Long time no write.
I have a couple things to say to bring you up to speed:
First, what sort of updates you can expect from me.
Second, an explanation of the name change.
First, the 100 weeks Bible study in which I have been participating will be the main theme for this blog starting in August. For each meeting, I will mention five key points from that weeks reading. In the future, I might start bringing in highlights from past meetings as we are currently about to start week 34.
Secondly, I changed the Japanese name of this blog from 命 INOCHI to 使命感 SHIMEIKAN. I've wanted to change the name for a while but just never got to it. When I first made this blog, I wanted a word that would help identify the religious theme of this blog, but at the time I just chose an approximate Kanji that I liked.
In order to rectify my initial laziness, over time I've found some appropriate Japanese words. These were some of the best:
任侠 (Ninkyou)
This is a Japanese word defined as "protecting the weak, standing up to the strong, and having a sense of willingness to sacrifice one's life for the sake of justice." I thought this word was perfect at first, but most English translations of the word are things like "Chivalrous," "Machismo," and "Masculinity." None of those three really match the Japanese because the Japanese lacks negative connotations. Negative connotations that I don't want associated with this blog.
淙々(Sousou)
This is a very uncommon word in Japanese, and it means "lightly, smoothly, flowing water." The only English translation I could find was "murmurs" as in "the stream murmers among the rocks." I don't think that really captures the Japanese at all. Though I did like the Kanji in this word for its irony. The right part of the Kanji being that of 宗 or "sect/religion."
凛と
This is another word that does not lend itself well to translation. The meaning is something like "a powerful, clear voice," an image that I rather liked to associate with God speaking to Moses from the burning bush. The problem with this word lies in that it also has the meanings of "taking up a masculine attitude and manner" and "being strict and cold-hearted." Neither of which did I think appropriate for this blog.
使命 and 使命感
Both of these words mean "one's calling" or "vocation." When I came across these words in my search, I was hesitant but quickly won over as I thought it through. I could still have 命 in the title, but have a meaning more closely associated with religion.
Both words are comprised of the same first two Kanji. The first being "to serve" and the second being mainly "life" and secondarily "command." The key difference between the two words is obviously the Kanji at the end which makes the word more emotionally tied. If I were to try and iterate the difference in English, the closest I can come is the difference in emotional pull between "mission" and "calling."
The end result should be visible at the top of this page. The blog title is now "SHIMEIKAN"
日本人の皆さんへ
これから僕が参加している百週間聖書研究会を話題にするつもりです。毎回読んでいた範囲で五つの面白い点を紹介しようと思っています。
それからブログの名前を変えました。命だけじゃなくて使命感というもっと長い名前にしました。
人間は神様から与えられた道はあるからこそ命があると思います。
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Happy New Year! - and a (sadly) new viral video
This video has been going around like the plague:
Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus || Spoken Word
Of course, this guy has proposed a fireball of a topic, right? In short though, My biggest qualm with it is that simply the guy throws around general terms without so much as a hint of a definition. "Religion" to one person, simply means something else to another. In my case it means something very specific, probably because I'm Catholic. No surprise there, I would think.
If you were to strip out the first 1:18 of the video and remove a couple of the odd jabs toward the end, the message would be at it's core indisputable by most any Christian. Instead though, the video has a very anti-Catholic vibe, of which I'm sure only Catholics would be aware.
I thought of writing a well-thought out response to the video, but in finding that someone else already has, I will play tour guide.
READ this: Why I Hate Religion, But love Jesus - The Smackdown
That is all.
Addendum: Video Response
Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus || Spoken Word
Of course, this guy has proposed a fireball of a topic, right? In short though, My biggest qualm with it is that simply the guy throws around general terms without so much as a hint of a definition. "Religion" to one person, simply means something else to another. In my case it means something very specific, probably because I'm Catholic. No surprise there, I would think.
If you were to strip out the first 1:18 of the video and remove a couple of the odd jabs toward the end, the message would be at it's core indisputable by most any Christian. Instead though, the video has a very anti-Catholic vibe, of which I'm sure only Catholics would be aware.
I thought of writing a well-thought out response to the video, but in finding that someone else already has, I will play tour guide.
READ this: Why I Hate Religion, But love Jesus - The Smackdown
That is all.
Addendum: Video Response
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