ONOMATOPOEIA

From My Perspective - - -

This past Sunday during the morning sermon the Pastor used the word onomatopoeia. He was speaking about the Hebrew word (ruah) that means breath, wind spirit. The word is often associated with the Holy Spirit. Onomatopoeia has an interesting meaning: “the formation of words whose sound is imitative of the sound of the noise or action designated…the use of such words for poetic or rhetorical effect.” Some examples given are: hiss, buzz, bang, snap, crackle, pop, sizzle, gurgle, rustle, burp, etc. The Etymology Dictionary indicates that it is a word that has been in use since the year 1577.

Yesterday, One News Now posted a guest column entitled: “Free Speech Vs. Sound Of Silence” by Robert Knight. He is making a point about the words being used today in political rhetoric that mean something other than what they have usually meant. He notes: “America has become a country in moral free-fall, where silence is freedom of speech, religious suppression is tolerance, and atheism is the de facto official religion of the state. In George Orwell's futuristic novel 1984, a tyrannical government masks its activities through the use of Newspeak -- saying or doing something opposite of a word's meaning. The Ministry of Plenty oversees rationing and starvation; the Ministry of Peace wages war; the Ministry of Truth dispenses propaganda; and the Ministry of Love conducts torture. The operative slogans are: "War is peace," "Freedom is slavery," and "Ignorance is strength." … By deploying only the first half of the First Amendment's guarantee that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," the ACLU and other liberal groups are using the courts to redefine religious speech as second-class, fit only to be uttered on private property and behind closed church doors. That's why liberals have adopted the red-herring phrase "freedom to worship" to replace "freedom of religion." Nobody is threatening the freedom to worship, but religious freedom and religious speech are under assault daily somewhere in America…”

Where are we heading in this country where the Secularists are dictating the public discourse and where words are losing their true meaning? A large majority of people in this country indicate that December 25^th should be recognized as Christmas and most would agree that it represents the Birth of Jesus Christ. They also believe that Decorated Trees in the home and public should be called Christmas Trees. If that is the case, why is the debate being waged and won by the secularists who are in the minority? If the nation has a Judeo-Christian bent in terms of moral and core values, how is it that it elects and re-elects one who champions a contrary and negative stance to those values? How quickly will the Sound of Silence become the increasing reality in this nation?

Once before in human history, there was a period of silence - four hundred years of silence. There was no prophecy about anything and people were living with the Sound of Silence - God was not speaking. Then, suddenly, Angelic activity occurred. Luke 1:11-13, an Angel appears to Zacharias and indicates that he and his wife Elizabeth will have a son – John, the Baptist. In Luke 1:26-35, The Angel Gabriel appears to a virgin named Mary and says to her: “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you…Then the Angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus…” In Matthew 1:18-25, the Angel of the Lord appears to Joseph, and says: “do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." In Luke 2:1-20, The Angel appears to Shepherds in the field: “…an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord…And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!" These are the sounds some would like to silence. However, you who claim to follow Jesus Christ should be silent no longer. You need to be a voice that is heard. You need to echo the message of the Angel. Speak up while you can – before you are forced to be silent. Consider these things with me!