You versus You

I have to say that learning a new language can really give you such a depth of understanding of your own language, as well as life in general. Knowing Spanish has expanded my English vocabulary and provided for interesting insights into words and phrases commonly used in my speech.

It is interesting to note though...it's so strange, but often when I'm speaking in Spanish and can't think of a word, I'll totally forget what the word is in English - it's like I have an image in my mind of what I want to say, but I can't formulate the word in either language. I have done some research on language acquisition and it appears that when we learn our mother-tongue as children that language is stored in one area of our brain...if we learn another language as adults, the new language is stored in another part of our brain...so this explains the difficulty of going back and forth between the two, as they are stored in different "rooms" (so to speak!). The really cool thing is that for kids, when they learn multiple languages, they are all stored in the same part of the brain, making it easier to go back and forth between the two (or more) languages...so things like translating are much easier. Isn't that fascinating?

I've heard that once you have learned 2 languages, other languages become much easier to learn. I'd love to learn more languages...French, Italian, Portuguese...language is so fascinating.

But, that's not really what I wanted to write about today. I wanted to write about You versus You. In English, we have one word for "You"....it can be singluar or plural, it can be formal or casual. How are you? How are you (all)? How are you (boss)? How are you (child)? You are my...friend, lover, parent, pastor, group of buddies, etc. It's used universally in speaking to one or more persons.

In Spanish, there are a variety of ways to communicate "You"...and they each indicate a different relationship. "Tu" indicates friend, close relation, peer, child. "Usted" indicates someone you don't really know, someone of higher station than you, a title of respect. "Ustedes" indicates "you" plural...and can be used both formally and informally.

What is amazing about this is that when we speak of Jesus and of God to one another, and when we speak TO them, in church or on the street....the form of "You" that is used is "Tu"...the casual, friendly, close relationship form of speaking to someone. I think this is so cool, and so awesome, and indicates a depth of the word that is absent in the English language.

You are God. You are my God. You are with me in times of need and in times of plenty. Pretty drab, right....but consider this....TU eres Dios. Tu eres mi Dios. Tu eres conmigo en tiempos de necesidades y en tiempos de plentitud. Look at that...TU....my friend, my close companion. The relationship is so much deeper. I just love that!!

That is the magic of understanding languages...I remember one of my favorite lessons in church. We were looking at some passages in the Bible and going back to what they said in the original text....in our English Bibles, it looked like this (John 21:15-19)...

15When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?"
"Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."
16Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?"
He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."
17The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you."
18Jesus said, "Feed my sheep...and then he said "Follow me!"

When you read this in the English language, you're like..."man, why is Jesus being so repetitive? Simon Peter SAID he loved him!"...it's so easy to miss the point. But when we looked at the original text and the nuances within the original language, it was more like Jesus was saying "Peter, do you truly love me", and Peter responded..."Lord, you must be able to see that I love you. Again Jesus asks and again Peter responds the same...the final time Jesus says to Peter "do you love me as a friend?" and Peter responds "you know (as the exalted one) that I love you"....there is such a difference in the depth and nuance of what is going on here than is properly communicated when translated to English...the different types of love being discussed, as well as the different types of knowing of one another. It is so fascinating!

At any rate, I am so glad to call Jesus "TU"...Tu eres mi Senor!