Language Awareness

In the past several weeks I have had opportunity to converse with a young man electronically. What has struck me is the level of hatred that surfaces in every conversation. Further to that, I have been working my way through Derrick Jensen’s book, “The Culture of Make Believe”.

Over the years, I have been extremely fortunate to have encountered a number of people whose first or main language was one of love. For someone like me, who grew up in a culture of hate (both broadly and particularly) these encounters were life changing (or, at the least, certainly shattering challenges to my resident paradigms).

As Derrick Jensen posits, when something is stated or insinuated often enough and loudly enough, it becomes the status quo and the accepted measure. It is in this way that prejudices and hateful stereotypes become, firstly, tolerable, and, finally, the norm.

Even a very casual glance at the ways in which wars have been sold and justified, genocides ignored and even condoned, multinationals given wholesale access to pillage resources and impoverished people and religious leaders allowed to exploit and abuse with impunity would suggest that we live in a world where the language of hate is, at best, an unnoticed undercurrent to our daily lives.

The language of love speaks of the value of relationships, the value of every individual as they are, the value of creation and a willingness to encounter the Infinite in each part of the world around us. The language of love is spoken with open hands and open hearts.

Take notice of your hands when you are at rest. Are they open or closed? Which language does your body naturally resort to when you are not in conscious control?

I owe a great deal to so many who have given pause to my use of language. A chance comment by a young atheist in Germany, Mohammed in Mogadishu, Mzee Nyerere in Tanzania, Sisters in Kenya, Chepe and Gloria in Honduras. None of these are (were – I am old enough that some of these are now past tense) wealthy or in the elite classes. Several of them have spoken languages that I had no idea of what was being said. Many have responded to love in differing faiths and religious expressions. But all of them, have, in at least a part of their lives, understood and communicated in the alternative language of love, a life to be lived without fear.

On a less philosophical note, our two oldest students arrived this week to write the exams for the second and third books in their Grade level. Hurrah. They will be done shortly – another month or so? They are studying at home and only come for the exams.

The cost of transport is beginning to bite for a number of students. Even though the cost of the school is free, getting here is proving a problem. We are so very hopeful that the CIDA proposal will be approved so that we can concentrate on setting up satellite centres in the villages and thus have students free to come without further costs.

The Saturday crew is here and it is a full house. Good to see.

Paz
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