Language, again

Ran yesterday, on this "bad knee".  Ran the whole intended 5K distance, too, at a normal pace, and I was soooo glad!  :)   

I was really worried that this "injury" would sideline me from this new-ish activity of mine that I used to hate with a passion but have come to tolerate for the benefits it brings.

Gosh, I was even *happy* to run yesterday!  How weird is that?  

I could see myself dealing with knee problems for the rest of my life, like some broken-down athlete, and am so relieved that, despite some discomfort in the beginning (and some afterwards, too), that I could push through to a good long stretch of no pain while running.  Yay!

I mean... how am I ever going to run in the Twin Cities Marathon next Fall if my knee won't cooperate?  ;)  

(don't laugh!  they give you 6 hours... that's 13:44/mile.)

Okay, shifting gears from exercising the body to exercising the mind.

Phonemes, morphemes, syntax, semantics...

These are the fundamentals of linguistics (the study of language.)  Apparently.

And they go together like this:  babies use phonemes (verbal sound units), young children combine them into morphemes (word units.)  For adults the morphemes are then ordered via syntax, in order to establish the sophisticated semantics necessary for clear meaning.

Now understand, this is all taken from 10 minutes of a single on-line summary lecture from a course on Hermeneutics (the study of interpretation of language), so it is by necessity simplistic.  

But I never expected to even be exposed to linguistics at all when I signed up for Seminary.   It's kind of comical.  :)  Well, I guess you had to be there to see the humor (or maybe... the irony.) 

Even weirder... Bethel is creating a new Linguistics major.  Why, I can't imagine.  There are certainly other good colleges around here that have one.  

I suppose, though, that they may want to provide such a major in a "distinctively Christian environment."  That's a rationale for a lot of what happens in religiously-affiliated schools, whether evangelical, lutheran, or catholic.   

It goes: the world finds XYZ useful.  But it's so secular, we need a version of XYZ that's... "ours", suitable for "our people".  

Personally, I think that leads to isolation, but... who am I to say?   

I think it would be better for religiously-motivated kids to "infiltrate" a secular school, and learn how to live out their faith in a sometimes antagonistic environment, than to be sheltered from it.  

So far, at least, I am perfectly able to take some secular research about language and the interpretation of it, and apply it directly in the world of theology and biblical studies.  I would imagine that the reverse is also possible.  

Maybe when I'm done with all this and am out there teaching... I'll be able to report on that first hand.  :)  I wouldn't mind teaching biblical studies at a secular school.  Might be more fun that way!

And speaking of applying language in a religious setting, tonight I am one of seven lectors helping lead a prayer service at St. Rose's.  We are working through the "Prayer for the Common Good", with a special focus on the upcoming general elections.  God knows... we need divine guidance in that voting booth.  I sure do, anyway.  I haven't been this torn about a political choice in years.