Have you ever noticed that you really find out how well you know something when you have to try to explain it to someone else?
K doesn't like tomatoes (yet), but he likes tomato soup. He was telling me that he had tomato soup for lunch and he said, "I'm just a tomato daver." What does that mean? He often makes up words...And when there is some kind of meaning there, it is cute. Like when he was little, and we would "buckle him in" his carseat, he would ask for us to "buckle him out" when we got home. But often he just makes sounds to be making sounds (it seems). This is actually a hindrance in his relationships with others, as they often don't understand what he means and they tend to give up on him (understandably).
So we had a little discussion about language on the way home from swimming. I asked him why he thought God invented language. "So we can talk to each other?" I think so. So I said, "K, schmwanke dink." He said, "What?" I said, "Exactly. You don't know whether I said, 'I love you' or 'Fasten your seatbelt', or something else." Language is hugely important, so we can tell each other things. But when we just make meaningless sounds at each other, it's an abuse of a precious gift.
I have heard it said that without words, there is no thought. I have pondered this for decades, and I think I have finally decided that I don't believe it. I mean, if I lean into the warm wind, I can appreciate it without words, I can thank the Maker without words, I can remember other warm winds without words.
I was walking the other morning and there was a slight breeze and most of the trees were gently waving their branches like people wave their arms in worship. But there was a group of trees--aspens?--whose branches didn't sway, but instead, the leaves shimmered. We have a lady at church whose hands quiver just like that. Her arms don't sway, but her hands quiver like that tree's leaves. I just laughed and laughed at the thought of her as an aspen tree, standing among the maples and oaks and evergreens. But I didn't need words to appreciate that humor.
I did, however, need words to share it with you. Language is a gift. It's meant to connect us. How often do we use it to create distance..... Just a thought.
K doesn't like tomatoes (yet), but he likes tomato soup. He was telling me that he had tomato soup for lunch and he said, "I'm just a tomato daver." What does that mean? He often makes up words...And when there is some kind of meaning there, it is cute. Like when he was little, and we would "buckle him in" his carseat, he would ask for us to "buckle him out" when we got home. But often he just makes sounds to be making sounds (it seems). This is actually a hindrance in his relationships with others, as they often don't understand what he means and they tend to give up on him (understandably).
So we had a little discussion about language on the way home from swimming. I asked him why he thought God invented language. "So we can talk to each other?" I think so. So I said, "K, schmwanke dink." He said, "What?" I said, "Exactly. You don't know whether I said, 'I love you' or 'Fasten your seatbelt', or something else." Language is hugely important, so we can tell each other things. But when we just make meaningless sounds at each other, it's an abuse of a precious gift.
I have heard it said that without words, there is no thought. I have pondered this for decades, and I think I have finally decided that I don't believe it. I mean, if I lean into the warm wind, I can appreciate it without words, I can thank the Maker without words, I can remember other warm winds without words.
I was walking the other morning and there was a slight breeze and most of the trees were gently waving their branches like people wave their arms in worship. But there was a group of trees--aspens?--whose branches didn't sway, but instead, the leaves shimmered. We have a lady at church whose hands quiver just like that. Her arms don't sway, but her hands quiver like that tree's leaves. I just laughed and laughed at the thought of her as an aspen tree, standing among the maples and oaks and evergreens. But I didn't need words to appreciate that humor.
I did, however, need words to share it with you. Language is a gift. It's meant to connect us. How often do we use it to create distance..... Just a thought.
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