a reason good languages are phonetic

It really passes people off when a word doesn't at all look like it sounds, like in my elementary school spelling bee, I got out, and still remember it, with the word Herb, the previous year I got the word cabinet wrong. And, that was merely because of the pronunciation, I repeated the word as cabinet and spelled it as such. Not realizing my error I went on to pronounce herb first and spelled it error. Though, it is funny now, at the time I got quite angry. But, it is more common to hear people learning English complain about "silent" letters like k or g.

What came to mind was my daughter getting upset when a Dr. Seuss book used a Girraffe to represent G. And then a very funny skit where a kindergarten teacher is teaching letter sounds (one per letter) and says A is aye (long a sound) and represented commonly by an Ayepple. She looks at her picture of an Apple and starts to question if she has said it wrong her entire life!!

OK, my original thought was caused by a contemplation of various Alphabets, and how as an English speaker I love Icelandic because it is a phonetic language meaning it sounds like it is spelled (once you learn the sounds). I thought this was probably more important to a literate country. It had been said that Icelandic most closely represents old Norse language and so one can easily extrapolate what it sounded like. What I meant was to say that Iceland is a country where it's constituents have seen how words can be spoken from the past through text, and so even if the people no longer remain their word can be preserved if one has a cipher or phonetic language.

similarities

Whenever I contemplate diety of any people's I am struck more with the similarities than I am absurdities. 

I do not have the tools to say much detail, like occurrs to me in thought, but contemplating such similarities definitely leads to a truth. No matter how bizarre an idea is, the fact that all men have such a notion must be explained.

Common basis

Or what I often consider. It is easy for me to retrospectively see how foolish such a belief is or even how unnecessary certain sacrifice was, but why then do or believe it. I will speak briefly about the Greeks. In other disciplines their thinkers were esteemed, so how could a culture who believed in such rediculous gods have produced such great thoughts? I have given myself an answer.

I have noticed for the most part the ideas are consistent, but culture has adapted such ideas so that they might be learned and allowed to influence. Successful influence (fruit)has been embraced fully by a culture and it becomes a religion. 

So, it is commonplace that mankind has always sought out and loved something they cannot manage to understand. It is very comparable to the way Jesus Christ spoke in parables. Or how communion or sacrament only represents a sacrifice that we need in our minds, but it cannot be reperformed again and again, where as the symbols can remind us. Ok, my mind is running away again, I want to quickly liken this to the sacrifice of various animals was to put an idea in minds. I have often said that religions are like a wheelchair or crutches, they help one who cannot move for themselves, but we ought not become dependant on them the idea is that because we cannot move right now does not mean we cannot experience the same things as one who can.

OK, my screen keeps going black, soon it will freeze up and I will loose everything.  So, bye!

Laws of early Israelites

As I was thinking about all of the laws many I have given more thought than others, ultimately, I realized how loving, almost like favoring, it was to give those rules.

One of my favorite teachings was regarding our senses and how much our notion of what is, is based on what we perceive. 

So, on Stargate Atlantis a group is given laws to live by and a visiting team proves they are not true, and do not need to be lived by, and one guy responds that he would rather be limited by "silly rules" if it meant living in peace than being "free" But dead. Finally, Dr. Weir points out that maybe the reasons behind those rules was too complex, so instead they were given those rules to keep them safe. She tells Dr. McKay how presumptuous it is to think he knows best and over throw their rules as wrong.... but, technically, they are. It reminds me of a video years ago by a Hebrew scholar defending his faith when archeological studies were proving the book of Exodus as false. He said, "what makes the stories true is not that they are factual."

So, now to my thoughts on the laws in Leviticus. Maybe, there are things which are more complex than our senses indicate and so being forbidden because one is made "unclean" might not be factual, but true. Sort of like the way everyone wore masks and they were even mandatory and enforced while they did not prevent the spread of infection. So often outward appearances communicate in a way that can be understood and thereby appreciated, and they do something for our mindset. They made us all more aware of a virus and thereby did more that was appearance.

I just feel like laws were given to protect people and insure they were healthy and happy, then Jesus came and tried to say, "hey, guys some of this stuff has been taken out of context and I need to adjust it. 

Darn it. Getting too long... better stop writing.

such a cool idea!

In a podcast I heard someone liken each of the first 5 chapters of Matthew to the first five books of the Torah, and it worked well. I am impressed. Makes sense because Matthew was writing for a Hebrew or is it an Hebrew. Hmmmmm. A Jewish/Israeli audience. The books ate actually so closely related, it is just fun to have another way to link them.

Egyptian connection

I had been fascinated by Egyptian things so I didn't really need a nudge, but as I was visiting someone last week they mentioned watching documentaries about Egypt. So, I did too layer that week. And as I watched a video on Netflix about Saquarah (sp?) I was knitting so only heard the name Wahtey, and thought instantly that they must be in the wilderness or desert or something, cause I remember learning about wadis being dried up rivers. When I looked up and saw it spelled differently I was taken down a different rabbit hole because this was a matter of convention or transliteration and the name was audibly the same, so I revisited what smidgen I knew about hieroglyphics. And then, this morning I learned about another Egyptian-like word that mean never ending love... cue mental soundtrack "Never my love" by the association. The word was Mormon.

Cool, huh?

Alot like the first time I met Roderick and he was excited that my name was Greek, cause he was studying Greek at BYU. He proceeded to tell me that Utah suited me well because the Book of Mormon people spoke a type of Egyptian in which my name translated to Deseret. Cool!

Now. I am considering a possible mental testimony that would be founded on the notion of tracing languages like is popularly done with scandinavian languages with regards to understanding viking heritage. I got to thinking that if any remnants of Egyptian language like Mohr Mahn could be found in modern languages, it could prove a notion weakly, right?

Probably just silly thoughts is all, but there is potential there.