Monday, June 4, 2012

Odd things and endings, two.

αρ ', ω φιλόσοφε σοφέ, τη αληθεία o κόσμος
άρχεται
μεγάλω νοί,
τη μοίρα,
ή μόνον τη τύχη;

This, roughly translated, asks:
"O wise philosopher, is the world in truth
ruled / made begin
by a great mind,
by destiny,
or only by chance?"

I can't decide whether άρχεται is in the passive (X is ruled by Y) or middle (X was made to begin by Y) voice. Either way, I know the answer: the world in truth is ruled by (and made to begin by) a great Mind, with a great Word, and a great Spirit of power and love and righteousness and holiness and self-sufficiency and initiatory leadership. Yet! this does not make me a wise philosopher, but rather a blind fool who God spared, who sees with new eyes.
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I have found that my spoken words are different than my written (or typed!) words. This is obvious at first glance, but let me prove my stupidity before you judge, reader.

1. My written words SEEM to be more grammatical, methodical, and otherwise intelligent. This is because written words of any media have the advantage of the backspace or eraser, and the advantage of pre-submission proofreading. For example, it's much easier to avoid ending sentences with prepositions if you can see what a sentence ends with. (<-- intentional.)
2. My written words are more assertive than defensive. This is because I realize that I have this problem with my speech, that I like to substitute absolute statements (X is wrong. Y is right.) with simpler and cheaper alternatives like "It seems to me that..." or "You shouldn't do this because..." Both convey the same message, but the first is a stronger obligation. I ought to be more careful with my spoken words.
3. Written prayers and speeches have no need for temporal immediacy. This is something that scares and excites me about music: you can't stop or stutter or think too slowly. Anyways, much like a musical piece, you can't just stop talking mid-sentence unless you'd like your friend to....
....lose interest in the stuff you've got to say.

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Also, a friend of mine has the initials CID, so she slants the curves to make a heart (or a circle!) with a straight line in the center. This is a cool monogram. But cooler yet is her name. Her parents gave her two feminine Greek nouns for her first and middle names: χάρις and ειρήνη defined "Grace" and "Peace" respectively. This is how Paul opens his letter to the Christians who are "in Christ" "in Colosse." This is an important prioritization on Paul's behalf, I believe, for Greek places extra emphasis on the first word in a sentence, because word order isn't necessary for understanding. I would do well to remember that I am in Christ, in California. 

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