Languages—a locus for thanks? At the very beginning of this blog theme, I said words focus my life. So what’s locus doing in the title of this post? No, it’s not a typo. I chose it for alliteration, as well as its rhyme for the expected word, focus.
According to Webster’s dictionary, a locus is the place where something is situated or occurs. It’s our source for the word location. Locus can also mean a center of activity, attention, or concentration.
How are languages a locus for thanks? Is there a connection?
Church window
I think the connection is spelled out clearly in two Bible passages, John 1:3 and Genesis 1:3. “In the beginning was the Word….And God said….” Without our Savior, and without spoken words, nothing would exist.
When I was a child, my parents would bring me and my brother to the old Grand Rapids Museum building. After spending time looking into the dioramas and exhibit cases, we might visit the gift shop. I still have a small bronze Scottish Terrier, and a commemorative moon landing coin that were purchased there.
At one visit in December, a staffer strung banners along the ceiling around the entire shop.
Those banners immediately held my interest more than any objects stacked on the shelves. I turned in a circle to see them all.
In English, German, French, Polish, Russian, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Gaelic, Welsh, and Korean, the banners all proclaimed Merry Christmas, celebrating Jesus’s birth. At that age, I might at some time have heard the Dutch or German words. But I didn’t know how to pronounce any of the rest. Nevertheless, though no one labeled the banners, I named each language on sight.
It hasn’t been a useful talent, but I do know that in Jesus, around the world, believer’s languages have a locus for thanks.
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Ruth DeMaat
Heidi Kortman
Ruth DeMaat
Heidi Kortman
Kathleen Friesen
Heidi Kortman