Horizons magazine is published by Presbyterian Women (PW) the national women’s organization of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Issue link: http://horizons.epubxp.com/i/521232
I 'm driving to work, listening to the latest news reports on fight- ing, protests and terrorist threats. I've almost passed the billboard before I catch some of it—a pic- ture of a woman and words in large print. Free Joyce M ____ Live Oh my goodness, was that an appeal for a political prisoner or someone presumably abducted? Did her family pay for billboard space on this busy stretch of high- way to urge political advocacy for her freedom, or to ask if anyone has clues to her whereabouts? I don't remember seeing an aid agency logo. All I remember is a woman's face and a few words. I hope she will live and be freed. I hope she is found and brought home. When I pass the sign a day later, I get a better look at it. This time, I catch more words: confer- ence . . . auditorium . . . and in smaller type, a date and "Don't miss it!" Oh! I see. Joyce is not lost or being held against her will. She is a motivational speaker appearing at a conference— live, not taped in advance. There is no admission charge for the event. Free, as in no cost; not free as in grant liberty. Live, as in not pre-recorded; not live as in do not die. Maybe my subconscious connected the radio news stories with the words on the sign. Hearing, Understanding Language is funny—full of surprises and complications. I think I know where the words are leading me, but with a little more context, the path is suddenly entirely different. Sometimes spellings differ but the pronunciation is identical, or so close that it's accepted as the same. Recently, one of my coworkers, who is South Sudanese, was writing labels for bombes, dome-shaped, chocolate mousse desserts. "Is it spelled like this?" she asked, holding up a label with the word bombe on it. "Yes," I answered, "That is the kind we eat." She replied, "Yes! Not like in the road." I thought of the homophones bombe/bomb; she heard no difference between bombe and bump. Or was she thinking of an explosive device—rather than an uneven place—in the road? I don't know. Bible translators, in their ongoing quest for clarity and accuracy, have wrestled with questions of multiple mean- ings, missing punctuation and word placement. In the King James version, do the words of the institution of the Lord's Supper, "Drink ye all of it" (Matt. 26:27) mean to drink every drop, or for everyone to drink some? A Greek language expert sees the plural form of the word "all" in this text and tells us that the translation "Drink from it, all of you" is less ambiguous.* Start with spelling, pronunciation and punctuation; then take into account historical, societal and situational context; then maybe we can understand what a speaker or writer meant. I think that at least part of any message is God teaching me to pay closer attention before making assumptions. May we all practice listening and loving before answer- ing and knowing. Cecilia Amorocho Hickerson is a mother, spouse, church musician, artist and writer living in Louisville, Kentucky. Notes *Bruce M. Metzger, "Persistent Problems Confronting Bible Translators," Biblioteca Sacra, 150 (1993): 273 284; p://biblicalstudies.org.uk/article _trans_metzger3.html. w a s t h a t ? BY CECILIA AMOROCHO HICKERSON 4 d e v o t i o n Mark Shaver/SIS Wh a t