Wednesday, February 5, 2014

How Come You're All the Time Usin' Words I Don't Know What They Mean?

This was what a script writer attributed to a chauffeur on a 40's soap opera. The writer wanted to be sure people understood that he was an ignorant man. Even as a kid, I got the point.

I fear the same two-tiered level of culture is still maintained in some churches today. I was a member of such a church. It had two distinct groups--the highly educated elite, and the dumb asses. At least that was what some thought.

The elite knew all about using Latin words and phrases to keep the lower level folks in their places. Now I'm all for using a little Latin to keep things straight. A number of plants are called "pigweed", but one called Amaranthus palmeri, a common, invasive weed is edible and nutritious. I believe it will some day rescue many of us from starvation.

So Latin, especially for plant names, can be very useful. But it can become a barrier too.

I remember one of the elite lamenting that a compatriot just couldn't accept the "hypostatic union". Oh my, listen to the effete elite's lament.

Has anyone numbered the vocabulary of Jesus? Though He created everything in the universe, and was God in human form, He did not use complicated speech. Not only did He eat with "sinners", but I am certain that they understood Him.

There is a Chinese proverb, "Where there is much ceremony, there is much deception." As a lowly dumb ass, I tangled with the elite. I found over dependance on degrees and a facade of intellect that was not there. I was even invited to join them, but found greater joy in being just what I was.

Do we really need a vocabulary greater than the one Jesus used?

No comments:

Post a Comment