Devotional 060110

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. Oregon is blessed with moistures and green environment. One can easily senses a fresh cool quietness in the air that is so inspiring; it makes you feel like writing poem or song…

Heart bursts its banks, spilling beauty and goodness. I pour it out in a poem to the king, shaping the river into words (PSALM 45:1 Message). Anyone of us, waking up in the morning and finding ourselves included in that part of the creation called human, sooner or later finds ourselves dealing with language, with words. We are the only creatures in this incredible, vast creation doing this. Language is unique to us human beings. Turnips complete a fairly complex and useful life cycle without the use of words. Roses grace the world with an extraordinary beauty and fragrance without uttering a word. Dogs satisfy tens of thousands of us with faithful and delightful companionship without a word. Birds sing a most exquisite music to our ears, lifting our spirits, giving us happiness, all without the capability of words. It is quite impressive really, what goes on around us without words: ocean tides, mountain heights, stormy weather, turning constellations, genetic codes, bird migrations—most, in fact. Of what we see and hear around us, a great deal of it incredibly complex, but without language, wordless. And we, we human beings, have words. We use language. We are the only ones in this stunning kaleidoscopic array of geology and biology and astronomy to use words. We share a great deal with the rest of creation. We have much in common with everything around us, the dirt beneath our feet, the animals around us, the stars above us, and we recognize links in this family identity. But when it comes down to understanding our humanity, who we are in this vast scheme of things, we find ourselves attending to language, the fact that we speak words, and what happens to us when we do.

I thank God for the gifts of language. Currently, I am in a class studying Cultural Anthropology. One of the disciplines of Anthropology is linguistics. Language is part of culture, and language is means for human to express our inborn relationship with the Triune God and with one another (we born into a network of relationship). Scientists believe animals have language ability too, even though we may not fully understand what they try to communicate. The language ability from God is to express an inner reality of our relationship with the Triune God, who constantly communicates or interacts with one another and with us. He is delighted to interact with the human “being,” which He created according to “their” image – a relational “Being.” Therefore, the gift of language is meant for us to initiate and cultivate relationship, a means to express love and blessings. Thus, brothers and sisters, watch your tongue or language in case it becomes an evil weapon of destruction and curse.

Love you in according to His words,
Lawrence