07 January 2011

Scalawags & Vagabonds

These words have passed through my mind in the last day or so. I think I was especially attached to the "ag" sound.

Scalawag: a person who behaves badly but in an amusingly mischievous rather than harmful way; a rascal. Sadly, it's origin in unknown!

Vagabond: a person who wanders from place to place without a home or job; a rascal or rogue. This one is from Middle English, from Old French or Latin, vagabundus, from vagari, "wander."

What a coincidence that both of these words have a synonym of rascal. What another delicious word. I also like the Latin root of "vagabond," vagari, just as a stand alone word.

By the above technical definition, my husband and I are vagabonds in a major way. However, I am proud to say we are not scalawags, as we are not criminals at all. Even still, I like both words and would not be prejudiced against a Scalawag-Vagabond. The Roma all around us are such classification, and I quite admire them. They do not have a job, but they do have an income source through trash collection and work harder than most people here. They are not accepted by society. And it has produced quite attractive traits in them: cultural resistance, resourcefulness, innovativeness, re-making everything from scratch.

Of course, I had to make a logo and abbreviated logo. This could be a rough-and-tumble café or a ministry targeted for those who feels particularly judged by society. Or, better yet, both! Also, it is a humbling category to put one's self in. This calls to mind the Tolkien poem from which we quote "not all who wander are lost."

All that is gold does not glitter,
not all those who wander are lost;
the old that is strong does not wither,
deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
a light from the shadows shall spring;
renewed shall be blade that was broken,
the crownless again shall be king.

06 January 2011

Paronym: beside + a name

The other day, this word popped up on my screen saver (a rolling dictionary). It was a divine gift for me. I have always had a fascination with the essential meaning of words; that is, the kernel of meaning at the heart of the word. I especially like words that are overused and rarely understood in their full. Despite my logophilia, the closest word I could find to name my hobby was "etymology."

Then, all of the sudden, right before my eyes it came to me: "paronym."

Paronym: a word that is a derivative of another and has a related meaning, a word formed by adaptation of a foreign word. The etymology of paronym is Greek, para-, "beside," onuma, "a name."

So now I know that I am a logophile with interest in the etymology of paronyms.

02 January 2011

Ministry of the Doorkeeper

"Ministry" is such an overused word. And it just feels so darn religious. What does it mean to minister to someone? What is a minister? What qualifies something as ministry?

Come to find out, "minister" comes to English (again through French) from Latin minus, which means "less." Wow. Who knew?

Of course, I immediately think of John the Baptist's response to his disciples' report that Jesus was baptizing people in the Jordan (in John the disciple's gospel): "He must increase, but I must decrease." This is amazing! We must decrease, or become less. And this was such the attitude of Paul, as well, was it not? He said that he is the least in the Kingdom of God. But most of all, was this not the example set of our precious Lord Jesus? He became our servant (lesser one) by taking up the duties of the least of servants in washing the feet of his disciples.

The Psalmist in Psalm 84:10 declares, "For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness." Me, too. I would rather be the least of the lesser ones in the house of my God than chill with the dark and abusive ones. I wonder what a doorkeeper did?

Below are potential logo and identity mark for a "Minus" ministry.