Wyclif wrote a long time ago...

"Cristen men and wymmen, olde and yonge, shulden studie fast in the Newe Testament, for it is of ful autorite, and opyn to undirstonding of simple men, as to the poyntis that be moost nedeful to salvacioun..."

"Therefore no simple man of wit be aferd (afraid?) unmesurabli to studie in the text of the holy writ...and no clerk be proude of the verrey undirstondyng of holi writ, for why undirstonding of hooly writ with outen charite that kepith Goddis (be) heestis, makith a man depper dampned..."

The quote is from Winston Churchill's "A History of the English Speaking Peoples", Volume I, The Birth of Britain.

Some things I noted:
1. The same word (holy) is spelled in several different ways (holy, holi, hooly).
2. It is easy to make fun of the words that have spellings so different, but also easy to skip over the words whose spellings we still use but are so illogical.
3. This, I believe, 150 years before the Reformation and 250 years before the King James Bible.
4. Should Wyclif ever have hung out with John of Gaunt?

Stomach hurts, and that is OK

We are at Conservative Menno conference, in the middle of a cornfield in Iowa.

I have been singing. I have singing so hard, and using my diaphragm (as one ought), that my stomach hurts some from the singing and my throat is a bit hourse.

Figure that is a good thing.

You Know Your Children are Being Raised Overseas When...

This has been making the rounds on the internet, and is worth repeating.

You know you're raising kids overseas when...

1. Your children don’t know their parents’ brothers or sisters, but they have at least 50 Uncles and Aunts who are no relation to them at all.

2. Your kids can translate between American, British, New Zealand, and Australian English.

3. When you say, “We’re going home,” your kids ask, “Which one?”

4. It’s 85 F outside but your kids want jackets.

5. Hundreds of total strangers have photos of your children on their mobile phones.

6. When you’re in a restaurant and the server doesn’t try to pick up your toddler and carry him around, you’re surprised (and a bit disappointed since now you have to watch him yourself).

7. Your children know exactly how to behave when the customs official examines you in the airport.

8.Your kids flew before they could walk.

9. Your kids can greet strangers appropriately in multiple languages and cultures, but they’re not sure how to relate to their cousins.

10. Finding your children in a crowd is easy: they’re at the center of it.

11. Your kids think change is normal and normal is boring.

12. You teach geography by saying, “And Uncle John lives there, and the Johnsons are from there…”

13. The thought of sending your children on an unescorted plane trip doesn’t scare you nearly as badly as putting them back into your home country’s public school system.

14. You realize one day that your definition of “home” isn’t even on the same continent as your children’s definition.

15. Your kids have more stamps in their passport than most backpackers.

16. Your kids think another plane ride or border crossing is routine but the sight of a park with real grass makes them ecstatic.

17. Your kids can sing the Veggietales “Water Buffalo Song” and mean it.

18. You had to get new pages in your child's passport before he turned five.

19. Your children are as comfortable with adults as they are with their peers and don't like always having to be separated to be with their own age group.

20. When visiting the US, your kids look at their grandparents' back yard and exclaim, "Oh look, a whole park just for me!"

21. When your kids think wearing shoes is optional.

22. When your child can fall asleep while riding on a motorbike.

23. When your child hates mashed potatoes, gets tired of bread, and loves rice and beans.

24. When your child can speak four languages very clearly: the national language, an otherwise unintelligable village language, English, and broken English complete with an authentic accent.

Spiritual Metamucil

Following is approximately the flow of a conversation I overheard recently...

Person A: "There is just so much going on, and so many stressors, and I don't even know what to say to begin to process all these emotions inside."

Person B: "Sounds like you need a little bit of Spiritual Metamucil."

Indiana

We are in Indiana for the month. The kids had a good time yesterday at a nearby (mostly) Amish town. Sam REALLY likes horses, and there are plenty to be had.

The nights are amazingly quiet, the surroundings amazingly green, the food amazingly good, and the fellowship amazingly blessed.

Hmmmm, Do I Miss This?

A delightful friend AT took this picture, showing a busy crossing near our home.

What a photo... bicycles, cycle rickshaws, auto rickshaws, horse tongas, cars, trains, ox carts, walkers and so on.

(This is where the road from Teliabagh to Raja Bazar crosses the Grand Trunk, for all those Banarsi afficionados out there.)

The picture, on the other hand, does not show the oppressive heat, grinding dust, choking pollution, ear shattering noise, and intense emotions that go along with sitting at such an intersection.

So do I miss it? Well, yes and no........

How is that for mixed emotions? :)