Upside; Surprisingly Good News!

When asked if the divorce rate, and the crime rate was going up or down, what would your answer be? Yeah me too. Up, right? Not according to Dr. Bradley R E Wright, professor of Sociology at University of Connecticut in his entertaining little book, Upside. Citing many recent polls and research, he asks and answers questions about social topics from world income levels, to environmental concerns. Literary rates and life expectancy, even suicide rates are two other surprises. They've all improved statistically. In most of the areas he explores, Dr. Wright concludes, with a sprinkling of self-deprecating humor, that the world is a better place now than it has ever been.

I enjoyed reading this book, in part because I was intrigued by the title. In the middle of 'doom and gloom' news-casting and preaching, I needed cheering up. The good doctor has done it!

I received this book for free from Bethany House Publishers in return for my honest opinion.

The Gift of Language

Have you ever wondered what language Adam and Eve spoke?

I recently heard Ken Ham speak on the Origins of the Earth, and it got me to thinking about some assumptions that are commonly made about language.

First of all, we tend to believe that language began from a primitive state, and developed more sophistication as time went on. My experience with the English language is just the opposite. Although we are adding technical words daily, and creating cultural jargon, the language itself is becoming more utilitarian in nature, and in some cases more primitive. Take, for example the language of texting: Cn u c wut I mean? Most linguists agree that there is no evidence of primitive language in the historical record. When language appeared, it seemed to be highly complex.

Another assumption is that written language is an upgrade. Well, this may be true.  A physical symbol has greater historical presence than an oral (non-recorded, that is) recitation. But, the value of recitation, as it was used in 'old-school' education, is that it belongs exclusively to the learner's memory, and is therefore retrievable immediately, in any circumstance or location. Even the Kindle can't promise this!

We often think of language as a 'human invention'. The book of Genesis records God's words, "It was good," as being the first uttered.  As many questions as this raises, it also changes our way of looking at language. Communication, in the form of words, is a gift from God.

Imagine for a moment, a day without words. Enough said.

Junk Drawer of My Mind

It's time I sorted out the odd collection of things that are stuck in a corner of my brain. Feel free to check out if you have your own 'drawer' to clean. But I'm betting you have some of the same things in yours!

Unusual pronunciations:

Newscasters do this to annoy people like me - they change the syl-'la-bic accent from 'normal' usage. Ex. 'de-tails become de-'tails, har-'rass-ment becomes 'har-rass-ment. Why must they make up these new accents?

The word 'nuclear' gets mispronounced as 'nucular'. If they could read their own subtitles, this wouldn't happen! (Presidents sometimes do this too.)

Worn out phrases and words:

I read the last "that being said" I ever want to hear -  a couple years ago. Likewise the phrase, "Let me unpack this for you", makes me want to take a long vacation. I'll unpack myself, thank you.

Publishers dozing off?:

Twice, TWICE this year I've been in the middle of a good book, only to discover that a couple dozen pages are out of place, or missing. Who lets these books out of the gate?

Well-known authors get away with glaring editing problems. Tolstoy's lengthy War and Peace contains lots of, well, dryer lint caliber verbiage smack in the middle. That was a long time ago, you say? Well, Rowlings gets away with this too in The Goblet of Fire.

Useless odds and ends:

Does it bother anyone else that the library is always out of CS Lewis books? Oh, well. Just me then.

Vulgar bumper stickers, and appendages hanging from cars? Aren't there laws against this?

Labels on food often ONLY list certain culturally important ingredients, such as fat, sugar and calories.

It is not cute, in the interest of marketing, to re-spell right as 'rite' or are as 'r'. 

Well, that leaves only a few dust bunnies of verbal junk in the corners.Room for more to collect.

New Beginnings

Every day, we get a chance to start life all over. To chart a new course, to change direction, to take new wind into our sails. Often, it is a word, or a circumstance that causes us to feel a need for change.

Truth, when it is before us in the form of a story, a friend's look, a song or even just a 'knowing' can lead us almost intuitively into change, discovery and a discarding of something no longer necessary for health and well-being. So it is that I find myself at the headwind of a new perspective on my life, once again. This is not earth-shattering news, just a new day, coming a little later than yesterday, giving me another hour to think things through.

And I am thankful for it.

When we embrace truth, there is joy; when we are in the arms of a lie, there's the devil to pay.

Macbeth

I have always been struck by how timeless the words and themes of William Shakespeare are, even to the present day. Strains of the all-too familiar - love, deceit, murder, jealousy and guilt - run through every play.

My own experience of watching Macbeth it rendered it the bloodiest play I've seen of the bard's.

Friday night, I went to a high school production of Macbeth, and was once again astounded at how many phrases from Shakespeare's scripts have trickled into common usage. 'Double, double, toil and trouble',  'what's done is done' and 'screw your courage to the sticking place', are a few that I heard.

I went with my college age daughter, who is a thespian, and needed extra credit for her theater class. We had just settled into the first twenty minutes or so, about the time the show becomes quite ominous, and the stage filled with fog when Macbeth got even bloodier. "I have a bloody nose!" she whispered. I fumbled in my purse for a non-existent tissue. "Use your scarf!". I urged. Actually it was my scarf, and it was all we could find to staunch the dark red flow that we were trying to hide from the audience around us.We had chosen a seat that was far away from the exit, and a front row at that. There was no chance of going out without being completely disruptive. Finally, it stopped. We found a bottle of hand sanitizer and washed our hands multiple times.

The killing continued onstage. Macbeth and his wife were exposed as the murderers they were.

"I feel like I still have blood on my hands." My daughter whispered. When we got home, we noticed there was a spot of blood on the program. "I can't wait to hand this in to my teacher!" She said, delightedly. Four centuries later, and how relevant the bard is!

(Good thing we're not superstitious!)

Day What? Lake Tahoe From 33,000 Feet

Okay, I'm slacking off. I've skipped a whole week of posting. I could offer excuses, and this video will show one of the things my husband and I were doing this past week, but nonetheless, I'm back. The perspective a little mini-trip gives is so refreshing, isn't it?


Today, I'm thankful for you! Those of you reading this post. I'm humbled that you took the time, and I'm hoping that you'll share a word or two with me. Your feedback is invaluable. Your unique perspective is needed in the lives of those around you!


What are you thankful for, and why?
 

Day 7: Thankful For Family

I was a Hamilton for 27 years. I have always been proud to be a Hamilton. I have been equally as proud to be a Maris for 25 years. Both heritages consist of creative, God-fearing, hard-working European-American immigrants.  By next year I will almost have been a  Maris for as long as I'd been a Hamilton.

This weekend I spent time with more Marises than I'd ever seen at one time.

We celebrated Dad Maris's 80th birthday with most of his brothers and sisters, and all six of his children and most of their spouses. My mother-in-law and my sister-in-law tease each other by calling one another 'Mrs. Maris' because  it is our married name and we share it. More Mrs. Marises joined us! There were 5 of 7 original Marises present as well as all 6 of grandpa's children, and the in-law Maris wives. (This is beginning to sound like the St Ives poem about wives and cats!)

After several decades of people hearing my married name and asking if it had two r's, I was surrounded by a roomful of people who knew my name and shared it. There's some sort of gratification in that, you know?

To top it all, I discovered what I suspected. They're all lovely people with whom I would have wanted to spend time, even if I wasn't related! 

The party included lots of food (surprise) and lots of stories about Grandpa and their life in rural Kansas. There was some discrepancy about the memory of a butchered hog being hung in one of the bedrooms to cure, and a highly corroborated story about Grandpa (Robert is the oldest son, after all) being some sort of family policeman, keeping kids in line. No surprise there either.

Grandma Maris worked very hard to put it all together and bring people from multiple states in one month's time without Grandpa knowing!

But the best part of all was the signature half-grin on Grandpa's face all weekend long. It was a memory for a lifetime, and I'm honored to be part of such a wonderful family!