Where do words come from?
“Dedicate yourself to become a person of the Word by studying it, obeying it, and treasuring it more than you treasure gold and silver”. (Psalm 119:72).
When my youngest daughter was growing up, she would frequently ask me about various words. It was usually along the lines of why is a vegetable called a vegetable? Or why is giraffe called a giraffe? You get the gist of the conversation.
When I first met Amy who as you know is the deacon here at St. John the Baptist Hey, she told me a little bit about herself. One of the things she said was “I love words”. This seemingly simple comment from Amy has led me to think more about words, where they come from or what they mean.
Today is Armistice Day. Have you ever wondered where the word Armistice comes from? Armistice descends from Latin sistere, meaning "to come to a stand" or "to cause to stand or stop," combined with arma, meaning "weapons." An armistice, therefore, is literally a cessation of arms. This exactly what happened on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, all hostilities ceased as peace negotiations began.
Also, today in the Church of England we commemorate the life of St. Martin of Tours. Martin had a long and celebrated history with chaplaincy. I am sure we are all familiar with the word chaplaincy but do you know from which word Chaplaincy is derived. Martin was a soldier in the Roman army and a Christian. The two roles conflicted and eventually, Martin left the Army and founded a monastery which became a centre for missionary work in the local countryside in Gaul. He went on to become the Patron Saint of the French Kings of the Middle ages.
The word chaplaincy mostly originates from an anecdotal story regarding St. Martin’s cloak or Cappella. Legend has it that one bitterly cold night, he sliced his cloak in half and gave it to a beggar who looked like he was going to freeze to death. That night Martin he saw a vision of Jesus Christ wearing one half of his cloak. When the kings went into battle, they took St Martin’s cloak (Cappella) signifying the presence of God. A priest went with them as a custodian of the cloak who was known as cappellanus. The cappellanus ministered to the Kings religious needs and from his office was derived that of chaplain.
As I was writing this and thinking about words and their origin, the words of the hymn that I haven’t sung for many years came to mind. The hymn is Wonderful Words of Life. The words are simple and speak of the impact that God’s words can have on our life
Wonderful Words of Life
Sing them over again to me,
wonderful words of life,
Let me more of their beauty see,
wonderful words of life;
Words of life and beauty
teach me faith and duty.
Refrain
beautiful words, wonderful words,
wonderful words of life,
Beautiful words, wonderful words,
wonderful words of life.
Christ, the blessèd One gives to all
wonderful words of life;
Sinner, list to the loving call,
wonderful words of life;
All so freely given,
wooing us to heaven.
3
Sweetly echo the Gospel call,
wonderful words of life;
Offer pardon and peace to all,
wonderful words of life;
Jesus, only Saviour,
sanctify forever.
https://anglicanfocus.org.au/2020/10/29/martin-of-tours-soldier-conscientious-objector-hermit-and-bishop/
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