piece of writing is with a good quote, so my friends,  because I want to be a diligent student and this is my workbook, I’ll close with a few words of Spurgeon,

“There is something exceedingly improving to the mind
in a contemplation of the Divinity–
It is a subject so vast,
that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity;
so deep, that our pride is drowned in its infinity.

Other subjects we can compass and grapple with–
in them we feel a kind of self-content,
and go our way with the thought, “Behold I am wise.”

But when we come to this master-science,
finding that our plumb-line cannot sound its depth,
and that our eagle eye cannot see its height,
we turn away with the thought, that vain man would be
wise, but he is like a wild donkey’s colt; and with the
solemn exclamation–
“I am but of yesterday, and know nothing.”

No subject of contemplation will tend more to humble the
mind, than thoughts of God.”

Grace upon grace,

Becky

 

Please, take the time to read an excellent follow up to this conversation at Tried by Fire: Disarming the Gut Reaction

Trisha also wrote some wise words about “those dirty words” here.

 

Update: Diane at Theology for Girls has another great  post that goes hand in hand with all these: Isn’t it Time that We Stop  Devouring One Another?

Painting by J.M.W Turner, The Fighting Temeraire tugged to her last berth to be broken up, 1839

You still have time to enter the giveaway of Douglas Wilson’s book, Wordsmithy here.

For the Love of Words; Sailing into the Vast Ocean of Words -and a Giveaway-

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Isn’t it just amazing how God created everything with the power of His Word? It just blows my mind. And it amazes me how God gave us the gift of language, a way to communicate one to another, words to create, to give life (not in the sense like He does, of course), to bless -or curse-. And not only that but He, in His mercy, gave us a wonderful brain that can learn new languages. That, my friends, is pretty awesome!

So, I have decided to take advantage of this God-given gift and learn more about how to use English words -and sentences, and paragraphs, and commas, and all that- better. Yes, and you will be benefited too, I hope, as you find my writing getting clearer and cleaner 🙂

English is my second language, (I am sure you already knew -or by this time figured- that out. ) but sometimes I just doubt if I am really fluent. Specially when reading Chesterton. So, my friends, here I am, ready to sail into the vast Ocean of Words; and of course, I will be taking you with me, I am sure the adventure will be fun and profitable. I will be posting in this place quotes, rules, new words, and things like that; if you don’t want to come along, it’s OK, I will love you still.

The first book that stirred my soul into this adventure is one that I dare to say will be one of my favorite books in 2012: Wordsmithy: Hot Tips for the Writing Life by Douglas Wilson. The book is excellent; full of practical advice, encouragement and great quotes to keep in a commonplace notebook (so that you won’t forget, and use later).

See more about this book here.

A few of my favorite quotes are these:

“Pay attention to all the words you use every day -especially the words that are coming out of your mouth.” (p.22)

“If you want to say a lot, you need to have a lot to say” (p.24)

“Writing is a form of teaching, even when it is not being didactic in some formal kind of way. And the most contagious form of teaching is when an instructor loves his material in the presence of others -whom he also loves.” (p.26)

“Love what you observe, love what you write, and love those who read it.” (p.27)

“Wanting to write without reading is like wanting to grind flour without gathering wheat, like wanting to make boards without logging, and like wanting to have a Mississippi Delta without any tributaries somewhere in Minnesota. Output requires intake, and literary output requires literary intake.” (p.30)

“Read like someone who can afford to forget most of what you read. It does not matter because you are still going to be shaped by it.” (p.37)

“Set a lifetime pattern of reading books” (p.42)

“Read boring books on writing mechanics” (p.50)

“Dictionaries are books. Why can’t we read them?” (p.53)

“We {Christians} are people of the Word, and therefore we are people of words. Because we are people of words, we may, later on, be people of essays, poems, blog posts, screenplays, and novels.” (p.78)

“Love what you observe, love what you write, and love those who read it.” (p.79)

“God blesses giving, so every use of language, down to the lowliest tweet, ought to be thought as a gift to others. But when we give, we do not run out of what we are giving. If we are giving language that is thought through, language that is edifying, that is calculated to bless the other, then what on earth makes us think that God would let us run out?” (p.84)

“Your commonplace book is just a staging area. You are collecting things in order use them, to get them into your mind and heart and thence your writing.” (p.115)

“The world of actual language use is so complex and so messy that only God understands the English language. Only God is fluent.”

This book is so good, and I am so excited about this journey that I just can’t keep all this goodness for myself, after all, as one wise fellow said, “Writing is not solo work”. If you love words and sentences, and commonplace books, and want to sail with me into the vast Ocean of Words, then leave a comment here and I will enter your name in the giveaway of one copy of this book. (Feel free to share the news with your friends). I will announce the winner, God willing,  Tuesday, January 24.

Becky