It seems to me . . .
Bob Beanblossom November 2015
OPENING THOUGHTS
Our grasp of the world is experiential. That is to say that the words we use are anchored to what we know. You may argue that we see and interpret visual events without words, but let’s look at that.
Try it—think of any common or oddball word you can and “see” what happens. Since all of us have different sets of experiences within some commonalities, we all have similar but different definitions of words. Try “milk.” Someone may, in their mind’s eye, see a glass of milk, while another would visualize a cow in a milking stall, and so on.
This difference, though often unnoticed, is usually of small consequence. And if we feel the need, we can add modifiers to clarify that we mean “glass of milk,” or “milk cow.” Understanding requires a concept of both the word and its particular use: text and context.
The less concrete a concept is, however, the more diverse is our understanding. It is more difficult to assure an accurate or even functional understanding in a person with whom we are trying to communicate. Peace is such a word. To some it might be the political state of things where war is either past or distant. This would be a difficult concept for a child growing up in a war-ravaged area to comprehend. To others, it might be the brief periods between frequent terrorist attacks. This is a difficult concept for those who have never experienced war and ongoing violence either on a geopolitical scale or within their community or home environments.
Some may relate Peace to the condition of their mind and spirit as a result of a close relationship with their Savior, Jesus Christ, no matter what the situation around them might be. This is impossible for the unsaved to comprehend, and not within their definition of the word. It is, of course, contextual. The usage, all of the words tied together that we use to express a thought, narrow our meaning to help convey with some precision what we intend our hearer/reader to understand.
These are concepts that we have words to identify, but still remain abstractions, ideas that we cannot get our minds around. Infinite is one of them. We have the intellectual capacity to understand that there something beyond and bigger than the biggest, but our experience makes it impossible to comprehend.
Words affect all of our communications. This includes spoken and written words in various forms as personal contact, visual, and audiovisual. Words affect our dreams since, like the “real world” or a video presentation, we translate visual experiences to words to contemplate and share with others.
We have looked at both the concrete (milk) and the abstract (peace.) Let’s look at a historical event and see how our experiential concepts defined by words affect our understanding.
In the Same Country
Let’s look at a familiar passage from Luke’s Gospel in the Bible. A group of shepherds are being informed of the birth of Jesus, the long awaited Messiah, the Christ:
Luke 2:
8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward me
15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. 16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. 17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. 18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.
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