The Power of Words

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Arabic, blessing, Egypt, Greece, history, Italy, language, power of words, travel, traveling, words, writing

Think about the last time words moved you. A quote that had you reaching for pen and paper; wedding vows that made your heart stop, or a speech that rocked you to greater goals.

In September, 2011, we took a trip to Italy and Greece. Many moments there were powerful in their own right – treading the same stones that Julius Caesar had at the Roman Forum? Hard to wrap my mind around. Dining in the shadow of the Colosseum? Everything tasted better with such a spectacular view!

Our view of Athens from the Acropolis

And walking between the immense columns of the Parthenon, staring out over the rooftops of Athens left me silent. Do modern-day Athenians take this view for granted? Forget that one of the world’s most iconic images looms above, day after day, watching?

One of the most powerful moments came on the last day of the trip. We woke, excited to be finally heading home, but torn by the the whisper of unrealized opportunities: new foods to try, side streets to explore and the endless, thrilling possibilities of just one more day in a foreign country.

In a room overlooking the Aegean Sea, we gathered to say goodbye to our traveling companions, scattering across the world to homes in New Zealand, Australia, Ireland and the United States. In the middle of goodbyes, the lady from Egypt stopped me.

Until now, we hadn’t exchanged much more than pleasantries, but I had seen her kindness to others: a woman from California lacked the necessary shoulder covering to enter The Vatican, so the Egyptian lady loaned her a beautiful scarf; she ate meals with different people and carried on friendly conversations with each person.

Aegean Sea on our last day in Greece

But now it was my turn. She grabbed my hands and started speaking in what I assumed was Arabic. She knew English – I heard her accented English many times on our trip – but for some reason, she spoke to me now in Arabic.

As I stood there, holding her hands, feeling the power of her words, a sudden comprehension flooded me with the knowledge that this was a blessing. I felt the power of that blessing reach across cultures, languages, and generations, straight from her heart and through my hands.

She finished, smiled, and walked back to her husband. I opened my mouth to call her back, to ask her to repeat the words in English, but I stopped.

The language didn’t matter; the power of her words did.

When have words changed you? Left you a little bit different than you were before you heard them?

Pajama Grammar

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language, LOL, pajamas at Wal-Mart, proper grammar, snowshoeing, texting, winter

My husband and I went snowshoeing early yesterday morning – it was one of those crisp, winter mornings when the snow squeaked and crunched beneath our feet, glittering and sparkling under the sunlight.

Afterward, we made a quick stop at our local mini-mart for a gallon of milk, and I watched a younger father walk in with his two children. He was wearing a winter jacket and pajama pants. I wondered, not for the first time, when it became OK for people to head out dressed like they just rolled out of bed. I see pajamas in public often enough, and I’ll stick my neck out here and say it’s a sad trend, a devolution of style, if you will.

It reminded me of a dinner we had with friends a couple of years ago. Paul had returned to college to pursue a second degree, and was studying Hebrew and Greek as part of his college requirements. These studies refreshed Paul’s interest in language, encouraging him to take another look at English and the disturbing trend he was noticing: the poor quality of instant messages and texts holding traditional grammar hostage to speed and convenience.

“Language is devolving,” he said. “We’re so into shortcuts that we’ve sacrificed quality for speed.”

http://www.someecards.com

He was right. And since that conversation took place a couple of years ago, things have gotten worse. Grammar is suffering, and it’s become acceptable, OK, for shortcuts (and not caring how words should be spelled) to be commonplace. Shortcuts have their place, as I discussed in an earlier post, but poor grammar has no place in the work world.

Like pajamas at Wal-Mart.