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Christian and Jewish prayers usually end with the word "amen", spelled a-m-e-n, in almost any language. In Hebrew, the word means "firm" or "steadfast" and when used as an interjection at the end of a prayer, it means "so be it" or "may it be so". The word is found often in both the Old Testament which was written in Hebrew and the New Testament which was written in Greek In the instructions given the Israelites following their deliverance from Egypt, in Deuteronomy chapter 27, they were told to say "Amen" following the statement of each of twelve different "curses". In the New Testament, Jesus frequently used the word when making a particularly solemn statement, which has been translated "verily", "truly" and "I tell you the truth". In most translations, "Amen" is the last word in the Bible. -------My father was a stamp collector and since my childhood days, I also have been a collector of used stamps from countries all over the world. Now, my stamp books include over 5800 different stamps from over 110 countries. Of course, the largest number of stamps are from Japan and the United States, but there are two other Asian countries from which over two hundred stamps each are included and from three European countries I have over one hundred stamps each. The one African country from which over one hundred stamps are included is the Central African Republic, which was called the Central African Empire for a time. In that country, my niece and her family are living and engaged in missionary work and her parents also used to send mail from that country when they served as missionaries in the neighboring country of Zaire, formerly known as the Belgian Congo. Today, December 1st, is the national holiday in the Central African Republic, celebrating the 40th anniversary of its proclamation as a republic on this day in 1958. Since that proclamation, the country has suffered a number of military coups and like many other African nations, it has found it difficult to function as a true republic. -------Many newly developed electronic devices are continuing to make life more convenient for many people in the industrialized world. You are probably acquainted with electronic dictionaries now available to students and others whose work or avocation involves translating from English to Japanese. When an English word is punched into such a device, the Japanese translation of that word appears on a small screen. Some advanced devices even provide the correct pronunciation of the word through a small speaker. Now, a more advanced translation device called a Quicktionary is available. This device, which is 16.3 centimeters long and weighs 120 grams, is equipped with a small pen-like scanner. When the user slides the scanner over an English word, within two to five seconds, a Japanese translation of that word appears on its little screen. The Quicktionary has a vocabulary of 255,000 words and can be held in one hand while reading books or newspapers whose letters are up to 5 millimeters high. Its three batteries will last for about 3000 translations and its cost is 25,000 yen. Speaking of translation, it is of great importance for us human beings to translate our faith or admirable thoughts into actions. -------One of the many irregularities of the English language is the way plurals are formed from singular nouns. The singular of the animal called a "moose", spelled m-o-o-s-e, for example, which is called a 'herajika', or "spatula deer" in Japanese, is simply "moose". But the plural of the fowl called a "goose" is "geese", spelled g-e-e-s-e. Some kinds of geese migrate in flocks at certain seasons of the year. The John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City was built on filled-in marshland in Jamaica Bay where geese and other birds used to gather. Even after the airport was built, birds continued to frequent the area and sometimes caused problems for airplanes. The Federal Aviation Authority has reported 11 incidents of collisions between birds and aircraft at that airport since 1980. It was recently revealed that on the morning of June 3, 1995, just after the conclusion of a 3 1/2 hour trans-Atlantic flight, an Air France Concorde hit a flock of geese that caused considerable damage to the aircraft resulting in a 5.3 million dollar payment by the airport for repairs. In English slang, a silly person may be called a "goose" and a large flock of such geese may be a real menace not only to airplanes but to society at large. -------According to an English proverb, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy". A "dull" boy is a boy lacking vitality, whose life is boring and unexciting. It has long been recognized that children in Japan are under too much pressure; both in school and after school, there is too little free time to spend in ways that encourage individuality and creative thinking. But what about children in the United States these days? In a recent study produced by the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, parents of 3,585 children under 13 kept a record of their youngsters' activities every minute of the day, both on weekdays and on weekends. As a result, it was found that children's free time declined from 40 to 30 percent between 1981 and 1997 and they watched an average of 90 minutes of television on weekdays. School time and homework have increased along with preschool and after school organized activities. Such activities may also be fun and enjoyable, but if they are too structured, they hinder the development of creativity, which, unlike Japan, has been an emphasis of American education. The benefits of both group harmony and individuality should be encouraged in our present "global village". -------Most of our travel in the United States last summer was by air, but one trip of about 500 kilometers was by Greyhound bus. That seemed the most convenient, inexpensive and interesting way to get from Jacksonville, Florida to Charlotte, North Carolina, where my sister and her husband were living. It had been 28 years since our last ride on a Greyhound bus. At that time, my wife and I and our 3 children were on our way to back to the Chicago area for a full year's furlough following our third term of missionary service in Japan. After driving around eastern Europe in a camping car, we arrived in New York City, where we purchased bus tickets for 99 dollars that were good for traveling anywhere in the United States during one month. After sightseeing in New York, we went to Washington, D. C. for more sightseeing and then on to Chicago. Before the month was up, we had also gone by bus to Tucson, Arizona, where my wife's parents were living, and then back to Chicago. This time, we needed to get to the Jacksonville bus station by 6 o'clock in the morning, so the man at Penney Retirement Community who drove people to and from Jacksonville stopped by at a little after 4:30 a.m. to pick us up along with our suitcases. -------Today is the second Sunday of Advent in the traditional church calendar. In this Advent season, Christians seek to prepare their hearts and homes to meaningfully celebrate the first advent, or coming, of Christ into the world as an infant on the first Christmas Day over 2000 years ago. The actual date of Jesus' birth is unknown, but the designation of December 25th as the day to celebrate it was influenced by pre-Christian festivals at that time of year in honor of the sun as daylight hours lengthened and as Jews celebrated Hanukkah, their Festival of Lights. Lights are used in Christmas decorations and Old Testament prophecies regarding the future light shining in the darkness are often chosen for meditation by Christians during this season. One such passage is Isaiah, chapter 9, verse 2: "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned." Jesus called himself the "light of the world". He used that same term for his disciples and encouraged them in Matthew 5:16, to let their light shine through their "good deeds" which would bring honor to their Father in heaven. These are appropriate verses for us to keep in mind during the Advent season. -------If you are acquainted with Western literature and Americanized pronunciation, you can probably guess the origin of the word "quixotic", spelled q-u-i-x-o-t-i-c. It comes from the name of the hero in a famous novel by the Spanish writer, Cervantes. Don Quixote was pictured as a country gentleman, dignified, affectionate and simple-minded. Crazed by reading many books of chivalry that he believed to be true, he felt called to become a knight to go out into the world to defend the oppressed and avenge the injured. Among some Americans, his name is pronounced 'don kwiksut', and the word "quixotic" means "extravagantly chivalrous or romantically idealistic; visionary; impractical". A quixotic person has fine ideas and ideals which are unrealistic and impracticable. -------Chapter 21 of the Gospel According to Luke begins with a story of Jesus watching worshippers putting their offerings into an offering box at the Jewish temple. He told his disciples that a poor widow who put in two very small copper coins had put in more than the rich people who had put in a much greater amount because she put in all she had to live on while they put in only a small percentage of their riches. I was reminded of this story when I read a recent letter to a Japanese newspaper from a resident of a Buddhist temple in Japan. It stated that an offering box located some distance from their living quarters had been broken into four times this year, so it was decided to do away with the lock and instead collect the money daily. One day, a new, strong lock was seen attached to the offering box. It had not been attached by anyone related to the temple, so they watched the offering box carefully in the evening and when they saw a man approach it they called out and he ran away. Evidently, the thief had put his own lock on the box to steal the money that was offered there. According to an English proverb, "There is honor among thieves", but it must be a very warped sense of honor. -------The word "cosmos", in both Greek and English, primarily denotes an orderly, harmonious system. It often means the universe, but it is used once in the New Testament, in I Peter 3: 3, to mean an adornment used by women to make themselves appear more beautiful. This word is the root of "cosmetic", which is a special preparation to apply to one's body to beautify it. Customarily, cosmetics were used only by women, but there is now an increase in the sale of cosmetics for men also. In the old days, it was traditional for females to have long hair, apply make-up, trim their eyebrows, attach earrings and wear dresses; now we see many women with short hair, wearing trousers and men with long hair, sometimes dyed, and wearing one or two earrings. The current popularity of men's cosmetics among young men in particular, is another indication of the breaking down of traditional gender distinctions. Another tendency evident among Japanese men is their becoming fatter, which is said to be the result of their eating late, high-calorie dinners even though many of them eat no breakfast. According to the Bible passage noted previously, true beauty is an inward quality that is not enhanced by external adornments. -------In my high school days in the United States, WACs were members of the Women's Army Corps, serving as noncombatants in the army during the Second World War. In a recent news article, I learned that WACS is a Japanese organization: the Welfare Association for Comfortable Society. This Tokyo-based nonprofit group is sponsoring a tour of disabled people to Los Angeles. The highlight of the trip is a visit to Disneyland for the Early Christmas Party there. People in wheelchairs find it difficult to get around in Japan, but in California there are strict requirements for public and private facilities to improve access for the disabled and the amusement park reserved a special night for people with disabilities. At the party, they were greeted by Mickey and Minnie Mouse, enjoyed a big parade from special viewing areas and had dinner parties with Disney characters. Disabled people find it difficult to travel to a foreign country and are often discriminated against in their homeland, but on this 10th day of December, Human Rights Day, we should recall the first words in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which was adopted 50 years ago today: "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights." -------The chief of a Native American tribe was called "Big Foot". You can imagine why he was given such a name. There is a community in the U. S. state of Illinois named after him. From the traditional Japanese point of view, Westerners are people with big noses and big feet. Comparatively speaking, this continues to be so, but Japanese are now becoming larger and shoe stores in Japan that specialize in larger sizes are said to be booming. One such store is located near the Gakugeidagaku Station in Tokyo's Meguro Ward and the six women who work in that store all wear shoe sizes over 24.5 cm. The store was established by a lady who came from a family with large feet and found it difficult to find high-heeled shoes to fit her feet. Consequently, she flew to Los Angeles and returned to Japan with two suitcases of shoes. Her store now has an abundant variety of shoes and does much mail-order business. The shop's annual sales total over 300 million yen and has over 30,000 customers. According to a report from the Wacoal Human Science Research Institute, the number of Japanese women wearing sizes over 25.5 cm has increased by nearly 3.3 times from 1971 to 1992. Can you imagine why Japanese are getting bigger? -------Last June, my wife and I visited the Penney Retirement Community, near Jacksonville, Florida. Our reduced-fare plane ticket permitted only four stopovers and we wanted to visit my sister in North Carolina on our way to Chicago, so instead of going by plane from Jacksonville to Charlotte, we decided to take a bus and then board a plane in Charlotte. It is an interesting experience to travel overland by bus and provides a completely different view of the country than when traveling by air. The PRC transportation committeeman picked us up in his car early in the morning to get us to the Jacksonville bus station before 6 o' clock. The bus station is located in what is now a deteriorating part of town which made us a bit uncomfortable. The kind driver that took us there remained with us until we had purchased our tickets and checked our luggage. He then joined us for breakfast in a small restaurant in the bus station until the time came to board the bus. Less than a quarter of the seats were occupied in the large Greyhound bus and those passengers whose skin color resembled ours were in the minority. (Incidentally, we are happy to read that, in Japan, the crayon which is designated "skin color" will no longer have that name.) -------During this Advent season, it is customary for Handel's Messiah to be presented by choirs and orchestras in many places. That oratorio, composed of Bible passages from the classical English translation of the Bible, is related to the coming of the Messiah, his birth, ministry, death, resurrection and ascension. The first vocal solo is from the 1st verse of the 40th chapter of Isaiah: "Comfort ye my people saith your God". Old Testament prophets, as God's spokesmen, transmitted various kinds of messages. Some were messages of judgment, but the second part of the book of Isaiah emphasizes the comfort that God promises his people. The advent of Christ into the world was to reveal in very concrete ways God's comfort, mercy and salvation to those who believe. Before his death, Jesus told his disciples about a 'parakletos', literally meaning "one called along side" and which has been translated "Comforter", "Consoler", Helper", "Advocate", "Intercessor", who he would send to be with them. As we prepare to celebrate once again the birth of the Savior, we should be thankful for the presence of the Holy Spirit who continues to bring comfort and encouragement in the midst of a troubled world. -------The 24th letter in the English alphabet is X. This is an interesting letter that has a number of different pronunciations and many different meanings. The x's in the following words, for example, are all pronounced differently: exact anxious, luxury, luxurious and xylophone. In mathematics x is an unknown quantity or the sign of multiplication. On a map, it may indicate a particular point and, in some letters, it is the symbol for a kiss. It is the symbol for ten in Roman numerals. In Japan it is often used as the symbol for a mistake or something wrong, but in U. S. elections, we may put an X by the name of the person we are voting for. Because X, pronounced 'kai', is the first letter in the Greek word for "Christ", that is its meaning in "Xmas", but in many Xmas celebrations in Japan, Christ is completely ignored. -------You probably know the name of one of the most famous towers in the world which is the chief landmark of the capital city of France, which is called Paris in English. In English, it is called the Eiffel Tower. But do you know how it got that name? It was named after the French engineer who designed it and who was born 166 years ago today, on December 15, 1832. Alexandre Gustaf Eiffel was a noted constructor of bridges and viaducts and contributed to the science of aerodynamics. He also designed locks for the Panama Canal and constructed the framework for the Statue of Liberty in New York City. In the framework for that statue may be seen the concept of the tower he erected for the 1889 Paris exposition a few years later at a cost of one million dollars. That 300-meter-tall tower has been eclipsed by the 333-meter tall Tokyo Tower, which was built in 1958. In the 11th chapter of Genesis we find the story of the building of the Tower of Babel, which the builders erected to reach to heaven. Divine displeasure at their proud attempt resulted in a confusion of the language of the builders. In English, the word "babel" denotes a confusion of languages and it is from this word that the name Babylon was derived. -------One of the reasons for the irregular pronunciation of many English words is that the spelling of words introduced from another language is maintained even though the pronunciation is different. For example, the word spelled c-e-l-l-o, denoting a musical instrument of the violin family, is pronounced 'chelo' because that is the pronunciation in Italian. Actually, it is a shortened form of "violoncello" which denotes a small bass viol. A bass viol is the huge violin whose players must stand while playing. Cellists sit while playing a cello but it also rests on the floor. Two weeks ago, on November 29th, the world's biggest cello concert was held in Kobe where 1,013 cellists, ranging in age from 4 to 87, played together. About 70 of the cellists were from Germany, the United States and other foreign countries. Proceeds from the concert were given to local musical and cultural organizations which have suffered following the devastating earthquake which occurred in the Kobe area three years ago, in which more than 6,400 people lost their lives. The concert was organized by an amateur cellist who is a Kobe entrepreneur and a German cellist who formerly played with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. -------We are living a somewhat scary age. Not only do individuals and countries possess fearful weapons that can kill other living creatures, including human beings, quietly and effectively, scientists are able to produce artificial products that are, in some ways, of better quality than the natural products they replace. Take snow for example. Operators of ski resorts depend on snow for their livelihood. If there is no snow, skiers will not come to ski and the ski resorts and the areas around them will suffer. But now, new snowmaking systems have been developed that can generate fine-quality snow regardless of natural weather conditions. One new system has a daily snowmaking capacity of 600 tons of snow which can cover a 2,600-meter ski slope, using a flake-ice making machine, a conveyor unit, a pneumatic transport and an automatic snow-spraying machine. Even powder snow for indoor ski resorts may be produced that is said to surpass the quality of fresh natural snow. According to the Biblical account of creation, God created human beings in the image of God and they were granted limited authority over nature, but trying to overstep the boundaries of their God-given function may bring disaster. -------The longest river in the world is in Africa. It flows for 6,695 kilometers from Burundi, in the central area of that continent, to its delta in Egypt on the Mediterranean Sea. It is called the Nile. The second longest river in Africa, which is 4,380 kilometers long, flows through Zaire and is called the Congo. And the third longest river, 4,180 kilometers long, meanders through four countries, two of which have names derived from that river. The name of the river, Niger, comes from the Latin word for "black", and the names of those two countries are Niger and Nigeria. Although the area of Nigeria is 30 percent less than that of Niger, its population is 11 times that of its northern neighbor. The reason is that Niger is mostly arid desert and mountains. Most of its people live in a narrow savanna in the south and along the Niger River basin in the southwest. Only 3 percent of the land is fit for cultivation and the main crop grown there is peanuts, but it has become a major producer of uranium. Today is a holiday in the Republic of Niger, commemorating the establishment of its constitutional government. The country gained its independence from France in 1960 and became a member of the United Nations that year. -------The bus trip my wife and I took last June from Jacksonville, Florida to Rock Hill, South Carolina, took about eight hours. During that time, we enjoyed seeing the countryside and having experiences which are not possible when traveling by air. The bus driver and a number of passengers were African-Americans, most of whom were dressed very casually. Departure and arrival times were much more flexible than in Japan. At the periodic stops for visiting a rest room or buying snacks, the driver announced how many minutes we were allowed to leave the bus, warning that when the time was up he would leave whether or not all the passengers had returned to their seats. It was interesting that the driver himself usually did not return to the bus until about ten minutes after the stated departure time. At some stops, there were shops where various kinds of articles could be purchased and where we could buy something to eat. At others, there was nothing on sale. Along the way, we stopped at Savannah, Georgia and Columbia, South Carolina. The stop at which we disembarked was a nondescript place in front of a Laundromat but we were happy to see my sister and her husband waiting there for us by their car. -------On this fourth Sunday in the Advent season, the Sunday before Christmas, most sermons in Christian worship services will be related to the birth of Jesus. In the New Testament, only two Gospels, Matthew and Luke, include stories related to Jesus' birth. According to Luke's account, in chapter 2, an angel appeared to shepherds, who were "keeping watch over their flocks at night", and informed them of the birth of the Savior, the Christ, whose advent the Jews had been waiting for many years. Following this strange announcement, the shepherds hurried to Bethlehem to see what had happened there. And what did they find? A baby lying in a manger. A "manger" is a box in which hay is put for animals to eat. Why was a newborn baby put in such a place? His parents were on a trip and there was no room for them in the inn. This story indicates the humble beginning of Jesus' life. From his birth in a stable to his death on a cross, Jesus' entire life was characterized by humility and sacrificial service, ministering to the needs of others rather than seeking honor for himself. Jesus not only became our Savior but our Example. In the joyful celebration of his birth, his self-emptying example should also be remembered. -------The U. S. state of Massachusetts is officially called a "commonwealth". Today, December 21st, is a special day in a seacoast town of that commonwealth named Plymouth. Plymouth got its name from the name of the English town from which the Pilgrims started on their journey to the American continent in 1620 in a ship called the 'Mayflower'. It was on this day of that year that scouts from the 'Mayflower' are said to have landed on a large boulder now called Plymouth Rock. Their favorable report of the area resulted in the decision of the passengers to settle there. Today is called Forefathers' Day in that community. A "forefather" is a "father" who lived "before" and thus is an ancestor. Today, celebrations are held commemorating the arrival of the Pilgrims. -------The word "day" may denote the 24-hour period between midnight and midnight during which the earth revolves once on its axis. It may also denote the period of light between sunrise and sunset. In the latter sense, today, December 22nd, is the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere in which most countries of the world are located. The English name for this day is "winter solstice". "Solstice", spelled s-o-l-s-t-i-c-e, comes from Latin words meaning "sun stand still". In the six months since the summer solstice on June 21st, the days have gradually been getting shorter, but from today, when it seems that the sun has "stood still", the days will be getting longer. Midway between the two solstices is the "equinox", spelled e-q-u-i-n-o-x from Latin words meaning "equal night", when day and night are of equal length. In western thought, the equinoxes and the solstices mark the beginning of the four seasons, but according to the traditional Japanese calendar, winter began over six weeks ago. Because it is a season of coldness and darkness, many people have a negative impression of winter, but it has also been called "the spring of genius", so how we look at it depends on our viewpoint or faith. -------Today is a holiday in Japan--a fairly new holiday, established after the enthronement of the present Emperor. It is the Emperor's birthday. In Japan, the given names of emperors are usually not used after their enthronement. Rather, they are known by the era name chosen for their reign. Thus, the present Emperor, Akihito, will be known as Emperor Heisei. The second character of his given name is the same as that of his father, Hirohito, Emperor Showa, his grandfather, Yoshihito, Emperor Taisho, and his great-grandfather, Mutsuhito, Emperor Meiji. That character, which is usually pronounced 'jin' or 'nin', is composed of two characters meaning "person" and "two". It denotes one of the basic virtues in Confucianism and has been translated as benevolence love, affection, care and compassion. It is a worthy characteristic, especially for a ruler, and for common people as well. The first character in his name, composed of two other characters signifying the sun and the moon, means "bright" or "light". According to the present Japanese Constitution, the Emperor is the "symbol of the State and of the unity of the people". I hope this "bright, benevolent" Emperor whose "flat, becoming" reign of Heisei, will have a happy birthday. -------Today is the day before Christmas, so this evening is Christmas Eve. Many churches hold a service on Christmas Eve during which many Christmas carols are sung. Some church groups go out into the streets, to hospitals or nursing homes and sing Christmas carols there. The word "carol" is rooted in a Greek word denoting a flute player who accompanied a choral dance. Now, it denotes a joyful song, especially a song of praise related to the Nativity, the birth of Jesus. "Carol" may also be a verb meaning to sing joyously or to go from house to house singing Christmas songs. "Carol" is also a feminine name. In fact, it is the name of my eldest sister, who often calls from the United States to listen to this "Daily Word" telephone message and the personal comment that often follows. "Carol" is sometimes also used as a masculine name. Even in Japan, where less than one percent of the population claim to be Christian, we often hear Christmas carols being played or sung. Probably the most famous Christmas carol is the one written by an Austrian priest on Christmas Eve, 1818, which the church organist immediately composed a melody for. In the English translation, each verse begins with the words: "Silent night, holy night". -------Seventy-two years ago today, a new era began in Japanese history. Called the Showa era, it began when the Taisho Emperor, Yoshihito, died and was succeeded by his son, Hirohito, on this day in 1926. A different kind of new era, however, is celebrated on this day in most countries in the world. The Christian Era theoretically began with the birth of Jesus Christ. In fact, however, the date of his birth is uncertain--not only the day and month, but even the year. It was over 350 years following his birth that the church officially recognized December 25th as the day of "Christ's Mass". Some customs and decorations now related to Christmas celebrations are rooted in pre-Christian traditions. Japan has added its own peculiar Christmas custom in the form of a Christmas cake which is eaten in many Japanese homes today. As we enjoy the decorations and music and as we give or receive gifts during this Christmas season, we should remember the reason for the celebration, which may be summed up in the famous Bible verse found in the Gospel of John, chapter 3, verse 16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." -------Last summer when my wife and I went to the United States, we stopped for a few days at the home of my sister and her husband in North Carolina. They had served as missionaries for many years in the African country called the Congo or Zaire. Since their retirement, they have been serving as volunteers at JAARS (Jungle Aviation And Radio Service), a Christian organization that provides support of various kinds to missionaries who are involved in translating the Bible into other languages in many different countries. My sister helps out in the library and my brother-in-law assists in mechanical work on airplanes, et cetera. While there, we toured the facilities and visited a museum related to languages and translation. We met a Japanese engineer there and invited him and his Japanese wife to my sister's house in the evening where we conversed in Japanese. On Sunday morning, we attended a Sunday School class and worship service at a church in the city of Charlotte. In the evening, we attended a service in the chapel at JAARS. We also met their youngest daughter, her French husband and their children who live nearby. On July 1st, we went by car to the Charlotte Airport where we boarded a plane for Chicago. -------In Japan, it is customary to hold year-end parties called 'bonenkai', which literally means "year-forgetting-meeting". As the year draws to a close, there are probably many things we would like to forget: mistakes we have made, harsh or unkind words we have spoken, failures we have experienced. But there are also many good things that have occurred which we should remember. In fact, we should remember that we may learn from sad or unhappy experiences and become a better, more mature person because of them. As we grow older, we are apt to focus our attention on the past, but the person with a healthy faith will always look to the future with hope. In the 3rd chapter of his Letter to the Philippians, the Apostle Paul compares the life of faith to a race. In verses 13-14, he wrote: "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." In our lives also, we need to set a goal and put forth a determined effort to accomplish it. We cannot run a race while looking backwards. We need to face the future, focusing our attention on the goal and running with determination to attain it. -------The word "crank", spelled c-r-a-n-k, has a couple of different meanings. The older meaning is a device to transmit motion to a machine. It consists of a handle or arm connected at right angles to the shaft of a machine. Cranks were used to start the engines of old cars such as the Model T Ford. In Old English, "crank" meant "twisted" or "bent" and a German word with the same pronunciation meant "ill", so the English word came to denote a grouchy person or an eccentric who has queer ideas. Such a person may be called "cranky" and "crankiness" is frowned upon by "normal" people. In an essay entitled "An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish", the English philosopher, Bertrand Russell, wrote: "More cranks take up unfashionable errors than unfashionable truths." -------Over the past several months, the word "impeachment" has become a very common term in news articles related to the United States and its president. "Impeach" means to bring a public official to a trial on a charge of wrongdoing. In U. S. history, until now, the only president who has been impeached was born 190 years ago today, on December 29, 1808. His name was Andrew Johnson. Although lacking formal education, he became active in politics when he was 20 years old. He was elected a town councilman and then mayor, state representative, state senator, congressman from Tennessee, governor of Tennessee and senator from Tennessee. When Abraham Lincoln was elected to his second term, Andrew Johnson was elected vice-president. He became president when Lincoln was assassinated and was faced with many bewildering problems that resulted from the Civil War. He made decisions that upset both Northerners and Southerners, both radical and moderate politicians. As a result, he was impeached by the House of Representatives, but the trial in the Senate came one vote short of removing him from office. After he returned to Tennessee, he became the first man to be elected to the Senate after serving as president. -------
Today, December 30th, is the birthday of the English author and poet who wrote 'The Ballad of East and West', which contains these famous lines: "Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,/ Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's great Judgment Seat". Do you know his name? He was born in India in 1865. After his education in England, he returned to India where he wrote many poems and stories that reflected his view of both India and the romanticized imperialism of Great Britain. He returned to England and became England's first Nobel prize winner in literature. His name was Rudyard Kipling. In my student days, I memorized his poem entitled 'If', which begins and ends as follows: In the year 46 B. C., the Roman emperor, Julius Caesar, introduced a calendar in which the ordinary year had 365 days and every fourth year, a leap year, had 366 days. That Julian calendar is based on a solar year of 365 1/4 days. In the year 1582, Pope Gregory XIII introduced a slightly corrected form of the Julian calendar in which years beginning a new century are leap years only if they are divisible by 400. Thus the years 1700, 1800 and 1900 were not leap years, but the year 2000 will be a leap year. Lunar calendars, based on the movement of the moon, continue to be used in Islamic or Jewish communities, but according to the Gregorian calendar, today, December 31st, is the last day of the year. In all countries that use this calendar, special traditional customs are followed on this day. In Japan, purification ceremonies are held in Shinto shrines and bells are tolled in Buddhist temples. In the United States, New Year's Eve parties are held in many places and many churches hold "watch night" services for worshippers to quietly reflect on the past, solemnly think about the future and rededicate themselves to God and to God's plan for them and for the world. Let us give thanks, repent and move forward in the New Year with faith. -------Happy New Year! The year of the Tiger has ended and the year of the Hare has begun. As I noted on my New Year's card this year, the hare is a creature with long ears that is quick to hear, long hind legs that is quick to move and extraordinary reproductive powers. So I suggest that, this year, we be alert to hear God's word, quick to act upon it and provide a good moral example that will produce many spiritual offspring. In every country that considers today the beginning of a new year, the last year of the 20th century, special customs are followed or celebrations are held. While many Japanese people will visit a shrine, many Americans will watch a football game, the most famous one will played in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. Prior to the football game, a colorful parade called the Tournament of Roses is held. In the parade, which extends for five or six kilometers, are elaborate floats blanketed with roses, orchids, carnations, chrysanthemums and many other kinds of flowers, marching bands, prizewinning horses and many celebrities. Some churches hold New Year's Day worship services, including our church in Takahama. I am scheduled to preach at that service which begins at 10 o'clock. -------My hometown in the northeast corner of the state of Illinois is about a one-hour-drive from the Chicago International Airport. Last summer, my sister and her husband, my childhood friend who is currently the mayor of that town, met us at the airport and drove us to their home. In their driveway was a car that a friend had left for us to use for a couple of weeks. After that time, another car from another church member was available for us to use for the remainder of our time in that town. The youth pastor, who is also the director of the church camp some 400 kilometers away, stayed at the camp during the summer with his family and let us stay in their house while we were in that town. Since his house is only one block away from my sister's house, it was very convenient for us. During the summer in my hometown, it is customary to hold an outdoor musical concert in a park on Saturday evenings at which small professional groups of musicians from out-of-town perform. We enjoyed joining others in the community on the wide, sloping lawn to listen to them. We also went with my sister and brother-in-law one Sunday evening to a concert of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in a suburban community. -------There was a large wooden gymnasium at the parochial school I attended as a child. Not only sporting events, but public meetings and other activities were also held there, so I often went into it. Near the ceiling at the front end of the gymnasium, printed in large capital letters were the words "IN THE BEGINNING GOD". These are the first words of the English Bible, found in Genesis, chapter 1, verse 1, which states: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." I presume that phrase was written to remind both adults and children of the importance of faith in our Creator and heavenly Father from the beginning of our lives and of all our plans. Today is the first Sunday of a New Year. Those sincere Christians who gather in churches today to worship God will reaffirm their faith at the beginning of this year. And those believers who make it a practice to begin every day with a prayer to God reaffirm the validity of the statement daily. In the last chapter of the last book of the Bible, in Revelation 22:13, we find this related declaration: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End." It is comforting to know that God is at the end as well as at the beginning of our lives. -------The pronunciation of "air", spelled a-i-r, and "are", spelled a-r-e. are quite different. but when an h is added to the beginning of those words, both are pronounced 'hea'. Human beings grow "hair" on their heads and other parts of their bodies, but the hair of animals like the "hare" is called "fur". In Japanese, the same word, 'ke', can be used for both "hair" and "fur". A "hare" is similar to a rabbit, but with longer ears and longer hind legs. In traditional Oriental thought, this year is the year of the hare. The word "harebrained" means giddy or reckless. In a famous fable of a hare and a tortoise, the slow but steady tortoise won a race because the harebrained hare took a nap midway through the race. The moral of the story is "slow and steady wins the race." -------Today, the fifth day of the year, is the third day of this week. In English, it is called Tuesday. Following the day of the sun, Sunday, and the day of the moon, Monday, it is the day of an ancient Germanic god named Tiw, spelled T-i-w. The names of the next three days of the week are derived from Norse gods named Wodin, Thor and Frigg. Tiw was a highly revered sky god. He was later worshipped as a god of war and of athletic events. He was identified with the Roman god of war, Mars, so in the Romance languages of Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and French which are derived directly from Latin, the name of this day of the week is related to Mars. In Japanese, names of the days of the week are related to the sun, the moon and five planets. In conformity with the Romance languages, Tuesday, or 'kayoobi', is related to the fiery, reddish planet of Mars. There is now a spacecraft on its way to Mars from Japan. Called "Nozomi", the Japanese word for " hope", it is expected to arrive in October and will gather information about the atmosphere and weather on Mars. Now that the Russian space program is in decline, Japan's space probes are continuing despite the economic slump. We hope that Nozomi has a successful journey. -------This 6th day of January is called Epiphany in the traditional church calendar. It is the twelfth and final day of Christmastide. Spelled e-p-i-p-h-a-n-y, "epiphany", means manifestation or appearing. The Feast of the Epiphany commemorates three manifestations of the divinity of Jesus Christ in particular: the visit of Wise Men, or Magi, from the East to worship the newborn King, Jesus' baptism in the Jordan River and Jesus' first miracle at a wedding celebration in Cana. The visit of the Magi is recorded in the 2nd chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. According to that story, these "priest-scholars" had seen a star which they believed signified the birth of the Jewish Messiah. They traveled to Jerusalem looking for "the one who [had] been born king of the Jews". Although there is no mention of how many Magi there were, the fact that they presented three gifts to the child gave rise to the supposition that there were three of them. After their worship of the baby Jesus in Bethlehem, they returned to their country, which is not named. To Christians, this story of a star in the sky which guided devout Gentiles to make a special trip to worship the newborn Jewish Messiah implies the universal significance of Jesus' birth. -------The game of billiards or 'tama-tsuki' in Japanese, is played on a rectangular, cloth-covered table with raised and cushioned edges. It is played with a long, tapered, leather-tipped stick called a cue and a number of hard balls. In the game of pocket billiards, or pool, a pool table with six pockets is used. According to a recent news article, the popularity of billiards is increasing in Japan. In last year's Asian Games held in Bangkok, Japanese players won gold, silver and bronze medals in billiards. Shooting pool is relatively inexpensive and entrepreneurs can set up pool tables or open pool halls for a relatively low startup investment, so billiards has become more popular during this period of economic hard times. The article noted that almost all billiards tables and equipment used in Japan are imported, with more than 80 percent coming from the United States and Taiwan. Such imports for the first nine months of this year totaled 1.14 billion yen, nearly twice that for the same period last year. Although "billiards" is a plural noun, it is used with a singular verb. It is a very ancient game. It is mentioned in the 'Confessions' of Saint Augustine, written in the 5th century and by Shakespeare in the 16th century. -------Personal seals are very important in Japan. They are used when withdrawing money from a savings account and to authenticate official documents. In the United States, such seals are not used. We simply sign our names. The United States government, however, has an official seal that is affixed to certain classes of documents, including foreign treaties and presidential proclamations. In the center of this Great Seal of the United States is a white-headed eagle. Because its white head and neck make it look bald, it is also called a bald eagle. Having been chosen as a symbol of the United States, it is also called an "American eagle" and appears on some American currency. Benjamin Franklin objected to the choice of this bird as a symbol. He considered the eagle a "bad bird" whose way of life included stealing, plundering and killing. Franklin preferred the "humble turkey" which "minds his own business, respecting the rights of others". Furthermore, he considered the turkey "a unique American creature". In the Song of Moses recorded in Deuteronomy, chapter 32, God is likened to an eagle "that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions" -------For almost six weeks last summer, my wife and I lived in a house in my hometown in northern Illinois. It had three bedrooms, so when our son and daughter and three granddaughters came to visit, they were all able to stay there with us for a while. One of our granddaughters from Japan stopped in Texas on the way and stayed for a week with a friend she had known in Japan. The other one attended our church camp in Wisconsin for ten days with other girls her age. Our son and his daughter traveled three days by car from New Mexico. Our daughter came from Thailand, but her two suitcases did not arrive with her. They were finally delivered to our house at 3 o'clock in the morning three days later. The high point of our visit to our homeland was the family reunion that my sister and her husband had organized. My brother and four sisters along with their spouses, their children and their spouses and their children's children gathered together from seven countries on four continents. It was the first time we had met the spouses of some of our nieces and nephews and some of their children. There were 53 of us all together. We had a very enjoyable time, eating, talking, playing and viewing colored slides of us and our parents in former years. -------In English, there are different words used to denote a group of animals, depending on the animals involved. "Herd" is used for a group of cows, but a group of sheep is called a "flock". It seems reasonable to call a person who cares for cows a "cowherd", and inconsistent to call a person who cares for sheep a "shepherd", but that is the word used. In the Middle East in ancient times, a close relationship developed between nomadic shepherds and their flocks of sheep. One of the well-known passages in the Bible is the 23rd Psalm which was written by David, the king of Israel, who was a shepherd in his youth. It begins with the words "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." The poem expresses David's faith in God who leads him into green pastures and beside still waters. Going through dark valleys, it was comforting to know that God was with him and that God's rod and staff were at hand to protect and help him. Although this psalm was written some 3000 years ago, it continues to express the faith of believers today who find peace, comfort and encouragement in the affirmation that the Lord is their shepherd. In the Gospel of John [10:11], Jesus is called "the good shepherd [who] lays down his life for the sheep". -------Nicolas Chauvin was a gallant soldier in the army of Napoleon who was severely wounded in battle. His excessively enthusiastic support of Napoleon made him an object of ridicule and from his name a new word was coined to denote fanatic devotion to one's country. The basic meaning of "chauvinism", spelled c-h-a-u-v-i-n-i-s-m, is an extreme, unreasonable patriotism. In Japanese, it is translated 'nekkyou-aikokushugi'. A secondary meaning of the word is a prejudiced belief in the superiority not only of one's country but of any group one belongs to. Thus a male chauvinist is a man who is absolutely certain that the male is superior to the female in every respect. Chauvinism is a denial of the basic equality of all people and an expression of sinful, selfish pride. -------When I was a child, I remember my mother telling my father that he had a "sweet tooth". This is an informal expression meaning "a craving for sweets". In Japanese, it is translated 'ama-to'. It seems that I am an example of the truth of the proverb "Like father, like son" for I have a similar "weakness". I am especially fond of chocolates and often eat some after dinner. For my birthday last month, from my son and his wife and each of their three children I received a different kind of chocolate candy as my birthday presents. A couple of days later, I read a news article with the title "Study finds chocolate prolongs life". It reported that a study conducted among 7,841 male graduates of Harvard University found that "chocolate and candy eaters live almost a year longer than those who abstain". As reported in a medical journal, the researchers suggested that antioxidants, or 'sankaboshi-zai', present in chocolate may have a health benefit. Scientists previously have found that both chocolates and wine contain antioxidant chemicals that prevent fat-like substances in the blood from oxidizing and clogging the arteries. I was happy to read that article, and I am sure that the makers of chocolate candies were too. -------Today is the 13th day of January. Some superstitious people in the West consider the number 13 to be unlucky. One reason is because that was the number present at Jesus' last supper with his disciples the evening before his crucifixion. But another reason is simply because it follows the number 12 which was considered especially lucky in some cultures. In some cases, however, 13 has proven to be a lucky number. Gerd Muller, a West German soccer player, for example, regularly wore the number 13 when on the field. In 1970, he led the World Cup scorers with a total of 19 goals and became the European soccer player of the year. Also, the Bulgarian gymnast Maria Gigova competed as number 13 in the 1971 World Championship. She became Absolute World Champion that year and the first woman to gain this title twice. Societies are found in some countries that aim to challenge the superstition that 13 is unlucky by deliberately choosing it. In Toulouse, France, there is a society of 13 doctors who meet on the 13th of the month in room number 13 of a local hotel, a practice they have been following since 1854. Numbers are not lucky or unlucky. It is only the irrational belief of people that they are imagined to be so. -------A living language continues to change. New words or phrases that reflect changes in the actual situations of the speakers of the language are constantly being coined. Some such words or phrases will last only a short time while others will remain. A new phrase now being used in Japanese is 'hotaru zoku', which literally means "firefly tribe". Do you understand its significance? It denotes cigarette smokers who go outdoors to smoke because of opposition to their smoking in the house or because they do not want to impair the health of their family. It is now recognized that even "secondhand smoke" can be dangerous to the health of non-smokers, so to keep the house free of smoke, some smokers go outside to smoke in the evening and the light from their cigarettes resembles that of fireflies. Now, to make things easier for the "firefly tribe" when the weather is bad, an electric appliance maker has developed a special air purifier for homes that suck in the smoke from a cigarette up to 60 centimeters away, purifies it and blows it out again. It is called 'enman kaiketsu', which literally means "harmonious solution". Actually, a more "satisfactory solution" would be for the smoker to give up smoking. -------Seventy years ago today, on January 15, 1929, Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia. His father was the pastor of a Baptist Church there. Following his theological education, Martin Junior became pastor of a Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, where he became the leader of a bus boycott by the city's black residents aimed at ending racial segregation. He continued to lead the civil rights movement until his assassination in 1968 at the age of 39. Five years before his death, he made a memorable speech in Washington, D. C. before some 200,000 black and white civil rights advocates which included these words. "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal.'" "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." Unfortunately, in many communities in the United States, Japan and other countries, the sin of discrimination against people because of their race, nationality or gender continues and fair-minded people everywhere will continue their efforts to eliminate it. -------The house in which my wife and I lived for six weeks in my hometown last summer had a large lawn around it which not only required regular mowing. It also needed watering. A gasoline-powered lawn mower was kept in the garage while the car was parked outside in the back yard. I mowed the lawn about once a week and used the sprinkler with a long hose attached to water the lawn as needed. In the back yard, there was a picnic table, a sandbox for small children to play in and a small slide. There were a couple of large plastic barrels beside the alley that ran behind the house. We put our burnable trash in those barrels for the garbage truck to pick up on certain days of the week. The non-burnable trash was placed in a container placed beside the street in front of the house on a different day. While we were there, we enjoyed watching television and video tapes in English. There was a computer for us to use and an e-mail address had been registered for us so we were able to communicate with our children both in the U.S. and overseas. There were friendly neighbors on both sides of the house. One of them had a key to the house which we used once when we mistakenly locked ourselves out of the house. -------Jesus' so-called Sermon on the Mount is recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, chapters 5, 6 and 7. In it, in the last half of chapter 5, Jesus contrasts his teaching with that of the Old Testament law. Whereas the Ten Commandments forbade such sinful acts as murder and adultery, Jesus taught that even if a person does not actually commit such deeds, the anger or lust in one's heart that stimulates those crimes is also sinful in the sight of God who sees our hearts and knows our thoughts. Rather than the Old Testament law of retaliation that prescribed "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth", Jesus said we should not seek revenge. "If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." He said we should love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. Even as God causes the sun to rise on both evil and good people and sends rain on both the righteous and unrighteous, as God's children, Jesus' disciples should likewise show love to all people. It is natural to show love to people who love us, but to love our enemies and to pray for them is unnatural. To do so requires a complete change of thinking. In his conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus taught that one must be "born again" [John 3:3]. -------Things that have a religious or spiritual significance may be called "sacred", which is rooted in a Latin word meaning "to consecrate". To consecrate is to set something apart from common use for a holy purpose. The place where a deity is worshipped is a sacred place and the writings, or scriptures, related to the deity are also considered "sacred". One opposite of "sacred" is "secular", but another word with a stronger meaning is "profane", spelled p-r-o-f-a-n-e. This word is rooted in Latin words meaning "before temple". Things that were before, or outside, the holy place, or temple were profane. This word then came to mean "showing contempt or irreverence toward God or sacred things". And vulgar or irreverent language may be called "profanity". -------One meaning of "stress" is the emphasis put on a syllable of a certain word. The difference between the words "PERfect" and "perFECT", for example, is basically a matter of stress. But another meaning of "stress" is mental pressure. A survey conducted by the Japanese Ministry of Education makes clear that not only pupils experience stress. So do their teachers. A record 1,609 public school teachers took time off during the 1997 school year because of mental disorders, a 16 percent increase over the previous year. That was the fourth consecutive year that a new record was set and more than double the number twenty years ago. Ministry officials said that an increasing number of teachers are feeling stress because an increasing number of children are disobeying them, making it difficult for them to conduct classes. Furthermore, the number of emotionally unstable children has also risen. Teachers under stress may be more likely to impose physical punishment on pupils and the report indicated that, during the 1997 school year, 414 teachers were reprimanded or punished for doing so. According to the New Testament letter of James, chapter 3, verse 1, teachers will be judged more strictly than others. -------According to a book entitled 'I Hear America Talking', there are over 600,000 words in the English language. Depending on one's level of education, most Americans are said to "know" 10,000-20,000 words but actually "use" only half that number. Of these, just 10 basic words account for 25 percent of all speech and 50 simple words for almost 60 percent. What do you suppose are the most common words spoken in America? According to that book, the four most commonly used words have less than four letters. The first two are pronnouns and the next two are articles. The most common word in Americans' speech is "I" and the second most common word is "you". These two words are said to account for almost 10 percent of all informal conversation. After these two pronouns come the articles "the" and "a". Among the other most common words are the pronouns "he", "she", "it", "we", "they", "me", "him", "her" "them", the article "an", the prepositions "on", "to", "of", "in", "for", "with", "out", "from", and the conjunction "and". Needless to say, in learning to speak and understand a foreign language, one must not only know and understand particular words. One must know how to make proper use of them. -------On January 21, 1824, 175 years ago today, Thomas Jackson was born in Clarksburg, Virginia. After the secession of Virginia during the Civil War, the state of West Virginia was established; Clarksburg is now in West Virginia. Since my given name is Clark, I was interested in the name of that city. Checking my atlas, I find that Clark is quite a common name for towns, cities and counties in the U. S. A. There are 2 towns named Clark, 1 Clarksdale, 2 Clarkstons and 4 Clarksvilles. Moreover, there are 14 counties named Clark and 4 named Clarke, spelled with a final "e". But to get back to Thomas Jackson, his father's name was Jonathan and he died when Thomas was still a child. Later, Thomas added Jonathan as his middle name in memory of his father. In American history, however, he is commonly known as Stonewall Jackson. As a general in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, he got his nickname from a battle in which he and his soldiers stood "like a stone wall" when attacked by the Union forces. Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee, whose birthday is January 19th, are recognized as the outstanding military leaders of the Confederate Army. The 3rd Monday of January is a state holiday in Virginia to honor them. -------There are three English words pronounced 'jam'. Two of them are spelled j-a-m but the third one is spelled j-a-m-b. One of them may be a verb as well as a noun, but the other two are nouns. How many of these words do you know? The verb "jam" itself may have different meanings. It may mean to wedge forcibly into a tight position. For example, one may "jam a cork into a bottle". It may also mean to activate suddenly. The driver of a car may "jam the brakes on". Furthermore, it may mean to fill a passageway or a conveyance by crowding into it. A street may be "jammed with cars" which creates a "traffic jam" and subways during the rush hour are usually jammed with passengers. The other word with the same spelling denotes a food made by boiling fruit with sugar to a thick mixture. The most common jam on sale in Japan is strawberry jam. This is not the meaning of "jam" in the colloquial phrase "to be in a jam". In that case, it means a difficult situation, a predicament. Finally, the noun spelled with a "b" at the end signifies the vertical post of a doorway or window frame. Doors that swing open and closed are usually attached to the jamb with hinges. Another four letter word with a silent "b" on the end denotes a young sheep. Do you know that word? -------While staying in my hometown in northeastern Illinois last summer, my wife and I made a short trip by car to visit the homes of my eldest sister and elder brother. Both of them live in cities where state universities are located. My four sisters and my brother attended three different state universities before beginning their teaching careers in public schools. My eldest sister continues to live in the city of De Kalb. She and my youngest sister attended the teachers college there, about 90 kilometers from my hometown. We spent one night at my sister's house and visited the university campus. The next day, we drove for about 180 kilometers to Urbana where the University of Illinois is located. My brother was on the faculty in the Department of Engineering there for over forty years. Both he and an elder sister graduated from that university. Along the way, we got off the highway to drive through the campus of the state university a younger sister attended in the city of Normal. During the two days we spent at Urbana, we visited various sites, including a newly-constructed Japan House which will exhibit various aspects of Japanese life to students there. -------In Japan, this last week of January is the traditional season known as 'daikan', or "big cold", following the season of 'shokan', or "small cold", and preceding the season of 'risshun', or " beginning of spring". These traditional seasons do not always coincide with the weather according to the calendar now in use, but this is the cold season of the year. According to the first book of the Bible (Genesis 8:22), the seasons of "springtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter", were determined by God and should be considered evidences of his faithfulness. Those of us living in the Temperate Zone may perceive God's blessing in both the cold and hot seasons. In the last book of the Bible, in Revelation 3:15-16, we are taught that God desires people to be either cold or hot, spiritually. Those who are lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, will be rejected. Many people prefer being in the ambiguous "middle of the road" without taking a definite stand on an important issue. That may be a way to promote harmony in a group, but it is sometimes necessary to speak up for what is right and moral instead of avoiding any decision or to try to straddle the fence and agree with both sides on a matter where a definite choice is required. -------Comparing British English and American English, we find differences not only in pronunciation, but in the meaning and usage of certain words also. Take the word "public", for example. In England, a "public house" is a bar or tavern which is licensed to sell alcoholic beverages. It is usually shortened to "pub", spelled p-u-b. In the United States a "public school" is a school supported by public funds that provides free education to the children of a community; the opposite of a "public school" is a "private school". In England, however, a "public school" has a completely different meaning. It is an expensive, private, boarding school. There, the opposite of a "public school" is a "state school" or a "government school". So one must consider who is speaking when this term is used. -------The name of the smallest of the world's six continents, located in the southern hemisphere between the Indian and Pacific oceans, is derived from a Latin word meaning "southern". The only continent which is also a country, it is the largest unit in Australasia, which includes New Zealand, New Guinea and adjacent islands. Sometimes, it is also included in Oceania, which consists of some 25,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean. It is the continent and country of Australia. Today is its national day, for 211 years ago, on January 26, 1788, the first British settlement was established there. Prior to the Revolutionary War in 1776, Great Britain usually sent its convicts to North America, but after those colonies became independent, the more distant southern continent became the place to send convicts, so that first British settlement, on the east coast where the city of Sydney now stands, was a penal colony, but soldiers and government officials were also included in its inhabitants. Australia now has a population of over 18 million, 95 percent of which are Caucasian, 4 percent Asian and 1 percent aborigine. How society treats convicts, aborigines and other minorities reflects its moral character. -------The characteristic sounds made by animals must be the same whether the animal is in the United States or in Japan, but the words used in Japanese and in English to reproduce those sounds are, sometimes, quite different. The difference is not so great between words used for the sound made by a cat, which is "me-ow" in English and 'nyao' in Japanese, or a cow, which is "moo" in English and 'mo-' in Japanese. But the crowing of a rooster is rendered as "cock-a-doodle-do" in English and 'kokekokko-' in Japanese. And to Japanese ears, the bark of a dog is heard as 'wan wan', while an American hears the dog saying "bow-wow". I don't know how to explain this difference, but it is often difficult for some of us adults to accurately reproduce the pronunciation of many words in a foreign language. An additional problem for students of English is that some words with the same spelling are pronounced differently. One word spelled b-o-w, for example, pronounced 'bau', denotes the front part of a boat or the customary body-bending greeting used in Japan, but a different word with the same spelling, denoting a certain kind of knot or a device to shoot arrows, is pronounced 'bou'. Incidentally, "powwow" is an informal word for a conference. -------Certain colors have been given symbolic meanings. Red, for example, has a positive, bright meaning in traditional Japanese thought, related to the sun. Since the rise of Communism, however, red, the color of the flag of the Soviet Union, has been associated with that movement. In America, red may be a symbol of danger or anger. The colloquial expression "see red" means to be angry but to be "in the red" means to be in debt or to be losing money. On the other hand, to be "in the pink" means to be in excellent health. Pink is a pale red color that is considered an appropriate color for baby girls. Baby boys were traditionally dressed in blue clothes, which were considered helpful in protecting them against evil spirits. Girls, considered inferior, did not need such protection. Blue, in Western thought, is related to gloom and depression and "the blues" denotes a depressed, unhappy feeling as well as a Negro folk song, characterized by minor harmony, slow jazz rhythm and melancholy words. Because Monday is the day people must go back to work, it has been called "Blue Monday", but "blue ribbon" denotes the first prize in any competition because that is given to those recipients of the British Order of the Garter. -------The highest mountain in North America, the 6,194-meter-high Mount McKinley in Alaska, was named after the 25th president of the United States, who was born 156 years ago today, on January 29, 1843. There are a number of surnames of people of Irish or Scottish lineage that begin with Mac or Mc, meaning "son". From the Japanese viewpoint, certainly the most famous person with such a surname was Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers at the end of the Pacific War and thus the commander of the occupation forces in Japan. William McKinley was born in the American state of Ohio, the seventh of nine children in his family. He was unable to complete his college course due to a lack of funds, but after serving in the Union Army during the Civil War, he studied law and became a lawyer. After serving in the House of Representatives, he became governor of Ohio. He was elected president in 1896 and again in 1900. During his first term in office, the Spanish-American War of 1898 occurred. While holding a public reception at the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, in 1901, he became the third of the four U. S. presidents to be assassinated while in office. He was 58 years old. -------The home in which my wife and I stayed during our visit to the United States last summer was about a one hour's drive from the Chicago International Airport. While we were there, we made five trips to that airport to meet or send off members of our family. Our granddaughters, aged 12 and 10, came by different routes from Japan, arriving on different days. Because they were minors, we had to identify ourselves to an airline employee before we could take them with us. When we went to the airport for the first leg of their return flight, we arrived early and the man at the check-in counter suggested they take an earlier flight than that on their ticket for the later flight might be delayed, so we hurried to the gate for them to board the plane. Then we called my sister who lives in the area where they were to spend a few hours before boarding their flight to Japan to inform her of the changed schedule. She had planned to meet them at that airport and take them out for breakfast. We had not informed the airline of her plan, so before they released the girls into her care the airline called us to verify that she had our permission to take them out. We are grateful for the airlines' careful supervision of these young girls. -------There are 27 books in the New Testament. The first four books, called Gospels, narrate the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The fifth book, called the Acts of the Apostles, begins with a short history of the Early Church in Jerusalem but the latter half is related to the missionary activities of the Apostle Paul. This is followed by 21 letters to churches or individuals, most of which were written by Paul. The Letter to the Philippians was written while Paul was in jail. In the first chapter of that letter, Paul notes that his being imprisoned because of his evangelistic activities has some good results and the entire letter is permeated with a joyful atmosphere. He repeatedly urges the readers to rejoice with him. This letter provides a good example of the difference a healthy faith in a righteous and loving God makes regardless of the circumstances. In chapter 4, he exhorts his readers not to be anxious but to make their requests to God with thanksgiving. As a result, they will experience "the peace of God, which transcends all understanding". In times of trouble, sickness or sadness, in particular, the kind of faith we have determines our attitude. -------Salt is an important element in our diet. It is found in our blood, sweat and tears. It can be used to preserve meat and to give flavor to food. In ancient Rome, salt was given to soldiers as part of their wages. It was called 'salarium', from the Latin word for "salt". From that word, the English word "salary" was derived to denote money received for services rendered and the phrase "not worth his salt" means that one is not worth the salary he receives. In Japan, it is customary to give a small packet of salt to people who have attended a funeral. They are expected to sprinkle it over their shoulders before entering their homes to purify themselves. In Matthew 5:17, Jesus called his disciples the "salt of the earth", implying that they should add a special flavor to society and exert an influence against corruption. -------Over 47 years ago, my wife and I arrived in Japan, following two weeks on a freighter carrying supplies to American servicemen in Korea during the Korean War. Along with our church-related ministry, we have been involved in various social and educational activities aimed at increasing international understanding. We are planning to return to the United States and enter a retirement community there next month, so this "Daily Word" telephone service, which has continued for over 17 years, will come to an end in its present form at the end of this month. Some listeners/readers have suggested that the oral and written messages be continued on the internet, but I am not sure if this is possible and how it might be done. If any listeners/readers have practical suggestions regarding that possibility, I would be happy to receive them. I would also like to receive letters, written either in English or in Japanese, from anyone who has made use of this service, informing me how it has been helpful and giving me your name and address so I can inform you in the event that the service is restarted from the United States under different conditions. My address is: "Daily Word", Post Office Box 30, Moriyama, Nagoya 463-8691 Japan. -------When a baby is born, parents must choose a name for the child. Depending upon the nationality and tradition of the parents, various factors are taken into consideration. The meaning of the name is important in Japan and some people consult fortune tellers to find out if a particular name is lucky or unlucky. The names of relatives, friends and respected or famous people may also be considered. In Western countries, John and Mary or their linguistic equivalents, traditionally have been most popular. But as times and circumstances change, so do the popularity of names. A recent news report stated that the most popular name for baby boys in California and Texas during 1998, according to Social Security statistics, was Jose, surpassing such long-time favorites as John, Michael, James and Robert. The new popularity of Jose, which is the Spanish equivalent of Joseph, indicates not only an increase in the number of Hispanics in those two states, but a certain pride in their cultural tradition. The news report indicated that the names Austin, William and Jacob were at the top of the lists elsewhere in the country. One of the most famous lines in Shakespeare's dramas is the question the question of Romeo: "What's in a name?" -------There are three bodies of water called "seas" that are named for a color. Can you name and locate them? The one between China and Korea is called the Yellow Sea. The one between Saudi Arabia and Africa is called the Red Sea and the Black Sea is between Ukraine and Turkey. A peninsula in the Black Sea connected to Ukraine is called Crimea and one of the major cities in Crimea is the picturesque resort city of Yalta. It was in this city, 54 years ago today, on February 4, 1945, that United States President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin met and began discussions on how to end the World War and the postwar situation. At that Yalta Conference, the Soviet Union secretly agreed to enter the war against Japan within three months of Germany's unconditional surrender and was promised Southern Sakhalin, the Kurile Islands and an occupation zone in Korea in return. As a result of the decisions made at that conference, East Europe came under Soviet control and problems related to Korea and the islands north of Hokkaido continue to impair international relations. When we or our national leaders make decisions, their future effects should be carefully considered. -------The English word mar-tyr, spelled m-a-r-t-y-r, is derived from a Greek word meaning witness. The primary meaning of the English word is "one who chooses to suffer death rather than renounce religious principles". The story of the first Christian martyr is found in chapter 7 of the New Testament book of Acts, and from that time on there have been many martyrs in the history of the Church. On February 5, 1597, 402 years ago today, the execution of 26 Christians in Japan took place. Twenty of the martyrs were Japanese and six were Spaniards. On the order of war lord Hideyoshi, these men were led to Nagasaki and crucified on Mount Tateyama and other missionaries were ordered to leave the country. As has often been the case, the reasons for this execution and the subsequent persecution of Christians were political as well as religious. One reason Christians have been persecuted in many places at many different times is because their primary loyalty is directed toward God rather than to any human group or organization. Even today, persecution of certain Christian groups continue in certain countries where they are a minority, but as a result of persecution and martyrdom, the church has finally become stronger. -------The business district of my hometown in northeastern Illinois is located along a state highway which runs through the town. In my childhood days, there were many commercial enterprises located there, including a large department store and a large hotel, both made of wood. Those buildings are no longer there and many stores have closed because residents do their shopping at the huge malls located not so far away. Now there is one supermarket, a couple of hardware stores, a bank and a number of eating places, including fast food restaurants. Last summer when my wife and I lived there for six weeks, we were within walking distance of the business district, but we usually went shopping or to a restaurant by car. Once, when I drove out of a restaurant parking lot onto the state highway, I began driving on the left side of the highway as is the custom in Japan. It was when I saw a car coming toward me that I realized I was on the wrong side of the road and crossed over to the right side before an accident occurred. When our granddaughter from Japan saw the name on our car, which was an Oldsmobile, she thought it meant an old car, but that automobile was named after its founder, whose surname was Olds. -------After his arrest, Jesus was taken to the Jewish Council where he was convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to death. But a death sentence required approval of the Roman authority, so he was taken to the Roman governor, Pilate, and charged with a political crime: claiming to be a king. In Pilate's interrogation, recorded in the 18th chapter of John, Jesus admitted he was a king in a spiritual sense and added "Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." Then Pilate asked the famous question, "What is truth?" We are not sure of the motivation or aim of this question and there is no indication that Jesus answered it, but it is an important question that requires a serious answer. "Truth" is one of the important words in the philosophical Gospel of John. In chapter 8, verse 32, Jesus is quoted as saying "you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free". Later, following his last supper with his disciples, in chapter 14, verse 6, Jesus said to them "I am the way and the truth and the life". The biblical answer to Pilate's question is that God is the source of truth and that truth was revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. Truth is not simply an abstract concept to be verbalized. It is a quality that is manifested in practical action. -------There are two different English words spelled c-a-s-h-i-e-r and pronounced 'kashia'. The more common word is a noun and denotes a person who receives and pays out money, or cash, at a bank, store or restaurant. In a supermarket, the cashier is the employee who stands at the cash register, figures up the total amount of the goods purchased, receives money and makes change. (In this case, "change" means the balance of money returned when more money is received than is due.) The other kind of "cashier" is a verb, meaning to dismiss a person from a position of command or responsibility, especially for disciplinary reasons. This word comes from a Dutch word meaning dismiss. Thus a dishonest cashier may be cashiered for embezzling cash from a cash register. -------Forty-one men have served as president of the United States. One of them, Grover Cleveland, served two non-consecutive terms and is thus counted as both the 24th and 26th president. Consequently, President Clinton, the 42nd president, is the 41st person to hold that office. Of those 41 presidents, 8 died while they were president, including 4 who were assassinated. The first president to die in office, was the 9th president, who was born 126 years ago today, on February 9, 1773. His father, Benjamin Harrison, was governor of Virginia and one of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence. His grandson, who was also named Benjamin Harrison, became the 23rd president. William Henry Harrison, before his election as president, had served as general in the army, governor of the state of Indiana, representative and then senator from the state of Ohio. His inauguration ceremony was held on March 4,1841. On that day, despite the inclement weather, he refused to wear a coat or a hat while riding to the Capitol on a white horse. As a result, he caught pneumonia and died exactly one month later at the age of 68. As you may imagine, his one-month presidency was the shortest in American history. -------At the end of the First World War, the British Empire included territories on all continents, comprising about one quarter of the world's population and area. The Empire was replaced by a Commonwealth of Nations and the official name of the country lying off the northwestern coast of France became the United Kingdom of Great Britain (composed of England, Scotland and Wales) and Northern Ireland. During explorations in North America, land was claimed and colonies were settled by Spain and France as well as by England. After the independence of the English colonies in North America, Canada continued to be a battleground between the forces of France and England. On February 10, 1763, 236 years ago today, the Treaty of Paris was signed, in which France officially ceded all of its North American possessions to Britain, except for Louisiana, which went to Spain. By that "Peace of Paris" treaty, all of Canada came under British control. Now, over 40 percent of Canadians are of British descent and about 30 percent are of French descent. How to accommodate these two diverse traditions and languages, especially in the largest province of Quebec with its predominately French-speaking population continues to be a source of conflict. -------Today's message is about cats and words or expressions related to them. What do you think about cats? Have you ever kept one as a pet? Cats have been domesticated for some 5000 years. In ancient Egypt, they were considered sacred and it is reported that anyone who killed a cat, even by accident, was punished by death. There are many members of the cat family that are not domesticated and live in the jungle. They include lions, tigers, jaguars, leopards, lynxes, panthers and wildcats. "Catnip" is a plant of the mint family whose odor is liked by cats. A "cat nap" is a short, light sleep. It has been reported that a long distance runner may take a cat nap while running, that an exhausted soldier may doze off while marching and that an enduring swimmer may intermittently lose consciousness while in the water. "Catsup", the thick sauce made from tomatoes, is another word for"ketchup". Interestingly enough, the long, strong cords used for violins, tennis rackets and some surgical sutures which are called "catgut" are not made from the intestines of cats. Rather they are made from the intestines of sheep or horses. Someone has called a cat "a miniature lion kept in a home to remind children to wash their faces." -------Today, February 12th, is the birthday of both U. S. President Abraham Lincoln and English biologist, Charles Darwin, author of a controversial book on evolution. Both men were born on this day in 1809. But my message for today is not about either of them. It is about a young English lady who died on this day 445 years ago, in 1554. Tuesday's message was about the man who served the shortest term as a president of the United States, who died of illness just thirty days after his inauguration at the age of 68. But the English lady who died on this day did not die of natural causes; she was executed at the age of 16. In England, the term "Lady" does not simply denote a refined or cultured woman. It is a title of nobility and Lady Jane Grey holds the record for serving as an English queen for the shortest period of time: a total of nine days. She was married at the age of 15 to King Edward VI, who was the same age but who died of tuberculosis the following year. Lady Jane Grey was queen until she was deposed for political reasons and beheaded along with her new husband and her father. The charge was treason, an offense for which an American president also may be impeached and removed from office, but not beheaded. -------When I mentioned to the lady who waited on me at a computer store in northern Illinois last summer that I was from Japan, she informed me that she had been an exchange student there some years ago, so I introduced a few common phases in Japanese while talking with her and she was very pleased that she was able to understand them. Once at an airport checkin counter, a man with an Oriental face waited on me, so I made a few comments in Japanese to see if he understood them. There was no reaction, however, and I learned from another airline employee that he was of Korean lineage, born in the United States. Once on our way back home from the Chicago International Airport, we stopped to visit a couple who were close friends when they served as missionaries in the Nagoya area many years ago. It was very enjoyable to reminisce and to renew our friendship. The most shocking experience I had during our trip was when I returned to our car in a parking lot and accidentally opened the front door of the car next to mine. Suddenly, a loud siren, a security device, sounded from the car for about a full minute, but no one appeared. So I got into my car and drove away feeling very embarrassed and a bit scared. -------In the Roman Catholic list of feast days for those who have been designated "saints", this 14th day of February is the feast day of St. Valentine. More than one man bearing that name is said to have been martyred in the second half of the third century. Almost nothing is known about these men and on this day, they are generally ignored. Rather, it has become a day for lovers to express their love to their sweethearts. In Japan, it is customary for women or girls to give chocolates to their boyfriends or to others they feel obligated to, for there is an old European tradition that on this day birds began to mate. In the Old Testament, there are a number of stories that could be called "love stories", but the greatest "love story" in the Bible is about God's love for all people--even though they ignore God and live ungodly lives. A well-known parable of Jesus in Luke, chapter 15, tells of a son who left his father's home, squandered his inheritance and finally returned home in disgrace. It is commonly called the Parable of the Prodigal Son, but because of the extravagant reception given by the father for the repentant son, we might call him a "prodigal father". The parable teaches God's love for all people and forgiveness to those who repent. -------There are two different English words having four syllables and nine letters that are pronounced the same but have a different vowel in the middle. They are pronounced mil-a-ner-y. The one, derived from the Latin word for a thousand years, or millennium, is spelled m-i-l-l-e-n-e-r-y. As we approach the 21st millennium, people are concerned about millenary problems related to the functioning of computers. The other word, spelled m-i-l-l-i-n-e-r-y, is derived from the Italian city of Milan. It is related to women's hats which are made, trimmed or designed by a person called a "milliner". Residents of Milan, who were called Milaners, were the original milliners. Womens' hats are not so popular in Japan, but in the West women are interested in both kinds of milaneries. -------In Japanese, there is an interesting word, 'haragei', which literally means "stomach acting" or "belly performance". It is a peculiar Japanese means of communication without spoken words. Between individuals with the same tradition and emotional sensitivity such communication may be effective, but it is difficult for "outsiders" to comprehend. The English word "ventriloquism" comes from Latin words meaning "speaking from the belly". It actually denotes a method of producing vocal sounds so that they seem to originate from a source other than the speaker. In Japanese, it is called 'fukuwajutsu'. It is common for a ventriloquist to be seated with a puppet, or mechanical dummy, sitting on his or her lap. The skillful ventriloquist will speak without moving his or her lips but moving the lips of the dummy as though it were speaking. In my childhood, the most famous ventriloquist was Edgar Bergen, who was born 96 years ago today, on February 16,1903 and his famous dummy was Charlie McCarthy. Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy appeared often both on the radio and in motion pictures. Ventriloquism has been described as the "art of telling jokes without moving the lips and blaming them on a nonhuman dummy". -------
Do you know what a "stethoscope" is? The word "scope" is derived from the Greek word 'skopos', which is found once in the New Testament, in Philippians 3:14, and is usually translated "goal". It is something seen and is found in such words as microscope, telescope and periscope. The Greek word 'stethos', which we find in Luke 18:13, means "chest" or "breast". These two Greek words were combined to identify the medical instrument used by physicians to "see" the inside of a patient's chest by placing the stethoscope on his or her chest and listening to the sounds produced inside the body. This very useful instrument was invented 180 years ago by a French physician, Rene Laennec, who was born on this 17th day of February in 1781. The infinite God, of course, may see the inside of our hearts and minds without using such a device. There are eleven members of the United Nations whose names, in English, begin with G. How many can you name? Five of these nations are in Africa and all five of them have a coast on the Atlantic Ocean. One of those five nations is celebrating its national day today, the 34th anniversary of its independence. It is the smallest country in Africa and the only country whose official name begins with the article "The". It is the Republic of The Gambia. Its total area of a little more than 11,000 square kilometers is a little less than the area of Akita Prefecture in northern Japan. It is a narrow country, extending for some 320 kilometers east from the Atlantic Ocean on both sides of the Gambia River. It is surrounded on three sides by the Republic of Senegal and is never more than 48 kilometers in width. There are few all-weather roads in The Gambia and most transportation is by river. Rice is cultivated in the swampy river valley but the major cash crop for export is peanuts. On February 18, 1965, The Gambia gained its independence from Great Britain and English continues to be the official language among its 1,200,000 citizens of different ethnic groups who are 90 percent Muslim and 9 percent Christian. -------The word "liberal", spelled l-i-b-e-r-a-l, implies a tolerance for the views of others, an open-mindedness to ideas that challenge tradition and established institutions. In politics, liberals generally are more progressive and emphasize civil liberties. Japan, however, is exceptional, for in Japanese politics, the two political parties that have the word "liberal" in their names are the conservative parties. In many colleges and universities, there are courses in "liberal arts". This designation, which comes from Latin, originally denoted the courses which befitted freemen in contrast to the "servile arts" which were of a lower rank. The Latin term that originated in the Middle Ages indicated the following seven branches of learning: logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, music, astronomy and grammar. It is said that these seven branches were related to the seven pillars that supported the house of wisdom according to the first verse of the ninth chapter of the Old Testament book of Proverbs. Nowadays, liberal arts courses in colleges include the broader-based classes in literature, philosophy, languages and history rather than the narrower studies for those training for a particular vocation or profession. -------Much to my wife's delight, during our visit to the U. S. A. last summer, we often ate out either at noon or in the evening, whether with relatives and friends or by ourselves. In my home town, there are a number of different kinds of eating places. Some are fast food restaurants that are also popular in Japan. Others are owned and operated by local residents with their own special characteristics. Four of the restaurants were managed by men of Greek lineage, but two restaurants specialized in Oriental cuisine. One served Chinese food and the other prepared Thai dishes, but in that small town, Japanese cuisine was not available. Compared to Japanese restaurants, we felt the service was inferior. Nevertheless, we were expected to leave a tip for the waiter or waitress in appreciation of their good service. When I was young, I was informed that the word "tip" was coined from the phrase "to insure promptness", but it seems that that derivation is questionable and, in most cases, it is obvious that there is no relationship between the tip left on the table following the meal and the promptness of the service. Tips in the United States, of course, are expected by many other service-providers besides waiters and waitresses. -------In all cultures, there is evidence of faith that the death of a human being is not the end; a spiritual essence of some kind continues to exist even after the death of the body. Excavation of ancient tombs along with continued customs related to the 'obon' season and memorial services for the deceased testify to this faith in this land. One of the blessings that result from a living faith is hope for the future. The person without hope is truly miserable. In the 15th chapter of his Letter to the Romans, Paul wrote: "everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope" [4]. He adds the prayer that "the God of all hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope" [13]. This hope continues throughout our lives and beyond. As my wife and I plan to move to a retirement community in northern Florida next month, there are many things about our future we do not know, but we are making our plans with hope both in this life and beyond. To the person with a vital faith in God, revealed in the life and teaching of Jesus Christ, the future is always bright. -------There are a number of different meanings of the word "fine", spelled f-i-n-e. It may mean of superior quality. In this sense, I hope you are feeling fine and that today is a fine day. It may mean something very small in size. The print on some documents is so fine that it is difficult to read. It may also denote excellent and delicate workmanship as is seen in fine china. Another word with the same spelling and identical pronunciation signifies a sum of money imposed as a penalty for some offense. Drivers may pay a fine if they are caught exceeding the speed limit. "Fine" is derived from a Latin word meaning "end" or " finish". This week will be the final week of this "Daily Word" telephone service which will finish the end of this month. I hope you have enjoyed and found it helpful over the past years. -------While sorting through the many books I have accumulated in the past sixty years, I found three books I had completely forgotten. Two of them were Japanese diaries for the years Showa 43 and 44 and the third was a free-entry diary for the following year, 1970. Glancing at my entries in those diaries, written in Japanese, I recall that one purpose of keeping such a diary was to improve my Japanese writing ability, but I find that I continued that practice for only nine months. After returning to the United States next month and entering a retirement community, I hope to have time to read the entries and to recall what my life was like in those days. In recent years, I have added a short personal note of some of my activities on the previous day to my oral telephone message that may be considered a kind of abbreviated diary, but I find it difficult to imagine how Samuel Pepys continued his most famous diary in the English language for ten years, from January 1, 1660 to May 1, 1669. As a navy official, his diary includes an honest account of matters related to naval administration, ways of court and everyday life as well as a candid self-portrait. The writer of that classical diary was born 366 years ago today on February 23, 1633. -------As I prepare messages for this final week of this telephone service, I realize there are various reasons why I have been able to prepare approximately 365 new messages every year for the past 17 1⁄2 years. One reason is that I enjoy preparing them -- especially when I know that many people appreciate them and find them helpful as they seek to improve their English ability. They also provide information, cause people to think or reflect and increase international understanding. But I also am continuing to learn as I prepare the messages and now as the time for ending them approaches, I have just learned two more Japanese words I found on announcements of my final appearance at a couple of groups I belong to. An announcement for one of the groups used the phrase 'ro o negirai'. I was unacquainted with that expression but find that it means "show appreciation for a person's effort". At the other group, the theme given to me to talk on is 'Nihon Yomoyama Banashi', which, a dictionary informs me, means a talk about a variety of subjects related to Japan. So I find I am still learning things, including Japanese language phrases, after 47 1⁄2 years in Japan. Thus this telephone service has been mutually beneficial. -------Soon after my wife and I first came to Japan, I wrote a letter to my hometown newspaper to protest the use of the term "Jap" in one of its regular columns. I informed the editor and readers that this term was offensive to Japanese and should not be used. I was personally acquainted with the writer of that column and received a letter from him in response. I was reminded of this event recently when I read an editorial in an English-language newspaper here in Japan that an aide to the mayor of Washington, D. C. used the word "niggardly" when speaking to some coworkers. One of them, an Afro-American, took offense at that word because it sounded like "nigger", which is an offensive word used for Afro-Americans. As a result, the Caucasian man who used the word apologized and his resignation was accepted by the Afro-American mayor. Actually, the word "niggardly" is a perfectly acceptable word, derived from a Scandinavian word meaning "stingy". A Japanese journalist in a Japanese newspaper on the same day, used this event as an example in his column on the need for writers to be careful not to use words that may be offensive to readers. Speakers of foreign languages need to take special care in this regard. -------There are various meanings of the word "fair", spelled f-a-i-r. As an adjective, it may denote a pretty woman, an impartial judge or a beautiful day. A different word with the same spelling and pronunciation is a noun which may signify an exhibition or a carnival. On a fair day, a fair lady made a fair decision at a community fair. Another word with the same pronunciation, spelled f-a-r-e, may mean a transportation fee or food and drink. The train fare does not include the fare eaten in the dining car. When the letters w-e-l-l are added to this kind of fare, the resulting word, "farewell", as an interjection, means "good-by". As a noun it may denote words said at one's departure. Since the final "Daily Word" message under the present setup will be transmitted on Sunday, the last day of this month, my messages this week are mostly farewell messages. I am scheduled to give a farewell sermon at the Takahama Church on that day also. You are invited to attend if you are interested. As of the day I am preparing this message, we are not sure of the time and place of our departure from Nagoya, but we plan to leave the first part of March, while our belongings are on their way to the retirement community we will enter in Florida. -------On our way back to Japan last summer, my wife and I stopped in San Francisco to visit her brother and family. We rode in a boat under the Golden Gate bridge, enjoyed walking along Fisherman's Wharf, a famous shopping area, and went out on Pier 39, which is an elaborate mall. From that pier, we saw seals frolicking in the ocean, but my most memorable experience there took place in a small, outdoor theater where a juggler performed at stated times. At times, during a performance, he called on a person in the audience to come up on the small stage to assist him. As he looked over the spectators to choose such a man, I purposely looked away to avoid catching his attention. I did not succeed, however, and he called on "the man with the grey goatee" to join him on the platform. With all the spectators looking at me, I felt I could not refuse. I gave my camera to my brother-in-law and told him to take a couple of pictures while I assisted the juggler's performance on tall stilts. He did so and I now have those snapshots in my collection. When we boarded a plane for Osaka the next day, after shopping and giving tips, I had only one American dollar left in my billfold, but I had Japanese yen to use when we arrived. -------This final "Daily Word" message is the 6290th different one to be transmitted since this service began on September 1, 1980 and the total number of telephone calls received over the years is almost 900,000. In Western thought, as reflected in the Bible, all things have a beginning and an end. As this "Daily Word" service in its present form ends with this message, I wish to thank NTT, NAMOS, NIFTY-Serve and all the individuals who have assisted in the dissemination of these spoken and written messages and of their translation into Japanese. If it is possible and practical for a similar service to be instituted on the Internet or the telephone following our return to the United States next month, I will inform those who have indicated an interest in receiving such information. According to Ecclesiastes 7:8, "The end of a matter is better than its beginning". And in Matthew 24:13-14, Jesus is quoted as saying: "he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world ... and then the end will come". We should all live with the end in mind. My present postal address is: P. O. Box 30, Moriyama, Nagoya 463-8691 and my present e-mail address is: clarboff@aol.com. ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- |