The Shadow of Your Wings

I've been watching too much BBC on our local public station.  Have found myself saying compost (short "o") when talking about the dung and stuff we spread on American gardens called compOst (long "o").  A few days ago I was reading something online that was listed as a "repost."  For whatever reason I read that word with a short "o" and decided it must be one of them new-fangled words bloggers (yes, like "bloggers") have created.  I actually spent more than a minute trying to decipher the meaning when - ding-a-ling - I realized it was a (long "o") re-pOsting of a previously (long "o") posted piece.

Reminded me of working in a multinational Armed Forces library in the Netherlands.  We stocked our shelves with books written in French, English (to include American), German, and Dutch.  A new volume arrived that I just glanced at and placed in the German section.  Someone returned it to the circulation desk to be reshelved.  OK, perhaps it's Dutch (the languages have some words in common), so I put it in that section.  Again it was brought back to the desk.  Hmmm ... I was stymied.  I looked at the title again - Die (Dutch or German - pronounced "dee" meaning "the"), ok, Rich (though I was not familiar with the word I tried to pronounce it with the guttural hard "ch"); then I noticed the author.  American.  Shifting mental gears I reread the title -  Die  (long "i") Rich.  Altogether now, Die Rich!  (This is NOT an endorsement for the book!)  OH!!! (very long "o")  Boy, did I feel "stoopid."  (Texas slang, y'all.)

So, here's the point - We reflect our environment.  The way we think, pronounce, define, interpret - rightly or wrongly - is due in large part to our cultural upbringing or surroundings.  Cultural, in this sense, meaning ethnically, denominationally, or even regionally.  (For instance, I can tell which part of my state someone hails from by the pitch of their twang or their particular slang.)  As one dear Brother commented, we won't always agree with one another - you say toMAto, I say toMAHto (not really, but you get the idea.)  What WE are to reflect is the Glory of our Beloved Lord.  He is our environment - for in Him we live and move and have our being!  (Acts 17:28)

This past week I've seen this "community" come together as The Church.  Encouraging, reaching out, ministering to one another.  It's been a blessing to watch and be a part of.  No, we won't always be in agreement on issues of doctrine, pronunciation, scriptural interpretation, or employment of ministry gifts, but "... as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so, we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.  Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them ..."  Ro 12:4-6a NKJ

To His glory!

By His grace ~ p

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