Let's see -- I just finished reading the New Testament for the first time, again. It's my favorite tool for learning a new language. Every time I see God's Word through the lens of a different language, new facets sparkle. After reading it through in the Greek a dozen times or so, I'm reasonably comfortable with my literacy therein. It was fun to see Jesus saying "Eh bien!" Then, in Afrikaans, "Kennis maak verwaand, maar liefde bou op" warned me to beware of the knowledge that puffs up, and to cherish the love that builds up the brother. When reading John's gospel in Esperanto, chapter 2, I was working in an industrial setting, crimping lugs on electrical cables. I organized the job by stacking the components up in precisely located positions, to minimize motion and automate the counting process. When Jesus kicked over the money changers' tables, He disrupted their whole system. In Italian, I learned that it's not so shameful to be a
dilettante, since "delight" is the Father's attitude towards the Son. I read Matthew in the Vulgate, and discovered that my Lord's yoke is
suave. In Turkish, I noted the bald self-assurance of the Man who said, over and over again, "I'm telling you this straight." I discovered that all but one of the parables with interior monologues were reported by Luke.
No, I guess I'm not too interested in Scripture.
Seriously, though, daily mind-melds with God's Word are essential to my sanity. I went through some weird places BC, skated on the edge of the abyss, and cleave all the more tightly to sanity, and to God's Word, today as a result. I'm also more sensitive to the weird vibes surrounding those who cherish alternate channels.
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In the interests of honesty, I'd better confess that I only have a reasonably fluent reading knowledge of Greek and French. I can stumble through the other languages with a dictionary in hand, and have reasons for wanting to master Turkish.
