If you're wondering-thats a big if-about the phrase at the top of this page, it's Latin..
It comes directly from Proverbs, namely the last verse of chapter 3..
Pro 3:35 The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.
Pro 3:35 gloriam sapientes possidebunt stultorum exaltatio ignominia (Latin Vulgate)
'promotion of fools' jumped out of the page at me(thats what the latin means..)..not that I'd like to call myself a fool after having a squiz at the verse as a whole but its the simple truth that I am so often..the general meaning of fool when used in Proverbs though provides a little comfort..I gather it to mean someone who is arrogant and spurns reproof and instruction..and so I do my utmost to do otherwise..I'm sure someone can identify with me..
But the idea that strikes me most is that God would choose to use the simple, the foolish, the nobodies of our world..
1Co 1:27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
This just blows my mind. To think that God Almighty would use ordinary people..am I sounding like Weston?? It's not deliberate..really.. This revelation just leaves me speechless and incredibly touched so often during worship..as an aside and a point to ponder periodically, its interesting how the memorable times of worship are those where we give our all unreservedly and as a result God turns up. I wonder what our world would be like if we gave our all in the lifestyle of worship rather than often living so halfheartedly..
Yeah, so what's with the Latin?? someone's bound to ask..
Well, I studied it for several years at school which I thoroughly enjoyed. Nothing more fascinating I might add..nah I wont..can think of a couple of things..
The boring part(just cos there's usually a boring side to anything-even chasing possums with sticks, young miss Montana), where was I?? Oh yeah the dull part..I'll demonstrate..
It comes directly from Proverbs, namely the last verse of chapter 3..
Pro 3:35 The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.
Pro 3:35 gloriam sapientes possidebunt stultorum exaltatio ignominia (Latin Vulgate)
'promotion of fools' jumped out of the page at me(thats what the latin means..)..not that I'd like to call myself a fool after having a squiz at the verse as a whole but its the simple truth that I am so often..the general meaning of fool when used in Proverbs though provides a little comfort..I gather it to mean someone who is arrogant and spurns reproof and instruction..and so I do my utmost to do otherwise..I'm sure someone can identify with me..
But the idea that strikes me most is that God would choose to use the simple, the foolish, the nobodies of our world..
1Co 1:27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
This just blows my mind. To think that God Almighty would use ordinary people..am I sounding like Weston?? It's not deliberate..really.. This revelation just leaves me speechless and incredibly touched so often during worship..as an aside and a point to ponder periodically, its interesting how the memorable times of worship are those where we give our all unreservedly and as a result God turns up. I wonder what our world would be like if we gave our all in the lifestyle of worship rather than often living so halfheartedly..
Yeah, so what's with the Latin?? someone's bound to ask..
Well, I studied it for several years at school which I thoroughly enjoyed. Nothing more fascinating I might add..nah I wont..can think of a couple of things..
The boring part(just cos there's usually a boring side to anything-even chasing possums with sticks, young miss Montana), where was I?? Oh yeah the dull part..I'll demonstrate..
amo I love
amas you love
amat he/she loves
amamus we love
amatis you love
amant they love
Think thats right..its been a while and I didnt repeat the above 50million times like most of our parents did back in school..and thats just the simple present tense! Then...there's simple past tense followed by a daunting dictionary's worth of obscure and odious present, past, future, past perfect, future perfect tenses to mention a few..quick take a breath.. along with pages of participles(which happen to be sorta like adjectives therefore have three different forms each depending on the gender of the noun described), screeds of subjunctives, gut-grinding gerunds(thats ignoring the gerundives). Each tense has countless conjugations specifically conjured up to create chaotic configurations(a teacher's treasure trove of terrifying and tortuous test topics)..I wont even start on the icky impersonal verbs-you can breathe a sigh of relief..but I'm not done yet..the nailbiting nightmare continues with the entire process repeated for the painful passive forms of every tense..its alright, I know the feeling, my shoulder is open for you have a good cry on if you like..and then to multiply the murderous menangerie of mongrel mot's(thats latin for 'word'), all this is repeated FOUR times over for the FOUR different groups of verbs which for some bright idea don't always follow the same rules..clever aye?? And then *shaking, sweating and somehow trying to avidly avoid a mental meltdown* come the exceptions(that happen to exist for some odd reason-maybe because it's just life and I need to get over it..but I'll stop the sensational speculation and continue), which of course happen to include deponent, semi-deponent, unique and defective verbs..you can-if you havent already been hospitalised by the de-habilitating heaviness of the hardcover-collapse on the floor in a heap..but be thankful..after all you still have ten toes and ten fingers aswell as your sense of selfworth..however not a lot might be able to be said regarding your sanity after your gallant go at grammar Latinstyle..another thing you can be thankful for-I'm not gonna start on nouns..or adverbs,adjectives, pronouns, prepositions, sentence structure, translation problems, negatives...
Contrary to the above account, I found my knowledge of Latin was extremely useful and often in English class I was able to give the meanings for words I had never seen before..cries of "Geek!" often followed as it was assumed I read the dictionary for enjoyment..this view is thoroughly mistaken of course..
Yeah..so Latin was lots of fun-after barely coping with copious collections of verbs you'd get into some fascinating stuff. Quite a bit of history, translation, funny stories-a memorable one was of a cowardly deserter who being rather rotund fell through a bridge he was trying to lead his horse across..
Anyway while reading a Latin dictionary-ok..I'll admit to reading dictionaries, but you'll never catch me in the act-I came across several rather handy phrases you might be able to bandy around or pull out of the hat for want of a better party trick..
Abutebaris modo subjunctivo denuo - You've been misusing the subjunctive again
Aio, quantitas magna frumentorum est - Yes, that is a very large amount of corn
Antiquis temporibus, nati tibi similes in rupibus ventosissimis exponebantur ad necem - In the good old days, children like you were left to perish on windswept crags
Canis meus id comedit - My dog ate it
Cave ne ante ullas catapultas ambules - If I were you, I wouldn't walk in front of any catapults
Fortunatus sum! Pila mea de gramine horrido modo in pratum lene recta volvit! - Isn't that lucky! My ball just rolled out of the rough and onto the fairway!
Furnulum pani nolo - I don't want a toaster
Interdum feror cupidine partium magnarum europe vincendarum - Sometimes I get this urge to conquer large parts of Europe
Machina improba! Vel mihi ede potum vel mihi redde nummos meos! - You infernal machine! Give me a beverage or give me my money back!
Mei capilli sunt flagrantes - My hair is on fire
Mihi ignosce. Cum homine de cane debeo congredi - Excuse me. I've got to see a man about a dog
Nolite id cogere, cape malleum majorem - Don't force it, get a bigger hammer
Paucis verbis, quid est deconstructionismus? - What, in a nutshell, is deconstructionism?
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari? - How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
Quid rides? Mutato nomine de te fabula narratur - What are you laughing at? Just change the name and the joke's on you.
Radix lecti - Couch potato
Suntne vacci laeti - Are your cows happy?
Tua toga suspina est - Your toga is backwards
Vah! Denuone Latine loquebar? Me ineptum. Interdum modo elabitur - Oh! Was I speaking Latin again? Silly me. Sometimes it just sort of slips out
