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A language that is no longer being used by living persons may be called a dead language. Such a language does not change. But so-called living languages continue to change. Sometimes the meanings of words may change into quite opposite meanings. It is said that, in 1710, when England's Queen Anne visited the magnificent St. Paul's Cathedral in London which had recently been completed, she called it "awful, artificial and amusing." Christopher Wren, the famed architect who had designed it, considered her words a compliment. In present-day English, the word "awful" means "extremely bad or unpleasant, terrible", but in those days it meant "awe-inspiring, full of awe". These days, "artificial" may denote something "not genuine, feigned", but 300 years ago it meant something "artistic". And nowadays, "amusing" is used for something laughable, but for the Queen, it meant "amazing". Even today, some English words may have completely opposite meanings depending on the context. The word "oversight", for example, means both careful supervision and total neglect in the following sentence. The manager was responsible for the oversight of the project, but because of an oversight of his, it was a failure. -------When I began this "Daily Word" telephone service in 1980, I used an "answer phone" machine. Every night, I taped the message for the following day on the special "answer phone" tape and inserted it into the machine. Six years later, when the service was taken over by NTT, the messages were recorded on regular cassette tapes and played continuously on NTT equipment. Under both of these systems, tapes could be recorded ahead of time and played during my absence from home, but for the past five years, messages have been recorded on a chip in an NTT branch office. I record the messages every night about midnight by calling a coded number on my push-button telephone. Since messages can be recorded from any push-button telephone in Japan or overseas, during trips to the U. S., I have called in the messages daily from there. Tomorrow, I am scheduled to leave on a ten-day trip to the Philippines to speak at a church conference. Push-button telephones are not available there, so during my absence, my wife will be recording messages I have prepared ahead of time. From tomorrow, her voice will be heard on the telephone, recordings will be made a little earlier than usual and she may add a comment of her own. -------The American Declaration of Independence contains these very meaningful words: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men . . . ." Unfortunately, these noble sentiments, written in 1776, have not been realized in American society even today as unequal treatment continues to be administered depending on the racial or ethnic background of individuals. But 29 years ago today, on April 11th, another step was taken to outlaw such practices when President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968. In addition to extending broad rights to Native Americans in their dealings with courts and other authorities, it banned racial discrimination in the sale and rental of most homes and apartments throughout the land. Such "open housing" legislation had been proposed in previous sessions of Congress but had been defeated. It was the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. and the national outrage that followed that spurred the passage of such a bill on the third try. -------In Today's message my husband tells of his wedding he performed in January. In January, my nephew's wedding ceremony was held in the Illinois church of which the bride's father is the pastor. Some years ago, the bride's father and mother were divorced and both have since remarried. As a result, the parents of the bride and groom at that ceremony numbered six, instead of the usual four. The wedding was held on a Saturday afternoon. As the officiant, I wore the black robe I had carried in my suitcase from Japan. The most important part of a Christian wedding are the solemn promises made by the bride and groom in the presence of God and all those present, but during that particular ceremony, I asked for affirmations of commitment, approval and support from the parents of the bride and groom and all the relatives and friends in attendance as well. At that time, I asked the six parents and then the entire congregation to stand and give an oral response to my questions, for a truly happy marriage involves a wider group than the couple themselves. Following the ceremony, those present greeted the newlyweds and their parents in the reception line in the narthex, or vestibule of the church, after which we all dined together at a fancy restaurant. -------My husband says, I agree with the statement of the English statesman and orator, Edmund Burke, that "Man is by his constitution a religious animal." Some kind of religion is found in every culture and every ethnic group. There is a great variety of religious concepts, doctrines and ceremonies, but all human beings seem to have an innate hunger for the inner peace, strength, comfort, inspiration and hope that is gained through faith in a reality that cannot be apprehended by our physical senses. One of the elements that may be considered characteristic of a particular religion is the type of music it has produced to accompany its religious rituals. How would you characterize the religions you know in regard to the kind of music they have produced? Traditional Christian music is both majestic and joyful, expressing part of the biblical teaching regarding God's character and our human response to God. A number of the Old Testament psalms include the exhortation to "sing to the Lord" and that is one reason Christians gather together on Sunday mornings. But it is not only on the first day of the week that we should remember these words found in Psalm 118:24: "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." -------The word "mist" denotes fine droplets of water in the air. A dense mist may be called "fog". Fog and mist impede our vision, so if something is foggy or misty, it is unclear. This may lead people to presume that the words "mist" and "mystery" developed from the same root, for a "mystery" is something unclear and not fully understood. A story about a puzzling crime may be called a mystery. But many events that occur in nature or history may mystify us and seem mysterious and the roots of "mist" and "mystery" are completely different. "Mystery" is derived from a Greek word for something hidden or only partly revealed. It was also used for secrets understood only by a select group. In Philippians 4:19, the Apostle Paul called the "Gospel" a "mystery". -------Egypt is one of the most ancient civilizations. Over five thousand years ago, it had introduced a solar year of 365 days divided into twelve months of thirty days and in 2690 B.C., the Great Pyramid, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, was built near Cairo. One of the great kings, or pharaohs, of Egypt was Ramses II who died in 1225 B.C. after reigning for 67 years. Under him, Egypt gained great splendor and after his death a huge statue of him was erected in the ancient capital of Memphis. Over fifty years ago, that 60-ton granite statue was moved to Cairo where it became a famous landmark on a busy intersection of the city. Although it is washed regularly, it is suffering from the effects of urban pollution so there are plans to move the statue to the outskirts of the city, near the Giza Pyramids. This will also ease traffic congestion in Cairo. The unprecedented development during the reign of Ramses II was partly the result of slave labor. He is thought to have been the pharaoh who oppressed the Israelites as recorded in the first chapter of the Old Testament book of Exodus. It was from such oppression that God delivered the Israelites under Moses, a crucial event in Old Testament history. -------One hundred and twenty years ago today, on April 16, 1877, the 10th year of the Meiji era, William S. Clark left Sapporo after serving only eight months as the first principal of the new agricultural school he helped to establish there. Dr. Clark had served as a colonel in the American Civil War and subsequently as an educator and administrator. He was the president of the Massachusetts Agricultural College when he accepted the Japanese government's request to come to this country and establish an agricultural college here. An earnest Christian, he insisted on using the Bible in his class on ethics. As a result of the influence of his teaching and personal example, all fifteen members of that class became Christians. These dedicated students followed him on horseback as he departed. He shook hands with each of the young men and gave them the parting word that has become famous in Japanese history: "Boys, be ambitious!" Needless to say, Dr. Clark was not urging them to pursue self -centered fame. He was encouraging them to have a noble goal and constantly press on toward achieving it as the Apostle Paul taught in Philippians, chapter 3, verses 12-14. -------The country with the largest population in the world today is China. The second most populous country is India, which has about three-fourths of China's population, followed by the United States with a little over one-fourth of India's inhabitants. Both the names "India" and "Hindi" are taken from a Sanskrit word for "river", but that Indus River no longer flows in India. It is now entirely in Pakistan. India has an ancient civilization whose influence is seen even in mistaken terms that make use of its name. The so-called Indians of North and South America were mistakenly given that name by Columbus who thought he had reached Asia when he arrived at islands in the Caribbean Sea, which are now called West Indies. However, in Japan also, the stick of black ink, or 'sumi', used to write Chinese characters is called "India ink" in the mistaken belief that it came from India. Actually, it is a product of China and is more correctly called "Chinese ink". "India paper," the creamy-colored printing paper made of vegetable fiber, also was originally made in China and very thin paper used in printing Bibles in Great Britain was called "India paper" because it was imported from the Far East through what was called the India trade. -------In Japan, September 1st is called Disaster Prevention Day, commemorating the Kanto earthquake which occurred on that day in 1923. In that disaster, more homes and lives were lost as a result of the subsequent fires than from the earthquake itself. A similar catastrophe occurred 17 years earlier in the U. S. state of California. Ninety-one years ago today, on April 18, 1906, at 5:12 a. m., church bells in San Francisco jangled as the earth below them began to quake. The tremor lasted for over one minute and reached 8.25 points on the Richter scale. That San Francisco earthquake and fire has been called the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States of America. Immediately following the earthquake, fires broke out which continued to burn for three days. Because the quake had caused water mains to break, firemen pumped water from the bay to try to put them out. About 1150 hectares of the city were destroyed, including the business district and three-fifths of the city's houses. Over 500 people lost their lives or were missing. An Italian novelist has written: "An earthquake achieves what the law promises but does not in practice maintain--the equality of all men." -------Since I was asked to make a special trip to northern Illinois to officiate at the wedding of my nephew in January, that event provided the opportunity for a family reunion, which does not occur very often in our case. An older sister and her husband drove for over a thousand kilometers on snowy roads from the southeastern state of North Carolina to attend. They also stayed for a few days in the home of our younger sister, the mother of the groom, where I also was staying. Their son from the eastern state of West Virginia also attended. My youngest sister came with her husband, a son and daughter, from the state of Michigan. Her two other daughters came separately from the state of Maryland and from Switzerland. My eldest sister from another city in northern Illinois with her two sons was also present, along with my brother and his wife from central Illinois who drove through the snow to attend. My niece and two nephews, sister and brothers of the groom who live in the Chicago area, were also present and participated in the ceremony. As a result, during that short visit, I was able to see all of my siblings and most of my nephews and nieces as well, but all of us were sorry that my wife was unable to attend. -------In the Old Testament, descendants of Abraham were called to be God's chosen people, but they were not chosen because of any attractive element in their national character. It was simply the unilateral decision of God to designate them as his witnesses. Insofar as the Jews fulfilled their mission, they experienced God's blessing but disobedience brought his judgment upon them. The Old Testament also contains stories of individuals who were called by God to be leaders or to convey his word to people. They also were not chosen because of their natural abilities but simply because of the divine will. Stories related to the calls of Moses in Exodus chapters 3 and 4, of Gideon in Judges, chapter 6, of Solomon in I Kings, chapter 3 and of Jeremiah in Jeremiah, chapter 1, have a common element. In each case, the individual tried to refuse God's call because of a feeling of inability to accomplish God's purpose. But in each case, God promised to be with the person and to provide what was required to fulfill the divine plan. It is so today also. God continues to call people to accomplish his will in the world, and, despite our weaknesses, he promises to be with us and provide what is needed. -------There are three English words pronounced 'rein'. The most common one, spelled r-a-i-n, denotes the drops of water that fall from the sky. Another, spelled r-e-i-n, signifies a long, leather strap used to control an animal. The third, spelled r-e-i-g-n, denotes royal power or authority. Do you know which of these three words becomes the prefix of the particular kind of deer found in the arctic regions and said to pull the sleigh of Santa Claus at Christmas time? Though the word is spelled r-e-i-n-d-e-e-r, this "rein" is not related to a strap to guide the deer. Actually, 'hreinn' is the Old Norse word for that animal to which the suffix, which originally meant a wild animal, has been added. One peculiarity of reindeer is that both the male and female have antlers. -------There are a number of different meanings for the abbreviation "fr." In the Roman Catholic Church, when written before a man's name, it may mean "Father", or shinpu in Japanese, and denote a priest who must remain celibate throughout his life. This kind of "father" is not legitimately able to become a father in the normal, biological sense. Ministers in Protestant churches are permitted to marry and thus become fathers but they are not called "Father" as a title. They are commonly called "Pastor", or bokush, meaning "shepherd". Another meaning of the abbreviation "fr." in the Roman Catholic Church is "friar", which comes from the Latin word for "brother". A friar is a member of a religious order that seeks alms, or offerings, for their livelihood and, thus, may be called a mendicant, or beggar. Friars, or shudoshi, live together as brothers in a monastery, or shudoin. Another meaning for this abbreviation is "France" or "French". It is also used for "franc", the monetary unit of France and over two dozen other countries. But the terms "Francophile" and "Francophobe" are not used for people who admire or fear that particular currency but who like or dislike France, its people and its culture. -------Bill Clinton is the 41st man to serve as president of the United States of America, but he is called the 42nd president because one man, Grover Cleveland, served for two non-consecutive terms, making him both the 22nd and the 24th president. All of the 41 presidents were married men, except for the one who was born 206 years ago today, on April 23, 1791. James Buchanan, the 15th president became a lawyer at the age of 21 and was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives when he was 23. After the sudden death of his fiancee, he remained a bachelor until his death at 77. He served in the U. S. House of Representatives and Senate, as the American ambassador to Russia and Great Britain and as Secretary of State before becoming president in 1856. At social functions, his orphaned niece acted as his hostess. In the growing hostility between slave-holding states of the South and abolitionists in the North, Buchanan was personally opposed to slavery, but he refused to assert the power of the federal government over the constitutionally-guaranteed rights of individual states. Consequently, it was up to his successor, Abraham Lincoln, to settle this difficult problem, which resulted in the Civil War. -------There are three English words pronounced 'freez'. The one spelled f-r-e-e-s is a form of a verb meaning to set at liberty. A jailor frees a prisoner by opening the door of the jail. When spelled f-r-e-e-z-e, the word means to change from a liquid to a solid state by loss of heat. One may freeze water by putting it in a freezer. The third word, spelled f-r-i-e-z-e, may denote a group of sculptures as a decoration around the wall of a room. In the U. S. Supreme Court, there is a marble frieze of great lawgivers of history, including Moses Napoleon and Mohammed. Two months ago, the Council on American-Islamic Relations sent a message to court officials asking that Mohammed's figure be removed from the frieze because he is protrayed with a sword in his right hand while holding the Koran in his left. The Council thinks that figure encourages viewers to consider Mohammed and Muslims as "intolerant conquerors". Chief Justice Rehnquist, however, refused to grant the request. He said that altering the frieze would harm its artistic integrity and that swords are used throughout the court's architecture as a symbol of justice. In Ephesians 6:17, a sword is used as a symbol of the Word of God. -------Today, April 25th, is the birthday of an Italian electrical engineer and inventor, a pioneer in the development of wireless communication and the first Italian to be awarded the Nobel prize for physics, which he received in 1909. His name reminds me of a famous Italian food made from wheat flour which originated in Italy and is similar to spaghetti. This kind of pasta, however, is hollow and is called macaroni. This word is found in the famous American song, Yankee Doodle: "Yankee Doodle came to town / Riding on a pony; / Stuck a feather in his cap / And called it Macaroni." Now, do you know the name of the Italian inventor? He was born of an Italian father and an Irish mother in the Italian city of Bologna on this day in 1874 and his name is Guglielmo Marconi. In 1895, Marconi, making practical use of the research and theories of others, succeeded in sending signals between two points in Italy not connected by wires. Six years later, he sent a signal across the Atlantic Ocean between England and Canada, opening the way for global wireless telegraphy and radio. His optimistic view is seen in this quotation: "Every day sees humanity more victorious in the struggle with space and time." -------The wedding at which I officiated in January was held on a Saturday afternoon in Crystal Lake, Illinois. The following day, I gave a short talk to one division of the Sunday School at my home church in Zion, Illinois, after which I stepped into a pastor's room in the church office to make the phone call to Japan to record the "Daily Word" message for Monday. At the morning worship service, I preached the sermon, the title of which was "Called to Be a Witness". Following the service, I was happy to greet many friends and acquaintances in the narthex. My brother-in-law had reserved a large room in the town's recreation center across the street from the church for our family members to have lunch together, so there was another opportunity to chat with siblings and their offspring. My eldest sister had brought many old snapshots she had recently found which our father had taken decades ago which we enjoyed looking at. Early the following morning, my sister drove a niece and me to the Chicago airport, where the niece was scheduled to fly to Washington, D.C. and I was scheduled to fly to Nagoya, via Salt Lake City and Portland. From the airport, I made my final call to Japan to record the "Daily Word" message for Tuesday. -------All too frequently these days, we read or hear of politicians or businessmen who have deceived others for personal profit. Because they were "greedy for gain", they violated both national and moral laws. But this is not a new problem. Over 2500 years ago, an Old Testament prophet named Jeremiah was troubled by a similar situation in his day. In chapter 6, verses 13-15 of the book that bears his name, he accused the general public, "from the least to the greatest" of being "greedy for gain", but he singled out the religious leaders in particular. "Prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit", he exclaimed. He charged those religious leaders with simply mouthing platitudes that people wanted to hear instead of proclaiming the judgment of a holy God upon human wickedness. "They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. 'Peace peace,' they say, when there is no peace." Unfortunately, human nature hasn't changed over the centuries and many political and religious leaders in our day also try to gain popularity and to enrich themselves by deceiving people with consoling words rather than clearly stating unpleasant truths. And, as Jeremiah added, it seems that they are not ashamed of what they are doing. -------Many words in Japanese that have been transliterated from foreign languages are used with a different meaning than that of the original language. Take the word waishatsu, for example. This word for a man's dress shirt is an abbreviated form of the English word "white shirt" but in Japanese, a waishatsu may be any color. As a matter of fact, however, we may find a similar example of a common English word that is used differently than the French word from which it came. A "blanket" is a large piece of woven material of any color which is used as a covering. This word is derived from the French word blanc, spelled b-l-a-n-c, meaning "white". From the same French word, we get the English words "blank", spelled with a "k" and "blanch", ending in "ch". -------Today is a national holiday in Japan. Ninety-six years ago on this day, a child was born in Tokyo to Japan's Crown Prince Yoshihito and Princess Sadako. He was given the name Hirohito. In 1922, due to the illness of his father, he was named Prince Regent and upon the death of Emperor Taisho, on December 25, 1926, he become the Emperor. For the following 24 years, his birthday was celebrated under the formal name of Tencho-setsu, but after the war, the more informal Tenno-tanjobi was used as the name of this holiday which became the first day of the consecutive holidays of "golden week". Following his death in 1989, rather than eliminate the holiday, it was renamed 'Midori-no-hi', or "Green Day". In English, "green" has a number of different connotations. Something or someone that is young, fresh, immature or inexperienced may be called "green". Green is also associated with jealousy, made famous in a Shakespearean drama in which jealousy is called a "green-eyed monster". A "green light", of course, is a signal to proceed and a "green belt" is the land around an urban area where the natural environment is protected. In the 23rd Psalm, the divine Shepherd leads his sheep into green pastures. -------"Bara ga Saita" is a popular Japanese folk song about a red rose that has blossomed. It was composed by Kuranosuke Hamaguchi in 1966, for which the composer, a graduate of Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo, received the Tokyo Grand Prix. The song is not only popular in Japan. It has been given a surprisingly favorable reception in a country that still does not have fully normalized relations with Japan. The No. 83 Middle School in St. Petersburg, Russia's second largest city, has adopted the song as its school's anthem. Influenced by the song, the school stationery bears the image of a red rose and a paper crane. The school with some 200 students is now commonly called the "Rose School". A lady who had worked for a major Japanese trading company in Leningrad, the former name of St. Petersburg, before becoming a Japanese language teacher at the school was the one who introduced the song to the school. Now, Aoyama Gakuin is considering the Russian school's request to introduce an exchange program between the two schools. Mayumi Hamaguchi, the wife of the composer who died in 1990, expressed her wish to "help foster a big ring of friendship like the roses in full bloom my husband wrote about." -------A piano is a musical instrument with a manual keyboard. When a key is pressed, a small hammer strikes a wire that produces a sound. Beautiful music can be produced by skilled pianists, but years of practice is required to become proficient. Many Japanese children take piano lessons and it is reported that there is one piano in every four households in Japan. But because the traditional method of instruction includes continual practicing of scales and repeated finger drills, children often become bored and discontinue their training. Consequently, the piano becomes an unused piece of furniture in many homes. Recently, however, piano lessons for adults have become popular and CDs produced to coach older piano students are now available. The Yamaha Company began piano lessons for adults three years ago with 300 participants, but the number increased 10-fold in one year. Instruction is designed to enable people to enjoy playing without going through rigorous training and now, about 8000 adults, mostly in their 40s or 50s, are taking piano lessons two or three times a week. By listening to CDs and following the instruction, music can be produced even by those who cannot read music but who find enjoyment in playing. -------In Japanese tradition, 88 is an auspicious number. A special celebration is held for people who reach the ripe old age of 88. Because the Chinese character for "rice" can be divided into three parts resembling the characters for 8-10-8, or 88, that 88th birthday is called the "rice age". Devout Buddhists make pilgrimages to 88 temples related to the Buddhist monk, Kobo Daishi, on the island of Shikoku or to 88 temples in more convenient locations. And this 88th night after the traditional beginning of spring on February 2nd has a special significance to the farming community in Japan. It signifies the beginning of the rice planting season since there is no longer any fear of damage from frost and the seasonal change from spring to summer is approaching. Consequently, today is a traditional day of celebration in some rural areas. In the West, the number 88, whether indicating days, nights or years has no special significance, but people with a mathematical bent may be interested to know that the square of this repeated digit has two repeated digits: 7744. As we begin this rice planting season, let us consider the kinds of seeds we are scattering by our words and actions and the kind of fruit they will bear. -------When I began composing these "Daily Word" messages over 16 years ago, they were simply oral messages transmitted by telephone to give Japanese students of English an opportunity to listen to short, informative, interesting, meaningful messages by a native English speaker at anytime of day or night. One aim was to help such students improve their ability to understand spoken English. Later, printed copies of the spoken messages were distributed to those requesting them. Then, the messages were introduced into the English Forum of the NIFTY-Serve computer network and now they are also on the Internet. Consequently, there are now more readers of the messages than listeners to them, but I still think of them as spoken messages when I compose them. Topics of the messages are very varied, but it has become customary for my Sunday messages to focus on a Bible passage or some Biblical truth and for Saturday messages to be related to personal experiences, whether in Japan or overseas. I have recently returned from a 10-day trip to the Philippines and for a few weeks, beginning next week, my Saturday messages will be related to observations and experiences related to that trip. -------A person who offers to perform certain tasks of his or her free will is called a volunteer. Such a person is not pressured to do such work nor enticed by financial considerations. To become a volunteer, in the original sense of the word is a completely voluntary decision. Voluntas, the Latin root of this word means "free will" or "choice". There are many opportunities these days for people to serve as volunteers in charitable, social or religious movements. People with sensitive hearts who see others in physical or spiritual need volunteer to help. A good example of a volunteer is found in the story in the Old Testament book of Isaiah, chapter 6. Following a vision of the majestic, holy Lord Almighty, Isaiah was conscious of his weakness and impurity. But after being symbolically purified, he heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send?" and he responded, "Here am I. Send me!" This is the expression of a genuine volunteer spirit: freely offering one's services to fulfill a perceived need. True religious leaders or workers for social betterment are those whose hearts have been cleansed of selfish desires and who have heard the voice of God or seen the needs of others and responded: "Here am I. Send me!" -------Today is a Japanese holiday called Children's Day. This fifth day of the fifth month was originally a festival for boys who were encouraged to develop the strength and perseverance of carp that jump over rocks as they swim against the current of a swift-flowing stream. So today, many carp streamers are seen tied to poles, flying in the wind. Most plurals of English words are formed by adding "s" to the end of the singular form, but "children" is an irregular plural. An old English form of "child" was spelled with an "e" at the end, a word which may still be used for a child of noble birth. The plural of that form was "childre" , from which "children" was derived. In Japanese, today is called Kodomo no Hi, but what is the difference between a 'ko' and a 'kodomo'? -------A number of English words related to the mind and mental processes begin with the prefix "psycho". "Analysis" may denote a separation of particular elements to determine their nature and mutual relationships. When these two terms are united to form "psychoanalysis", they signify a psychological technique used to discover the cause of some mental illnesses by letting a patient talk freely about ideas, memories and dreams. This techinque, based on the theory that some neuroses are caused by repressed feelings and forgotten experiences, was originated by Sigmund Freud, an Austrian psychiatrist who was born 141 years ago today, on May 6, 1856. At first, Freud made use of hypnosis in order to elicit repressed or forgotten memories but later he used the "free association of sensations, feelings and ideas. He wrote: "Look into the depths of your own soul and learn first to know yourself, then you will understand why this illness was bound to come upon you and perhaps you will thenceforth avoid falling ill." Self-understanding may be helpful, but from a biblical perspec tive, there is a more basic illness which affects all human beings and the "Good News" of the New Testament is how to have that spiritual burden taken away. -------Today is the 136th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding Indian poet, philosopher, novelist, essayist and composer, Sir Rabindranath Tagore. Born into a wealthy Bengali family, Tagore went to London to study law when he was sixteen years old. After returning to India, he managed his father's estates for a while but became involved in the Indian nationalist movement and began writing for Bengali publications. In 1901, he founded a school which developed into a university that emphasized social reform, international unity and rural reconstruction. He translated many of his writings into English and, in 1913, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. In 1915, he was knighted by George V, but renounced that honor four years later to protest British suppressive measures in Punjab. He wrote approximately 50 dramas, 100 books of poetry (much of which he set to music), 40 volumes of novels and shorter fiction and books of essays and philosophy. He exhibited paintings he made after the age of 68 in European cities and died at the age of 80. The following quotation of his reminds me of the Bible verse in James 1:19: "There are plenty of men to say good things, but very few listen. That requires strength of mind." -------When the word pronounced jeens is spelled j-e-a-n-s, it denotes a kind of pants or trousers made of strong, twilled cotton cloth that are popular among young people these days, but if the "j" is capitalized and there is an apostrophe before the "s", it may denote something belonging to a girl named Jean. Another word with the same pronunciation is spelled g-e-n-e-s. If this word is spelled with a capital "g" and has an apostrophe before the "s", it may indicate something that belongs to a boy named Gene, but as a common noun "genes" denote an important hereditary unit of a human being, called idenshi in Japanese. Scientists have recently reported that food preferences may depend on a person's genes. People who have more taste buds on their tongues are more sensitive to taste and dislike foods that are quite bitter. As a result, they may avoid eating foods, such as spinach or broccoli, that are good for them. We can't tell if we like or dislike a new food by only looking at it. We need to taste it. To "taste" may also mean to "experience", and it was out of his own experience that an Old Testament poet wrote in Psalm 34::8: "Taste and see that the Lord is good." -------At some schools and under certain conditions, if a student is absent on the day of an examination or, for some other reason, is unable to take the exam, he or she may be permitted to take the same or a similar exam at a later time. In this case, the examination is called a "make-up", or a tsui-shiken in Japanese. A more common use of "make-up" is related to the cosmetics that women apply to their faces, supposedly to enhance their beauty. Originally, this word was used for actresses or actors in preparation for their appearance on stage in a drama. In this case, "make-up" can be spelled either with or without a hyphen and may be used as a verb as well as a noun. By applying makeup, a person is covering up what is natural for a more pleasing, artificial appearance so, as a verb, "make up" may also mean to construct a false or fictional story. Some adults as well as children make up excuses to avoid punishment. And the verb may also denote the resolution of a quarrel. If you have an argument with your friend, relative or anyone else, it is well to try to make up quickly rather than to let the ill feelings continue for a long time. In Matthew 5:25, Jesus' advised his listeners to "Settle matters quickly with your adversary." -------Because the Protestant Church to which I belong has a number of churches in the Philippines, I have made a number of visits to that country to visit churches there since I came to Japan. On April 11th, I made my tenth trip to that country to speak at the national conference of our churches and to preach at churches in Metro Manila. According to the information received from my ticket agent, my flight was scheduled to leave at 10:20 a.m. and as it was an international flight, I was told to be at the airport two hours before departure and pick up my reduced-fare ticket at a Group Counter there. I drove our car to the airport accompanied by my wife who moved to the driver's seat after I got out and continued on to her school. When I checked in at the Group Counter and received my ticket, I was informed that the schedule had changed beginning April 1st and my flight to Manila was scheduled to leave an hour later, at 11:20. Since I always carry plenty of reading material with me when I travel, I was not upset and the earlier time was more convenient for my wife, but I did call her school to inform her that my return flight would arrive in Nagoya an hour earlier than we had planned and to ask her to meet me at that time. -------All religions have rituals or ceremonial rites that are performed regularly or on special occasions. Some religions emphasize the importance of performing certain rituals and performing them exactly right in order to gain some desired benefit. In the Old Testament law also, many rituals are prescribed and devout Jews carefully observed them. Certain Old Testament prophets, however, made clear that what God really required was not ritualistic ceremonies at stated times but ethical behavior at all times. This is also the emphasis of Jesus in the New Testament. But we also find the same teaching given in the so-called Wisdom Literature in the Old Testament. In the book of Proverbs, chapter 21, verses 2-3, it is written: "All a man's ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart. To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice." On two occasions (recorded in Matthew chapter 9, verse 13 and chapter 12, verse 7), Jesus quoted the words of the Old Testament prophet Hosea that God desired "mercy, not sacrifice". Religious people today also should seriously consider what is of primary importance in their religious activities. Is it rituals or righteousness? -------As a slang expression, we may say of a man who acts strange that he does not have all his buttons, meaning he is a bit eccentric or crazy, but literally, a "button", spelled b-u-t-t-o-n, is a small, flat disk which is used to fasten two parts of a garment when passed through a slit called a "buttonhole". In British English, a "buttonhole" may also denote the flower or small bunch of flowers worn in a buttonhole, also called a "boutonniere". In fact, "boutonniere" is actually the French word for "buttonhole". When used as a verb, however, "buttonhole" means to detain a person in conversation. In a social gathering, if you buttonhole a person, you purposely draw that person aside to talk individually as though you were grabbing him by a button and "button-holding" him. -------Australia is both the largest island in the world and the smallest continent. Animals found only in Australia include kangaroos, koalas, platypuses, wombats and dingoes. Australian aborigines are thought to have migrated from Southeast Asia about 20,000 years ago, but European explorers first landed there in the 17th century. In 1770, Captain James Cook claimed the eastern coast of the continent for Great Britain and, eventually, the entire island came under British control. At first, Australia was used as a dumping ground for criminals, bankrupts and other undesirables from the British Isles. It was 210 years ago today, on May 13, 1787, that a fleet of 11 ships left England to establish the first European settlement on that continent. They included two warships, three ships carrying supplies and six transport ships with 730 convicts. The journey took eight months and by the time they arrived at Sydney Cove, there were 40 less passengers than when they departed. Australia has many natural resources and has developed into one of the world's great trading nations. Caucasians now make up 95 percent of its population of 18 million; 1 percent are aborigines and 4 percent are of Asian lineage. -------Some diseases cause the skin to erupt and produce a kind of blister filled with pus. Such an eruption may be called a pock, spelled p-o-c-k, and a scar or pit in the skin left by such a disease is called a pockmark. The old plural of pock was pox, spelled p-o-x, but now pox denotes certain diseases that cause pocks and pockmarks, including small pox in human beings and cowpox in cows. Chicken pox, however, is not a disease of chickens but of young children, called mizuboso, in Japanese. The Japanese word for smallpox, tennento, literally means a natural blister. In years gone by, smallpox was a fearful, highly contagious disease that caused many deaths throughout the world, but now it is no longer a threat because of a vaccine which can be used to prevent it. The word "vaccine", spelled v-a-c-c-i-n-e, is rooted in a Latin word meaning "of cows" and, in fact, this vaccine does come from cows. First developed and used by an English physician named Edward Jenner, it was just 201 years ago today, on May 14, 1796, that Dr. Jenner used the vaccine he had produced on an 8-year-old boy, James Phipps, and thus laid the foundation for modern immunology. -------The rough, noisy sound made by pigs or horses while breathing forcefully through the nostrils is called a "snort". When human beings make snorting noises while sleeping, however, it is called a "snore", which ends in an "e" rather than a "t". In Tom Sawyer Abroad, Mark Twain wrote that "There ain't no way to find out why a snorer can't hear himself snore", but certain facts regarding snoring are known--not only as the result of scientific studies, but from the experience of people who live or sleep with snorers. Studies show that 82 out of 100 people who snore when asleep on their backs stop snoring when they turn on their sides. Also, people who are overweight tend to snore more than those who are thin. This is not only because such a person has more flabby tissues. A fat person tends to prefer sleeping on his or her back. Studies at the University of Florida also revealed that men who prefer to sleep on their backs outnumber women who do so by four to one. Restful sleep is a blessing and we find these significant words in Ecclesiastes 5:12: "The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep." Anxiety often accompanies affluence. -------When the suffix "ette", spelled e-t-t-e, is affixed to a word, it may give the added meaning of small, as in "dinette", or of female, as in "usherette". Every year, the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scientists presents gold-plated statuettes to outstanding actors, actresses, writers and producers of the year. These statuettes depict a male figure and are called Oscars. This name means "god spear", but it was not chosen for the statuette because of its meaning. In fact, when the first Oscar was presented in Hollywood on May 16, 1929, 68 years ago today, it did not have a name. According to one account, the name was bestowed quite accidentally a couple of years later when Mrs. Margaret Herrick joined the organization as a librarian and remarked upon first seeing the small golden figure, "it reminds me of my Uncle Oscar". In the Old Testament book of Daniel, chapter 3, there is an interesting story of a gold statue erected by the king of Babylon and what happened when three Jewish boys refused the order to bow down and worship it because of their strong religious convictions. This was not a statuette, however. This gold image was said to measure 27 meters high and nearly 3 meters wide. -------Before leaving for the Philippines last month, I was told by the travel agent that my passport must be valid for at least six months after my departure. American passports are valid for ten years, but since my passport, along with that of my wife, was issued in May 1987, it was due to expire this month so, in February, we both applied for new passports which we received from the Osaka-Kobe American Consulate. To pay the passport fee, I sent some American dollars I had left over from my trip to the U. S. in January. While waiting for my flight to Manila at the Nagoya Airport, however, I thought it might be convenient to have some American dollars on hand while in the Philippines, so I inserted a ¥10,000 bill into a money exchange machine. In return, I received a paltry $77. To obtain some Philippine money, I went to a money exchange window upon my arrival at the Manila Airport and handed the clerk a ¥10,000 bill for which she gave me 1,992 pesos. Actually, the only time I used American dollars during my ten-day visit was at the Manila Airport on the day of my return to Japan. I used them to pay the airport tax and to purchase some gifts or souvenirs to give to people following my return. -------Among the letters included in the New Testament are three that form a special group called the Pastoral Epistles. They are addressed to a couple of pastors named Timothy and Titus and include advice to them regarding their pastoral ministry. The Second Letter to Timothy was written from prison where the writer was being held because of his Christian faith. In the 8th verse of the 2nd chapter of this letter, he urges Timothy to "Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead". The Christian belief in the final victory of Jesus Christ over death is at the heart of the Christian message and has been a source of encouragement and comfort to believers of all times and in all kinds of desperate situations. The letter continues: "This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God's word is not chained." The important point emphasized here is that even if people are persecuted or imprisoned for their beliefs, truth itself cannot be suppressed. If it is truly God's word that is proclaimed, it will endure despite the opposition of "the powers that be". Jerome, a church father of the 4th century, wrote these significant words: "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church." -------The English word "barber" is not related to either "barbarian" or "Barbara". It is rooted in the Latin word for "beard". Originally, a barber was a person who cut and trimmed beards. There are different kinds of beards. A man who never shaves any part of his face will grow a full beard. Such a man will make use of a scissors rather than a razor. A small beard on a man's chin may be called a "goatee" for it is said to resemble the hair on the chin of a goat. A closely trimmed, pointed goatee may be called a Vandyke beard, named after the 17th century Flemish portraitist, Anthony Vandyke, who wore such a beard, as did many of the gentlemen whose portraits he painted. Even today, orthodox Jews wear full beards because of the commandment found in Leviticus 19:27. -------Two weeks ago, a holiday called Children's Day was celebrated in Japan and various activities related to children were held. A Japanese government report released on that day revealed that the number of children in Japan under 15 years of age was 19.5 million: 10 million boys and 9.5 million girls. This is the lowest number of children since the first national census was held in 1920 and is 320,000 less than the previous year. In 1955, there were over 30 million children, but the figure has declined continuously since then, except for a temporary "baby boom" from 1971-74. In Japan, children now account for 15.5 percent of the population, down 0.3 percent from last year. Among major countries in the world, Japan has the second lowest percentage of children. Only Italy, with 15.1 percent, is lower. In India and Brazil, the percentage is over 35 percent. China has 27 percent, the United States 22 percent and Germany 16 percent. We can think of various reasons why there are fewer children in more affluent families, but this situation engenders various concerns for the future. In Psalm 127:3, we are told that "children are a gift from the Lord". They can bring joy and comfort but also anxiety and sorrow. -------Zeeland, meaning "land reclaimed from the sea", is the name of a province in the Netherlands. The first European to see a couple of islands lying southeast of Australia was a Dutchman who gave them the name New Zeeland, but in its English form, the second "e" is changed to an "a". On May 21, 1840, 157 years ago today, New Zealand was declared a colony of Britain, but for the next 30 years, bloody battles with the native population, called Maoris, continued as European settlers increased and desired more land. The name "Maori", literally meaning "normal", was first used by the indigenous New Zealanders to differentiate themselves from the invaders. World history is full of accounts of people with more advanced weapons invading countries inhabited by those with less advanced weaponry and subduing them. But the earlier inhabitants themselves often originally came from another place. The ancestors of the Maoris, for example, are thought to have emigrated from a number of different Polynesian islands. So the problem of who is the rightful owner of a particular land area is often a very complicated one. But whether in New Zealand or Africa, America or Japan, earlier inhabitants should be treated with justice. -------Some men and women excel in a different area than the one in which they received specialized training or education. One such person was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who was born 138 years ago today, on May 22, 1859, in Edinburgh, Scotland. Arthur studied to be a doctor. He received a medical degree from the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh in 1881 and practiced medicine for eight years. A couple of years after the publication of his first mystery story, however, which featured a fictional detective named Sherlock Holmes, he abandoned his medical practice and devoted him self to writing. He wrote novels, historical works and political pamphlets as well as mysteries, but his fame rests on his Sherlock Holmes' stories in which the brilliant and theatrical detective solves extraordinarily complex cases through ingenious deductive reasoning. Holmes is accompanied by a sober physician, Dr. Watson, who is the narrator of the stories. A couple of quotations from the famous detective which I consider particularly significant are the following: "It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important", and "You see, but you do not observe". -------The headline of a recent article in a Japanese newspaper, written in English, began with the words "Britons confused". The article was not about the political or moral situation in the United Kingdom but about "how to live healthily". According to a survey conducted by the Office for National Statistics, nearly a third of those surveyed smoked but almost two-thirds of current smokers would like to quit smoking. And although they realize that sunbathing can be dangerous, half of the women responded that having a suntan makes them feel healthier and enhanced their attractiveness. A third of the respondents said they were confused about what a "healthy diet" was and two-thirds asserted that experts could not agree on what it was either. In regard to exercise, a quarter of those surveyed knew that healthy exercise meant 30 minutes of physical activity five days a week, but a quarter exercised less than once a week. Reading this article reminded me of the emphasis of the New Testament Letter of James on putting what we know or believe into practice. In chapter 1, verse 19, he writes: "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says" and in chapter 2, verse 26: "faith without deeds is dead." -------At Manila Airport, after picking up my suitcase and changing some yen into pesos, I was met by the head of our church in the Philippines. He and the taxi driver had been waiting for over an hour because of the changed schedule of my flight. Most taxis in Manila are individually owned and operated and the owner and driver of the taxi we rode in was a member of our Metro Manila Church. During the trip from the airport to my lodging place, I was once again introduced to the traffic situation in Manila which is quite different than that in Nagoya. There are fewer traffic lights and the roads are always crowded with all kinds of vehicles, including cars, buses, trucks, jeepneys, motorbikes and bicycles, some with sidecars or pulling two-wheeled carriages with passengers. Traffic etiquette is also different than Japan. There is little open space between vehicles and each driver seeks to take advantage of any opening. It is a fearsome experience to cross the street while maneuvering between vehicles. I was told that the traffic situation had improved since a new regulation went into effect which prohibited privately-owned cars with license numbers ending in a certain digit to be on the street on a certain day of the week. -------People view the world from different standpoints and dissimilar perspectives. Whether or not one sees meaning and purposeful activity in historical or natural events depends on one's particular perspective which is based on faith. The basic outlook of both the theist, who sees a divine purpose in the world, and the atheist, who denies such meaning, are both based on faith. The biblical perspective provided by the Old Testament prophets and the New Testament apostles views God, the Creator of the world and the Ruler of history, as working both in nature and in human affairs to accomplish a good and just purpose--even though divinely-ordered events may seem mysterious and completely unfathomable to finite minds. The Bible affirms that the natural world is not the result of meaningless chance and declares that there is a divine plan evolving in human history. According to the New Testament book of Galatians, chapter 4, verse 4, it was when the right time had come that God sent his Son into the world to set people free. There are various kinds of slavery or bondage from which people need deliverance and the "good news", or gospel of the New Testament is that God has provided a way of salvation for all human beings. -------The most common meaning of "log", spelled l-o-g, is a section of the trunk of a tree that has been cut down. Short logs may be used in fireplaces as firewood to provide heat. Longer logs may be fitted together to erect a log cabin. But this word is also used for the daily record of a ship's speed and progress and notable events on a trip, which is also called a logbook. The reason for this usage is an old custom of tying a floating piece of wood to a ship. This "log" was in the shape of a quadrant, or quarter section of a circle, so it floated upright. Using this log, the speed and progress of the ship could be measured and was then entered in the ship's log, or logbook. Nowadays, "log" is also used for other records of progress, whether of journeys, experiments or other events. -------Ralph Hodgson was an English poet who taught in Japan for a while before emigrating to the United States. One of his famous poems includes this verse: "Time, you old gypsy man, / Will you not stay, / Put up your caravan / Just for one day?" Do you understand the meaning? Gypsies are a nomadic people with traditional customs and a unique language who usually travel together in small caravans. Found in many countries in the world, they often work as metalworkers, singers, dancers, musicians, horse dealers, auto mechanics or fortunetellers. The word "gypsy" spelled g-y-p-s-y, is a corrupted form of "Egyptian", for medieval Europeans thought they came from Egypt, but they probably migrated from northwest India in the first century. In Japanese, they are called horo-minzoku. Many of the more than five million gypsies continue to live in Eastern Europe, but during World War II, some 500,000 of them perished in gas chambers and concentration camps. The following command given to the Israelites in Leviticus 19:33-34 is relevant in many countries today: "Do not illtreat foreigners who are living in your land. Treat them as you would a fellow-Israelite. Remember that you were once foreigners in the land of Egypt." -------Earlier this month a 56-year-old woman, born and raised in my home state of Illinois, sailed her 9.5 meter sailboat into the Mexican port of Acapulco and became the first American woman to sail around the world by herself. Her name is Pat Henry and when she left from that same port just eight years ago, she had no thought of circling the globe. Having experienced a crisis in her life, she just wanted to get away by herself. An architect by training and a watercolor painter, she exhibited her paintings of buildings in cities and towns around the world. Her boat had electronic navigation equipment and she was able to keep in touch with her family and friends back in California with a long-distance radio, but it lacked radar or a refrigerator. She said that being alone never bothered her and she read more than 300 books during her voyage. One of her favorite books was One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It is a good custom to regularly draw apart from our busy lives to gain rest for body, mind and spirit. It was for that reason that a Sabbath every seventh day was commanded in the Old Testament. Jesus also retired to pray following a busy day and, in Mark 6:31, advised his disciples to do the same. -------Yesterday's message was about a living American woman named Pat Henry. I wonder if she is a relative of the famous political leader in the American revolution, Patrick Henry, who was born 264 years ago today on May 29, 1736. Largely self-educated, Henry was a storekeeper who became a prominent trial lawyer and an outstanding orator. He is well known for the stirring conclusion of a speech he made to a provincial convention in Virginia in 1775: "Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!" It was on his 29th birthday, nine days after he became a member of Virginia's legislative body, the House of Burgesses, that he presented seven resolutions which asserted the colonies right to legislate for themselves and upheld the principle of no taxation without representation. In his introductory speech, he called the attention of the English king to the disastrous fate of some earlier rulers and suggested that "George the Third may profit by their example." That speech ended with words that have also become famous: "If this be treason, make the most of it." -------In my childhood, this 30th day of May was called Decoration Day. Can you imagine why? What do you think people decorated on Decoration Day? They went to cemeteries to decorate the graves of departed loved ones. American cemeteries are much larger than those in Japan because there is a separate grave for each individual whose coffin containing the dead body has been put into the ground. A gravestone bearing the name and dates of birth and death of the deceased marks the location of the grave. Often plots in the cemetery are purchased in advance so that family members may be buried in the same area, but there is a different grave for each one. Graves are often "decorated" by planting new flowers on them. Nowadays, Decoration Day is commonly called Memorial Day. The first national Memorial Day was held on May 30, 1868, to commemorate soldiers who died during the Civil War. Later, it became a legal holiday in honor of all those who died in battle in later wars and then to honor the memory of all deceased persons, civilian as well as military. Since 1968, the holiday has been observed on the last Monday of May to provide a three-day weekend for those who have other plans unrelated to decorating or remembering. -------During my visit to the Philippines last month, I stayed in a guest house on the compound of FEBC, the Far East Broadcasting Company, a Christian radio network that operates 17 transmitting stations and broadcasts in more than 60 languages and dialects, covering all of Asia. On the large FEBC compound, there are about two dozen houses where staff members and their families live. This compound is adjacent to the campus of a Christian Bible School called FEBIAS, composed of the first letters of its original name: Far East Bible Institute And Seminary. Since the church conference I was to attend was to be held on that campus, it was very convenient for me. In fact, I had stayed in a guest house on that compound on previous trips to the Philippines, so I was familiar with the area. A dining hall for guests was located nearby, where I could eat meals if I informed the cook ahead of time. At the entrance to the compound, a guard was always on duty to open the large gate for cars and a smaller gate for pedestrians who were permitted to enter. In the evenings, some compound residents gathered in an open area and played volleybal --even after dark when lights were turned on. -------Today is the first day of the sixth month. In English, it is called June. According to one theory regarding the origin of this name, it comes from a Latin word for "youth" in contrast with May, which may be derived from a Latin word for "elders". As times change, it is common for the thinking and actions of young people to differ from those of older folk. Writers and speakers use different words depending on the age of those they are addressing. Near the end of the New Testament is a sermon, or letter, written to a group of Christians which is called the First Letter of John. In verses 12-14 of the 2nd chapter of this letter, the writer twice gives the reason he is writing to those he calls "children", "fathers" and "young men". Of the "young men", he writes: "you are strong; the word of God lives in you, and you have defeated the Evil One." In physical terms, young men are usually stronger than older men, but in moral terms this is not always the case. Moral strength, the strength to oppose and defeat evil, comes from having the word of God within us. During this month of June, if all of us, juniors and seniors alike, would imbibe more of the word of God, our world would be a better place and the power of evil would decline. -------In most countries these days, most people have at least two names. Their first name is a "given name" and the last name, shared with other members of the same family, is a "family name". Some people have one or more middle names between their first and last names, and some are given descriptive nicknames, such as Tiny, Slim, Blondie or Lion-hearted. "Nickname" comes from "ekename" which meant an additional name and the family name is also called a surname, which originally meant an over name or an additional name. Surnames were first used in China over 4800 years ago. In Europe, surnames began to be used in the 11th century, but common people in Japan only were given surnames in the last century and the imperial family is still without a surname. -------Since the first day of this month fell on a Sunday, there will be five Sundays this month. It is our custom to hold a meeting of listeners to and/or readers of these "Daily Word" messages on the afternoon of the fifth Sundays of a month, but on that afternoon this month, I will officiate at a wedding in our church in Takahama, so the meeting of "Daily Word" fans will not be held. Our next meeting is scheduled for August 31st. These telephone messages may be heard by calling (0)52-794-6422. To those who request them, I mail weekly copies of the messages and a Japanese translation. They also may be read on NTT's CAPTAIN system, on the English Forum of the NIFTY-Serve computer network and on the Internet at this address: http://www.namos.co.jp/clark/. You are invited to listen to the messages, to read them and to attend our August 31st meeting if you are able to do so. At that meeting, I hope to hear reports from listeners and readers regarding how they are making use of these messages and to receive suggestions or criticisms they have regarding this service. If you wish, you may also write to me at the following address: "Daily Word", Post Office Box 30, Moriyama Post Office, Nagoya 463 Japan. -------The tango, spelled t-a-n-g-o, is a certain kind of dance that originated in Argentina in the late 19th century. At first, it was considered sensual and disreputable, but in the early part of the 20th century, it had become socially acceptable. Eventually, it became very popular in fashionable European circles, but its music and lyrics became less lively and more melancholy. If the vowels in the word "tango" are exchanged, the resulting word is the name of a kingdom which is celebrating the 27th anniversary of its independence today. Do you know where the Kingdom of Tonga is located? Is it in Asia or Africa? Is the country landlocked or surrounded by water? The Kingdom of Tonga is made up of 170 volcanic and coral islands in the South Pacific Ocean, only 36 of which are inhabited by the 106,000 Tongans who are of Polynesian and European descent. The name given to these islands by the English explorer, James Cook, when he visited them in the 1770's was the Friendly Islands. The main industries are tourism and fishing,and the main crops are coconuts and bananas. I presume that Polynesian-style dances are popular in Tonga so they probably do not dance the tango there. -------There is a controversy in Japan these days about how much of the sordid aspects of Japanese military operations during the war should be included in school textbooks. How to view, interpret and teach the history of one's country in an honest and just way is a common problem for all nations. What should American children be taught about how native Americans and imported Africans were treated by their European ancestors, about the details of the Vietnam War or American support for corrupt dictators? What should be included in the textbooks of schoolchildren in European countries about the actions of their governments in the former colonies in Africa and Asia? Unfortunately, the "history" recorded in many books is a prejudiced account that does not aim to present the facts in an honest and just manner. Histories written after a war often present a rationalization of the victors. Whether as a nation, a company, a family or an individual, there are embarrassing facts we would rather keep hidden, but honestly facing unpleasant truth is necessary for genuine repentance and a new start toward a brighter future. The first command in the New Testament Gospel is to "repent". -------One of my favorite Japanese fruits is the sweet orange with a loose skin called a 'mikan'. In our family, we always used this word even when speaking English, so our children at first thought it was an English word. In my childhood, I called that kind of fruit a tangerine, but when I came to Japan, I found out the proper English term was a mandarin orange. Mandarin is one of the languages spoken in China. Since it was the language spoken around the Chinese capital and by the official class, who were called mandarins, it has become the official language of China. In imperial China, there were nine different grades of mandarins, who were distinguished by different colored buttons on their caps. Mandarin is not a Chinese word, however. In Chinese, such officials were called 'kuan'. It was the Portuguese who called them "mandarins", which is from a Malayan word derived from Sanskrit meaning "counselor". In modern English, this word may also denote an over-pompous official. We may say that there are mandarins who hold government positions today. It is said that the use of this word for a kind of orange is related to the color of the robes worn by mandarins long ago. -------It was on a Friday afternoon that I arrived in Manila. From the airport, I was taken to the guest house, where I was to stay for the next ten days. On the desk in the main room, there was a dish full of fresh bananas which I was able to use for snacks in the coming days. When that bunch was finished, another bunch was supplied along with some fresh mangoes. After I had unpacked my suitcase and got settled, the pastor who had met me at the airport along with another pastor came and took me by car to a special restaurant about 40 minutes away. This restaurant served all kinds of ethnic foods distinctive of various areas of the Philippines and all diners were charged the same fee. The food was set out on counters, buffet-style, so diners could choose their own food and put it on their plates. There was a great variety of main dishes, meats, breads, vegetables, salads and desserts. Many of the foods looked somewhat strange and we could only imagine how they would taste. We were able to return to the counters repeatedly, but we did not take large portions of any one food at first because of a special rule that restaurant had: if any food is left on the plate, the diner was charged double the normal price. -------In contrast with the ambiguous statements of many religious teachers of Eastern religions, many theologians of the West tend to be too definite in their doctrinal declarations. Whereas the nature of the divine in Buddhism seems quite unclear to many Christians, the doctrine of God proposed by many Christians seems too definite and clear-cut to many Buddhists. Westerners tend to put articles and concepts into boxes with a fixed shape while Japanese prefer a shapeless 'furoshiki', or cloth wrapper. But the Bible itself clearly indicates that the true and living God cannot be so clearly circumscribed nor understood by human beings. In Isaiah 55: 8-9, it is written: "'my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.'" There is much about God and God's ways that human begins cannot understand, but the verses that precede and follow those quoted above reveal elements of the divine nature that Jews and Christians confidently affirm: that God will show mercy and freely pardon sinners who repent and that God's word will eventually accomplish the divine purpose. -------It is my custom to play tennis for a couple of hours on Monday mornings. Since today is Monday, if the weather permits, I will be on the tennis court this morning. In tennis scores, the word "love" means "nothing" or "zero", which a player who comes from Australia sometimes calls "nil". According to one theory, this meaning of "love" is derived from the Anglicized pronunciation of the French word for "egg", which is the shape of a "zero". (Incidentally, "Zero" is derived from the Arabic word for "cipher".) But another explanation is that "love" also means "nothing" in other expressions, such as "to play for love" in contrast with "playing for money". Furthermore, a "labor of love", a term found in the New Testament book of I Thessalonians 1:3, is work done expecting nothing in return. -------It has been reported that there is only one thing made by human beings that astronauts were able to see from a spacecraft. Do you know or can you imagine what it is? It is an amazing architectural structure whose construction was originally begun in the 4th century B. C. as kingdoms in China began to build walls to protect their borders against invasion of outsiders. These walls were later connected, extended and rebuilt. The resulting structure, dating from the 15th century, is now called the Great Wall and stretches for 2,500 kilometers across northern China. Built of earth, stone and brick, it averages about 8 meters in height, 5-9 meters wide at the base, sloping to about 4 meters at the top. Eleven years ago, my wife and I walked along a portion of that wall that has been restored as a tourist attraction. Although it is a very impressive structure, successive invasions have demonstrated that it had little military usefulness. Today, there continue to be various kinds of walls between individuals, groups and societies. According to 2nd chapter of the New Testament Letter to the Ephesians, one of the results of Christ's sacrificial death was breaking down walls and establishing peace between enemies. -------In the U.S.A., holidays are designated by individual states. Today, June the 11th, is a state holiday in one state, called Kamehameha Day, in honor of King Kamehameha I. Can you guess which state observes this holiday? It is a unique state in various ways. It was the last of the fifty states to be admitted to the Union. It is composed of islands and over sixty percent of its citizens are of Asian descent. It is the state of Hawaii. Hawaii is the name of the largest of the eight major islands, but the most important island is Oahu, on which the capital of Honolulu is located. In 1782, Kamehameha became the leader of the chiefs of the western part of the island of Hawaii. Thirty years later, after many wars with other kings on Hawaii and other islands, he was recognized as the sole ruler of the entire group of islands. He was succeeded by two sons and two grandsons, who all bore his name, so there were five Hawaiian kings named Kamehameha. Today, a parade will be held in which bands will march and island princesses will ride on horseback, accompanied by musicians and dancers. The parade will end at Iolani Palace, formerly the home of Hawaii's monarchs, now the state capitol and the only royal palace in the United States. -------The old meaning of "sooth", spelled s-o-o-t-h, is "truth". Therefore, the original meaning of "soothsayer" was "one who speaks the truth". In modern English, however, a soothsayer is one who claims to be able to foretell events or predict the future. Methods used by soothsayers vary according to the traditional culture in which they soothsay. Recently, rites were held in Cambodia, following which the country's top soothsayer predicted good harvests and peace in the year ahead. The Royal Plowing Ceremony was held next to the Royal Palace at the beginning of the planting season. At that ceremony, six sacred cows were led three times around a field after which two of them were led to a place where rice, corn, beans, water, wine and grass had been arranged on golden platters. One of the cows wandered off, eating nothing, but the other one consumed all the corn and beans, half the rice and a third of the water but imbibed no wine. According to the soothsayer, that was a good omen. The word "superstition" is derived from Latin words meaning "stand over" which is the opposite of "understand". And speaking of superstition, do you know what day tomorrow is? You are invited to listen to or to read the message for that day. -------Today is the 13th day of the month and the sixth day of the week, which means it is Friday, the 13th. To superstitious people in the West, Friday the 13th is considered an unlucky day because there were 13 present at Jesus' last supper with his disciples on the evening before his death which occurred on Friday. Superstitious people in Japan consider many days throughout the year as unlucky, but today is the only Friday, the 13th, which occurs this year. Educated people with a healthy faith are not troubled by such superstitious beliefs. In fact, this evening at Nagoya International School, an auspicious ceremony will be held for 15 students from five countries--Japan, the United States, Korea, the Philippines and France--who have completed the 12th grade and will be awarded diplomas. This ceremony is a "commencement", the beginning of a new stage in the lives of these young people. Such graduation ceremonies may also be called "exercises", which does not imply physical activity. Hopefully, following the commencement exercises on this auspicious day, graduates will exercise their minds and abilities and commence activities that will result in a more cultured world in which people are freed from superstitions. -------From the guest house where I stayed in Valenzuela in Metro Manila, it was about a 15-minute walk to a small shopping area near the intersection of a side road and the main road called MacArthur Highway. That 15-minute walk was along the side of a narrow road always filled with many kinds of vehicles, large and small, going in both directions. There was no sidewalk for pedestrians and, at a number of places along the road, water had accumulated from leaking water pipes from nearby buildings, so walking was a bit precarious as one tried to avoid vehicles and being splashed by them while jumping over or going around the puddles of water. Some shops along the road were simple open-air stalls, similar to 'yatai-mise' in Japan. Of course, the weather was hot. On my first visit to that shopping area, I wore the leather shoes I wear in Japan but I noticed that most people were wearing the simple sandals, or 'gomu-zori', also worn in Japan in the summer. So the first item I bought was a pair of such sandals, which cost 15 pesos, equal to about 75 yen. I immediately put them on, transferring my socks and shoes to the plastic bag for the sandals and carried them while wearing the more comfortable sandals. -------This third Sunday of June is celebrated as Father's Day. In Japan and other industrialized nations, merchants enthusiastically support the custom of children giving gifts to their fathers on this day to express their gratitude. Observant readers will note that the apostrophe in "Father's Day" is written before rather than after the "s", which implies that the focus of the celebration is on one's own father rather than on fathers in general. In Biblical tradition, a father's responsibility included protecting, instructing, disciplining and providing for his family members, all of which are based on fatherly love. Unfortunately, many fathers these days are not conscientiously fulfilling these responsibilities. In the Bible, God is called "Father", which does not imply that God is a male but that our Creator continues to provide our needs, protects, instructs and disciplines us from a heart of love. According to the New Testament book of Romans, chapter 8, through our faith in God we become God's children in a more personal sense and we may call God 'Abba', the same Aramaic word for "Father" that Jesus used in his prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. On this Father's Day, we should also express our gratitude to our Heavenly Father. -------I have been residing in Japan for so long, that I am sometimes confused regarding the peculiar use of English words in Japanese, for I am not sure whether or not they may have that same meaning in the United States. For example, in English, a "van", spelled v-a-n, is a covered or enclosed truck used for transporting goods. This word is a shortened form of "caravan". But in Japan, 'ban' is used for a passenger car that has an open area behind the passenger seats for carrying some cargo. Actually, this is a shortened form of 'raito ban', which is another Japanese word. In the United States, such a car is called a station wagon, but I wonder if it may also be called a "van" in that country these days. In England, a "van" is a railway car used for carrying baggage. -------An incident that occurred in our home the other day reminded me that communication problems do not only develop between people of different cultures who speak different languages. They may develop between people using the same language who love and respect each other. While watching television one evening, my wife asked me, "What is the meaning of saiko?" Since I had recently noted the meaning of "psycho", spelled p-s-y-c-h-o, in a "Daily Word" message, I replied, "It means 'mental'", but that didn't satisfy her. I then found out she was asking the meaning of the Japanese term 'saiko', which means "the highest". A little later, she asked how I spelled a certain word. I thought she said "leader", which many Japanese would confuse with "reader". I wondered why she asked me, for I knew she knew how to spell it. But after spelling it for her, I found out that she had said "liter", which can be spelled l-i-t-e-r or l-i-t-r-e. The former is the normal American spelling and the latter is the British spelling. It was an amusing incident that indicated that even if our native language is the same (midwestern American English), both precise pronunciation and careful listening are required for accurate communication. -------Some people say that Japan is located in the Far East, but that is a strange expression. How is "Far East" to be defined? Since the world is a globe, we can understand the meaning of "far north" or "far south" because there is a north pole and a south pole. But there is no eastern or western limit to give meaning to the terms "far east" or "far west". Of course, the term "Far East" originated when Europeans looked at world maps with Europe at the center. From the European perspective, Japan is in the Far East and Israel is in the Near East, but on a world map with the United States in the center, Japan is actually in the far west and on a map with Japan at the center, America is in the far east. If we stop to consider the meaning of certain terms that we often use without thinking, we find that some of them have implications we are not conscious of. It is natural for everyone to view the world with their country at the center even as we view life and history with ourselves at the center. For genuine international understanding we must be able to view the world from others' perspectives as well as our own. According to Philippians, chapter 2, verse 4, we should consider the interests of others as well as our own. -------Have you ever heard of a pascal, spelled p-a-s-c-a-l? It is a unit of pressure used in physics and named after a French mathematician and scientist who was born 374 years ago today on June 19,1623. As a teenager, Blaise Pascal's outstanding ability in both mathematics and physics was recognized and even though he died at the age of 39, his name is attached to important mathematical and physical principles that continue to be used today, including Pascal's triangle and Pascal's law. In the final years of his life, however, following a narrow escape from death, he turned his keen mind to religion and philosophy. His cogent thoughts on life and its meaning are revealed in notes published after his death under the title of 'Pensees'. A couple of his well -known statements are the following: "Man is only a reed, the weakest thing in nature; but he is a thinking reed" and "The heart has reasons, which are quite unknown to the head." He also made these critical comments regarding Rene Descartes, another French scientist and philosopher of his day: "he did his best to dispense with God. But he could not avoid making him set the world in motion with a flip of his thumb; after that he had no use for God." -------Nine of the 50 states in the U. S. A. have two words in their names. Four of them begin with "New". There are two that begin with "North", coupled with their partners that begin with "South". The final name in this list begins with "West", but it has no associate that begins with "East". Today, this state is celebrating the 135th anniversary of its admission to the Union. Do you know its name? Formerly, it was part of a larger state which was one of the original 13 states, but it differed in many ways from the eastern region of that state. It was a mountainous area which had been settled by German, Scotch-Irish and Welsh frontiersmen who engaged in small-scale farming in contrast with the English gentlemen in the east whose slaves worked in their large plantations. Thus the western region was different geographically, socially, culturally, politically and religiously. When the easterners decided to join the Confederacy and secede from the Union at the outbreak of the Civil War, westerners objected and formed a separate state, which they originally named Kanawha, but following the approval of President Lincoln, the new state of West Virginia was admitted as the 35th state on June 20, 1862. -------When my wife and I came to Japan in 1951 following my graduation from seminary, we brought with us an American-made camera which seminary friends had given us to use in our missionary work here. Over the years, I used that camera to take many slides of Japan and our activities to show to people back in the U. S. When that camera wore out, I bought a Japanese-made camera which I have used since then. Some months ago, I realized that the light meter did not function and that the battery was dead, but at camera shops I was told that that old-type battery was no longer available in Japan. I took the camera with me to the Philippines since I could adjust the lens manually, but I also planned to look for that old-type battery while there. On my first shopping trip, I found a camera store that had a battery that fit that camera, although it was a different color than the old one. When the new battery was inserted, however, the light meter still did not work, but I was not sure if the problem was with the battery or the camera itself. After returning to Japan, I found out that the problem is in the camera and that it would be better to purchase a new camera than to try to have the old one repaired because it is so old. -------97/06/22(Sun) Persecution of "Christians" (5674) In present-day Russia as well as China, it is clear that the attempt of Communist governments to crush the church and eradicate the Christian faith through force did not succeed. Similar futile attempts have been repeated from the beginning of the church. In many cases, persecution of the church actually stimulated new life and a stronger resolve among its believers, which prompted Jerome, a church father of the fifth century, to make the famous statement: "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church." The English word "martyr" comes from 'martus', a Greek word meaning "witness". A martyr is one who witnesses to his or her faith by giving up his or her life. The latter part of the 11th chapter of the New Testament book of Acts gives an account of how the persecution following the death of the first Christian martyr, Stephen, resulted in the extension of the church through the witnessing of the scattered believers. It notes that the disciples were first called "Christians" at Antioch. This word literally denotes a person belonging to Christ or following him. Those who bear that name also have a responsibility to manifest the spirit of Christ. -------The name of the animal from which we get milk is a "cow", spelled c-o-w, but did you know that "cow" can also be used as a verb? To "cow" someone means to frighten that person. A "coward" spelled c-o-w-a-r-d, is a person who is easily frightened and runs away from a dangerous or difficult situation rather than confronting it, but this word "coward" is not related to "cow". Rather, it is rooted in a Latin word meaning "tail". The tail of a dog may be considered a means of communication. It may indicate whether the dog is friendly or hostile, and a cowardly dog will run away with its tail between its legs. The English term "turn tail" means "to run away" and that is what a coward does. Shakespeare has written: "Cowards die many times before their death; the valiant never taste of death but once." -------A shepherd is a person who cares for sheep and one of the most famous passages in the Bible, the 23rd Psalm which is memorized by many children who attend Sunday School, begins with the words: "The Lord is my shepherd". The term "German shepherd", however, does not usually denote a German who takes care of sheep. Rather it is a special breed of dog, both large and intelligent, which has been trained to herd, guide and guard sheep, to guide blind people and to help police track down criminals. The special training of police dogs began as the result of an incident that occurred 87 years ago today, on June 24, 1910, in Berlin. On that day, a lady diner in a restaurant noticed that her handbag, which contained a couple of diamond rings and some money, was missing. She called the police and the policeman who came to investigate three hours later happened to bring his pet dog with him. The dog, after smelling the woman, ran across the restaurant and began barking at a jacket hanging in the waiters' room. In the back of the room was a waiter, who after being questioned, confessed to stealing the handbag. And from that time, the German police began training dogs to be police dogs. -------According to the terms of surrender at the close of the Pacific War, the home islands of Japan were occupied by the United States army. Korea, however, was placed under both Soviet and American control until the establishment of a Korean democratic government. Actually, the Korean Peninsula was divided at the 38th parallel into northern and southern regions with completely different systems of government. Less than five years later, on June 25,1950, 47 years ago today, Communist tanks and troops from the north crossed the 38th parallel at eleven points in an attempt to unify the two parts of the country by force. Quickly, the invading army took control of almost the entire peninsula, except for a beachhead around Pusan in the southeast. A counter-offensive by Korean and U. N. troops pushed the invaders back and almost gained control of the peninsula until the Chinese army entered the war. After three years and some four million casualties, an armistice was signed, but North and South remain divided along the same demarcation line. It was another senseless war that brought suffering to both sides and benefit to neither, but differences between the two political systems are now clearly recognized. -------There are a number of English words that begin with the prefix "homo", spelled h-o-m-o, derived from a Greek word meaning "same". Two such words with similar meanings are "homonym" and "homophone". The former, literally meaning "same name", denotes a word that has the same pronunciation as another word and may have the same spelling, but has a different meaning. The latter, literally meaning "same sound", also denotes a word that is pronounced the same but has a different spelling, origin and meaning. Thus "sea" spelled s-e-a, meaning a body of water, and "see", spelled s-e-e, meaning to perceive with the eye, are both homonyms and homophones, but the past tense of "see" and a tool used for cutting, which are both spelled s-a-w and pronounced 'so:', are homonyms but not homophones. Another couple of homonyms are spelled s-e-a-l and pronounced 'si:l', but a couple of homophones, pronounced 'si:m' are spelled s-e-e-m and s-e-a-m. Do you know the meanings of these words? Because of its spelling and pronunciation irregularities, English is a difficult language, but communication becomes easier when people are 'homophron', the Greek word for "of the same mind" found in the New Testament (I Peter 3:8). -------"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable." These are the words of a woman who manifested undefeatable strength in the presence of a seemingly cruel fate. When she was only 19 months old, a short but serious illness resulted in the loss of both her sight and her hearing. Can you imagine what life would be like without being able to see--plus not being able to hear? Being blind is a great handicap. So is being deaf, but being both blind and deaf is difficult to imagine. Helen Keller, the lady who wrote the words just quoted, was born 117 years ago today, on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama, in the United States. Despite her physical disabilities, with the help of a dedicated teacher and friend, she received a superior education, wrote books, lectured around the world, promoted the education and rehabilitation of disabled people and served as an inspiration to all because of her courageous, indomitable spirit. Shortly before her death, she remarked: "I believe that all through these dark and silent years God has been using my life for a purpose I do not know. But one day I shall understand and then I will be satisfied." -------In the guest house in which I stayed while in Metro Manila in the Philippines, there was always some fresh fruit, including bananas and mangoes on the table and a watermelon for me in the refrigerator at the dining hall. Along with the fruit, there were also large and small plastic bottles of distilled water which I was advised to drink instead of the water that came out of the faucet. On previous visits to the Philippines, I do not remember that special water was provided for me, but I do recall that I was often served beverages from bottles or cans. On this trip I was told that people who are not accustomed to the local city water may suffer a minor sickness as the result of drinking that water. So I drank from the large bottles while in the room and sometimes carried a small bottle with me when I went out. I also saw such bottles of distilled water on sale in many places, both in stores and along the street in Manila. Many homes in the Philippines are still without running water, which reminded me to be thankful for the conveniences I enjoy in Japan--including an abundant supply of clean water that is available in my home. I am also thankful that I experienced no sickness nor stomach trouble during my visit. -------Earlier this year a controversy arose in the United States when a prominent Christian minister, an African-American, joined a Black Muslim group and asserted that he could be a Christian minister and a Muslim minister simultaneously. A panel of eight Christian theologians, composed equally of white and black members, met with him at a Lutheran seminary to consider whether or not this was theologically acceptable. While the concept of God held by Jews, Christians and Muslims is very similar, there are basic differences in their view of Jesus Christ, which is a crucial doctrine for Christians. Following that dialogue, the church to which the minister belonged terminated his ministerial standing. Since it is the clear teaching of the New Testament that "in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily from"(Colossians 2:9), that he was the unique historical manifestation of the one true and living God and that salvation is gained through faith in him, a blurring of doctrinal distinctives on this issue is considered unacceptable by orthodox Christians. Whether to accept or reject certain religious doctrines is an individual decision, but proper religious organizations do have certain doctrinal standards. -------The famous American poet, James Russell Lowell, wrote:"What is so rare as a day in June? Then, if ever, come perfect days." Obviously, the poet was thinking of American weather rather than that of Japan, where June is in the rainy season. This last day in June may be called a June day, but the word "May Day" has a couple of special meanings. Not only does it denote the first day of May when traditional spring festivities are held, it is also used in radio communication as an international distress signal. The telegraphic distress signal, S.O.S., was created because these three letters are represented by three dots, three dashes and three dots in the Morse code. "Mayday", on the other hand, is simply the Anglicized version of French words meaning "help me!" -------One hundred and fifty years ago today, on July 1, 1847, the first United States postage stamps were issued, so some philatelic societies in the U.S. observe it as American Stamp Day. The word "philately ", spelled p-h-i-l-a-t-e-l-y, denotes the hobby of stamp collecting. As a collector of used stamps myself, I always detach stamps on letters sent to me. Those I do not have in my collection, I save, but the others I send to a charitable organization that uses them to raise funds for its activities. Although we usually hold a meeting of "Daily Word" fans on the fifth Sunday of a month, because of a wedding ceremony at our church on that day, no meeting was held last Sunday. Our next meeting will be held on August 31st. The theme for that meeting is "Daily Word and I". I am always interested to know how these messages are being used by listeners and readers and how they have been helpful so that will also be the first theme for essays to be included in the next issue of "Daily Word" Echoes, which is expected to be available at that meeting. I hope many listeners and readers will write an essay and send it to me at the following address: "Daily Word", Post Office 30, Moriyama Post Office, Nagoya 463 Japan. -------There are many elements involved in the process of becoming fluent in a foreign language. For the study of any foreign language, it is necessary to learn the meaning and correct pronunciation of words and phrases. Grammar and the right way to write or spell words is also important in all languages. But language proficiency is also related to the cultural setting of the language and each language has its own peculiarities. In the case of Japanese, a particular problem for American students is the various levels of politeness that must be considered. Different terms are used for identical meanings depending on to whom or about whom one is speaking. In recent years, this has become a problem among the Japanese themselves. Many young people do not use the polite forms of the older generation and last month at a seminar held at the prefectural police headquarters in Nagoya, policemen were given instruction regarding the kind of language they should use in speaking with citizens because there have been complaints regarding impolite language some policemen used. According to Jesus' words in Luke 6:45, the words people use reflect the condition of their hearts "for the mouth speaks what the heart is full of." -------In 1923, a play by a distinguished Czech playwright called R.U.R.,(for "Rossums Universal Robots") was well-received in London. In the play, mechanical men called robots first appeared. "Robot" is derived from a Czech word meaning "forced labor". Since that time, many kinds of robots, or mechanical devices that perform tasks previously done by human beings, have appeared in factories and homes. Vending machines are a kind of robot and recently a RoboShop opened in Tokyo which is a convenience store run entirely by robots with no clerks or other human beings present. In this store, customers view display cases of food, drinks, cosmetics, magazines and household goods and write the numbers identifying desired items on an order card. Those numbers are then entered on a keyboard and money is inserted into the designated place. Then a mechanized bucket moves behind the display case, receives each of the items requested and drops them through an opening for the waiting customer. Such a convernience store can sell products cheaper because no clerks need to be employed. Obviously, mechanization makes life more convenient but, humanly speaking, it is questionable whether this can really be called progress. -------National flags are symbols of the countries they represent and may be considered a kind of reflection of that nation's character. Among national flags, the Japanese 'hi-no-maru', a large red disk representing the sun on a white background, is one of the simpler designs. It was declared the national flag of Japan by Emperor Meiji in 1868 and has remained unchanged since then. The national flag of the United States of America is one of the more complicated ones and has been altered many times since it was adopted by the American Congress in 1777. At that time, it had thirteen stripes, alternately red and white, and thirteen white stars on a blue field. The thirteen stripes and thirteen stars represented the thirteen original states. Following the admission of two states in 1794, two more stripes and two more stars were added to the flag and that 15-stripe, 15-star flag continued for the next 23 years until a number of new areas were applying for statehood. In 1818, Congress fixed the number of stripes at 13 and provided for the addition of a new star for each state entering the Union thereafter. There are now 50 stars in the American flag. The last one was added on Independence Day in 1960, 37 years ago today. -------I enjoy reading books but I rarely find time to read for pleasure during my regular schedule. So, whenever I take a trip, I always take books to read during my free time. Last December, I bought the book, 'Fukai Kawa', by Shusaku Endou to read during my trip to the U.S. in January. A couple of days later, I was surprised to find that our daughter, who was visiting us from Thailand at the time, had bought 'Deep River', the English translation of that book, which indicates a similarity of interest of father and child. At Christmas, she gave me the book, 'Convicted in the Womb', by Carl Upchurch, an African-American whom she had met following a course in which that book was the focus of discussion. I took these two books with me to the Philippines and read them on the plane and in my room during my spare time. Although I had a small radio with me, since most broadcasts were not understandable to me, I had time to read and finished both books before returning to Japan. Both of them stimulate thought regarding how a person considered a misfit in society can find a meaningful life. During my short time in a different cultural setting, these books made a deep impression on me and I recommend them to others who enjoy thought-provoking books. -------The concluding section of the Old Testament consists of writings of 16 men called prophets. In the Bible, a prophet does not denote only a person who foretells future events. He is a person who proclaims God's word. Because the last 12 books in the Old Testament are comparatively short, the prophets whose words are included in them are called minor prophets. The book of one minor prophet, Habakkuk, begins with a complaint addressed to God. He asks a question, or conundrum, that has troubled conscientious believers throughout the ages: why does a righteous God who is in control of human history permit injustice in the world and allow unjust people and nations to prosper? The short, but very important answer is found in verse 4 of the 2nd chapter: "the righteous will live by his faith (or faithfulness)." Despite the temporary prosperity of the wicked, final victory and salvation is assured for those with faith, who continue their reliance upon God to the end. Many difficult questions beginning with "why" cannot be satisfactorily answered, but we can continue to live a meaningful life with an underlying sense of peace, joy and hope if we have a healthy faith in God, whose ways are often beyond human comprehension. -------In the confusing, old-fashioned measurement system still used in the modern United States, an ounce is both a unit of weight and a unit of volume. As a unit of weight in the troy system, it is one-twelfth of a pound, even as an inch is one-twelfth of a foot in linear measurement. Both "ounce" and "inch" are rooted in the same Latin word meaning "a twelfth part". It is said that the original length of a foot was determined by the length of the foot of King John and, originally, an inch was the length of the knuckle of King Edgar. Now, in comparison with the metric system an ounce is equal to 31.103 grams and an inch is 2.54 centimeters. Expressions using these words include: "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" and "Give a knave an inch and he will take a yard". -------One hundred and forty-four years ago today, on July 8, 1853, four "black ships" appeared in Edo Bay under the command of Commodore Matthew Perry to deliver a message from American President Millard Fillmore to the Japanese emperor and the feudal government. As a result, the closed doors of Japan were opened to the West. Eight years from now, in 2005, there will be an influx of Westerners and other foreign tourists to the city of Seto in suburban Nagoya to visit the World Exposition which is being planned there. After many anxious months for both the promoters and opponents of a Japanese Expo, the decision was made to designate Seto the host city. Even now, voices are raised both in support and opposition to the plan. What do you think of the idea? Are you in favor or opposed to it? Why or why not? I will correct those essays sent to me on this theme and print them in the next issue of "Daily Word" Echoes, expected to be available at the meeting of "Daily Word" fans on August 31st. I would also be happy to receive any comments you have regarding this "Daily Word" telephone service. My address is: "Daily Word", Post Office Box 30, Moriyama, Nagoya 463 Japan. -------English is a very confusing language. Don't you think so? One reason is because there are so many irregularities in the spelling and pronunciation of words so that the meaning is often unclear. The simple word "so" spelled s-o, for example, is usually used as an adverb or a conjunction, but it may also be used as an adjective, an interjection and even as a pronoun. As a result, the ability of many foreign students of English is only so-so. If the letter "w" is added to this word, a different word is produced, but the pronunciation remains the same. Farmers sow seed in the spring so that they can get a harvest in the fall. People in other occupations sew in a different way. Seamstresses, dressmakers and tailors use needles and thread to make dresses, suits, and so on, but in this case "sew" is spelled s-e-w. So! English is a difficult language to master and it will remain so. But don't get discouraged. It can be done if you persevere. I hope these "Daily Word" telephone messages are helpful. If you wish to receive a written copy of messages before they are transmitted on the telephone, send your request to the following address: "Daily Word", Post Office Box 30, Moriyama, Nagoya 463 Japan. Japanese translations are also available. -------When Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic Ocean and reached the so-called New World in 1492, he first landed on an island now called San Salvador, but one must be careful in using this name for it is also the name of the capital city of the Central American country of El Salvador. The island of San Salvador is one of about 700 islands and over 2000 islets included in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, only 29 of which are inhabited. The Bahaman Islands are located southeast of the American state of Florida and north of the island of Cuba. Today, July the 10th, is a holiday in the Bahamas, celebrating the 24th anniversary of its full independence from Great Britain. The earlier inhabitants of these islands were soon exterminated by the Europeans who then imported black Africans to work their cotton plantations. Now, about 85% of the 260,000 inhabitants are black or of mixed-blood. The main industry of these subtropical islands with their lush vegetation, flocks of bright-feathered birds and submarine gardens where exotic fish swim among the colorful coral is tourism, which accounts for over half its income. The beauty of distant lands is fascinating, but discerning eyes can find beauty everywhere. -------Mongolia is a country over four times the size of Japan located between Russia and China. It is the homeland of an ethnic and linguistic group called Mongols. In the 13th century, under Genghis Khan, the Mongols controlled the largest empire in history which included vast territories in modern-day China, Russia, Turkey and Iran. Mongols continue to live in China and Russia as well as Mongolia, but the Mongol culture is more similar to Tibetan than to Chinese, partly because the Mongols never adopted the Chinese system of writing. Today, July 11th, is the national day of Mongolia, commemorating the revolution against Chinese occupation and its proclamation as an independent state in 1921. In English, a couple of quite different words are derived from Mongol. One of the traditional racial divisions of human beings is called Mongoloid; the other two are Caucasoid and Negroid. Most East Asians and Native Americans were included in the Mongoloid race, characterized by yellowish or reddish skin color, dark hair, dark almond-shaped eyes and medium stature. Mongolism is a kind of severe, congenital mental retardation also called Down's syndrome. And in Japanese, the characters used for Mongolia, pronounced 'moko', mean "dark" or "ignorant" and "old". -------On the two Sundays I was in the Philippines last April, I spoke in three different churches. In all three, I preached in English. In the church in Metro Manila, a simple summary was given in Pilipino for those who may not have understood it completely. At the other two churches in neighboring Bulacan Province, my complete sermons were interpreted. The messages I delivered at the National Conference of our Church were also interpreted for the benefit of those delegates coming from distant places and different language regions. The worship services of the Philippine churches are quite different than that of our churches in Japan. They are much more lively and emotional. Short, lively choruses are sung rather than slower, traditional hymns. In our Japanese church, hymn-singing is accompanied by an organ. In the Philippines, all the churches I visited had a music group composed of one or more electric guitars, a synthesizer and a drummer. At times, young girl dancers with tambourines also performed while the choruses were sung. Certainly, differences in culture and national characteristics between Japan and the Philippines are evident in the forms of worship even in churches of the same denomination. -------To lament is to express deep grief or sorrow, to mourn, so a lamentation is an expression of grief. One of the 39 books in the Old Testament is entitled Lamentations in English. In Japanese, it is called 'aika', which is not a love song but a sad song, a dirge. The five poems included in this book lament the destruction of Jerusalem, which occurred in 586 B. C. In the first, second and fourth poems, each of the 22 verses began with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet and in the third poem, with 66 verses, each group of three verses began with the same Hebrew letter. Though the poems express the profound sorrow of the writer, there is also an expression of faith and hope in chapter 3, verses 22-23: "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." These verses have been a source of comfort and encouragement to people in sad and discouraging situations throughout the years. Even in sorrow, people may experience God's love. Those who believe in a merciful, powerful God perceive evidences of God's mercy even in miserable circumstances and give thanks for God's faithfulness which they recognize anew every morning. -------The small plant with jagged green leaves and a yellow flower is called 'tanpopo' in Japanese, but most Japanese do not know the Chinese characters for this word, normally pronounced 'hokoei'. In the U. S., this plant is considered a troublesome weed, but nursery school children may present some to their teachers as a gift. "Dandelion", the English word for this plant is derived from the French words for "lion's tooth" from the shape of its leaves. Various uses are made of dandelions. Its leaves are used in salads and its roots may be roasted and used as a substitute for coffee. Dandelions are used in Chinese medicine and to make dandelion wine. In Matthew 6:28, Jesus told people to look at the wild flowers of the field. I wonder if there were any dandelions there. -------In today's message, I will suggest another theme for those who find it helpful to write a short English essay and then read the corrected version in our little publication, "Daily Word" Echoes, which will be available at our meeting on August 31st. Today's theme is: "Diet". Perceptive listeners/readers will immediately recognize that there are two very different meanings of this word. One kind of diet is the usual food one eats, or a special selection of food chosen for medical or health reasons. Do you watch your diet carefully? What kind of diet do you prefer? What do you think of the diet of your country as compared to that of other countries? A homonym of this kind of diet is used to denote the national legislative assembly of Japan. What do you think about the present state of the Japanese Diet? Are you happy with its composition and its recent activities? Either of these meanings of "diet" may be chosen as the theme for an essay. Send essays to me at the following address along with any reactions or suggestions you may have related to these "Daily Word" messages. I am also interested in knowing what use you make of them and how they are helpful. This is: "Daily Word", Post Office Box 30, Moriyama, Nagoya, 463 Japan. -------All normal people have ears, eyes, a nose, skin and a tongue through which they have contact with and gain knowledge of the world about them. Yet, as implied in the Japanese saying, 'junin toiro', "ten people, ten colors", each individual is different with different degrees of sensitivity. The eyes, ears, noses and tongues of some people are much more sensitive than others. For example, it is said that the average person has 2,000 to 5,000 taste buds embedded in their tongues, but some have as many as 10,000, which gives them a super sense of taste. Tastes are divided into sweet, sour, salty and bitter, but researchers at an American university have recently reported that there may be a fifth category to be added to these four. They say that certain taste buds react only to monosodium glutamate, or MSG. They have called this taste "deliciousness", or 'umami' in Japanese. According to their report, MSG triggers certain taste buds which sends signals to the brain which in turn sends signals that make the body want more of that food. Needless to say, the food industry is very interested in this research. An Old Testament poet recognized still another kind of taste when he wrote, in Psalm 34:8, "Taste and see that the Lord is good." -------There are various meanings of the word "punch", spelled p-u-n-c-h. First, a punch is a tool used for piercing a hole in some material, such as leather or paper. Another kind of punch is a sharp blow with the fist. In a boxing match, boxers punch their opponents, but in a recent heavyweight championship boxing match in the United States, one boxer was disqualified for biting the ears of his opponent instead of punching him. Another kind of punch is a sweetened beverage of fruit juices. This beverage is often served from a large bowl called a punch bowl. Punchbowl is also the name of a 152-meter-high hill in Honolulu, Hawaii. In the bowl-like extinct volcanic crater at its summit is the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, for men killed in the Pacific War. Punch is also the name of the cruel, hunch-backed, hooked-nose husband in the famous English Punch-and-Judy puppet show, which came to England by way of France from Italy in the 17th century. And finally, a well-known satirical humorous weekly paper published in London is named 'Punch'. The first issue of this paper, or magazine, which was named after the ruthless puppet, appeared 156 years ago today, on July 17, 1841. ------- |