Hark, Rejoice, Herald, Thusly...

Have you ever noticed that sometimes old fashioned words are the only way to express modern day emotions? The word "hark," for example, has no modern day equivalent. You just don't hear people say things like, "Hark, I'm tired," anymore or "Hark, that was a bad call by the ref." "Hark," Webster's Third International Dictionary tells us is a combination of two word thoughts. Hark means, "to listen, or give ear to," and "to shout encouragement or guidance to." The only time we ever use the word, "hark" is in the Christmas carol, "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing." Replacing "hark" with a modern day equivalent, "listen to the Herald Angels Sing," just doesn't have the same punch (Come to think of it, the word Herald is underused as well...).

Herald - "an official crier or messenger," or, "the name of your next door neighbor who is in his eighties and wakes up before dawn to mow the lawn." (And then Herald read The Daily Herald).

The word "Rejoice" is also a word you never hear used anymore. I put the word rejoice in my weekly missive to my staff in an email from the pastor. Actually, I used it about five times in a row, and I am pretty sure my staff now think that I am taking too many cold medications. The word Rejoice, a derivative of joy, stems back to New Testament Greek, and the time of the apostle Paul who invented the word = CHARIS - XARIS. Charis is a word whose combined meaning "gift", "joy", and "grace". When Paul, in the book of Philippians says the word, Rejoice, he is making up a word, which we often translate to "grace." Boldly, Paul doesn't just use the new word he invented once, he uses it in nearly every sentence, "Christ should be proclaimed in every way, whether out of false motives or true, and in that I REJOICE. Yes, and I will continue to REJOICE," (Philippians 1:18) Paul is literally saying here, "Yes, I will continue to throw gifts...." Paul's staff probably also thought he was on too many cold medications...

I'm going to try to use the word Hark, Rejoice, and Herald in the same sentence sometime today...and do it in a way that I hopefully won't get me punched in the nose.

All For Now,

By Jove,

GB