Showing posts with label Greek. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Greek. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

καλός

As a part of one of my classes, we have a weekly tradition of singing an ancient Greek song. It wasn't, so we made up a reason to sing. Sometimes we sing because someone's sick. Sometimes we sing because someone's feeling better. Sometimes we sing for birthdays. Sometimes we make up fake birthdays. Sometimes we sing just because we want to sing. On Monday the professor asked if it was anybody's birthday. It wasn't, but my half birthday is this week. I told him that and he decided that was a good enough reason to sing.

I was then forced to come to the front of the room and stand directly in the light from the LCD projector onto the screen. Instead of allowing me to stand there and look silly, he put my hands on my head and I kind of looked like a moose. (This is the same professor I ran into at IHOP two weeks ago with his grandkids, and I wanted to shoot a straw wrapper across the restaurant at him. He told me he wished I would have not because I would have hit him, but because it would have been funny to watch me try). Anyway.

I stood there and they all sang to me in Greek. When we finished, he looked at me with my moose antlers being blinded by the LCD projector, and noticed something. New Testament Survey class turned sermon for a moment there. Jesus's name was being projected on my forehead (ok, it was really the first five letters of "Jerusalem", but I moved and then we got "Jesus" on my forehead). Shouldn't having Jesus on our forehead's being the goal of all people? Living so He is seen instead of us should be the ultimate reason to sing.

καλός
<>< Katie

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

I spent about twenty-four hours with my friend Laura and her family. I had a lot of fun and I thought I'd share some thoughts with you all (although, I'm not really sure who "you all" are... LURKERS: IDENTIFY THINESELVES!)

A museum is nothing more than a zoo with dead animals. Ok, I did learn some fun stuff, and we took some fun photos. But really: think about it. Did you know giraffes have the longest intestines of any animal? Did you know kruos is the Greek word for "icy cold"? (Don't lie to me, even Natalie didn't know that!) I also learned about some lions that terrorized workers attempting to build a railroad in Africa in the 1800s.

A pregnant woman came up to us today asking for money. She said she was trying to get to a domestic violence shelter but was four dollars short. I always hate it when people come up asking for money because it's so hard to tell if they're telling the truth or if they just want to buy some crack... Even though her speech sounded rehearsed, this woman spoke quietly and did seem scared. We gave her five dollars, and she asked God to bless us. Laura's mom reminded us that $5 isn't the end of the world for us but $5 could mean the world to her. How she uses the money isn't up to us, but we can pray she was indeed seeking help.

Train and Trolley life is not for my family. Other than the germs, I didn't mind it too much. My dad, on the other hand, would have been going nuts today, and it made me laugh. It was fun to watch people run and mosey through the train station. It was kind of like an airport. Given my choice, however, I prefer airplanes to trains.

Little kids are adorable! Ok, I knew that, but still. I saw some kids today refuse an Oreo cookie from their aunt! I wanted eat their cookies for them! Some little American kid was using like the German word for "mischief" but I forgot it already, sorry!

If you're ever bored or want to see some interesting folk: ride the trolley around a big city for an hour and you will see a mass of people! There are people going every which way (and sometimes even loose). All with different things on their minds, different deadlines to meet, and different destinations. Yet their paths cross momentarily on the sidewalk and it's really fun to watch. In the words of Kutless, "I see the city lights all around me. Everyone's obscure. Ten million people each with their problems. Whys should anyone? and in Your eyes I can see I'm not just a man that is lost in this world. Lost in a sea of faces." Yup. That just about sums it up.

I overheard some guy telling someone else on the phone that he'd have to keep an ID on him at all times just in case he violated his parole. The man sitting near me remembered this (after hearing it from the judge? from experiencing it himself? strange), and he would take the man on the other end of the phone to get a wallet. Interesting conversation to overhear...

Happy travels!

<>< Katie

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27