Why We're Going Where English is a Second (or third or fourth) Language

If you wanted to know what the Bible had to say about multiple languages and all you had to go on was the story of the Tower of Babel in the Bible, you'd probably think the multitude of languages in the world is a very bad thing. If you want a refresher on the story found in the first nine verses of Genesis 11 (Genesis, which means beginnings, is the first book of the Bible), here's a summary: There was a time when only one language was spoken on earth. But a group of people decided to build a great tower to the heavens. God wasn't pleased with this plan, and He decided to stop it. So He "confused their language" so they couldn't work together. And they spread throughout the earth.

One could easily take from that story the idea that the multiple languages on earth are a punishment from God. Therefore one would assume that if God is going to redeem the earth, part of that plan would be to bring everyone back to one language. Surely, the New Heaven and New Earth would be a place a little like Star Trek: The Original Series, wherein everywhere Captain Kirk went in the universe, English was spoken by every species.

But Babel isn't God's last word on language. To begin with, note that the Bible itself isn't a one language book. The Old Testament was written primarily in Hebrew, but sections of Daniel and Ezra were written in Aramaic. The New Testament was written in Greek with a few Aramaic quotes. So God choose not to use just one language for His book.

In Acts 2: 4, Luke records the first miracle of the new Church; "All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues at the Spirit enabled them." The disciples went out and shared the Gospel in the very languages of the foreigners visiting Jerusalem for the festival of Pentecost. God could have performed a very different miracle. He could have enabled the foreign visitors to understand the language of the disciples.

So perhaps the tale of Babel isn't just a story of punishment. As the writer of the book of Hebrews explained, "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."*

Discipline for sin was a part of the story of Babel, but that wasn't all God had in mind. As one reads the story of Scripture, one sees that God didn't just mean to punish with those languages. It caused people to spread throughout the earth, which was a good thing. But that isn't all that He had in mind. It seems He really likes all those languages.

That's why it's called the "gift" of tongues. In Scripture we see God's Spirit giving both conventional and "heavenly" languages. The multitude of languages is a part of the wonder and good of His creation, and the creation to come. In Revelation 9:7, the last book of the Bible, John writes of heaven, "'I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne.'"

Mindy and I decided we'd rather not wait for heaven to worship with those other languages. So for the month of February, we'll be going to churches where languages other than English are used for worship. Because we disagree with the title of that old Warren Beatty movie. This month, anyway, heaven can't wait.

*Hebrews 12:11 (all Bible references in this post are from the New International Version, but there are a lot of different English language translations of the Bible. Check out https://www.biblegateway.com/ to take a look at some of them.)

- Dean

Ten Far West California Travel Observations

1. The whole city of Ferndale received Historical Markership for its Victorian houses. Sadly, an abundance of shops and houses were vacant or for sale.

2. We enjoyed our walk in the Ferndale Cemetery, viewing grave stones from the century before last. There was, though, this awkward Ebenezer Scrooge moment.

3. Ferndale has not one, but two, stores with Blacksmith Art (though both with the same ownership.) It was good to see an anvil outside of a Loony Toons cartoon.

 4. The Ivanhoe Hotel claims to be the furthest west hotel in the "continental United States." I hope the plaque was made before Alaska became a state, because since then, the correct phrase should be "the contiguous United States".

5. When I was a kid, we went camping at Standish Hickey State Park, part of the rotation with Henry Cowell and Donner Lake State Parks. But Standish Hickey was certainly the strangest name of the three.

6. Tiny Houses are all the rage these days, but this One Log House predates that rage (quite a coincidence that they built this next to a gift shop).

7. The Drive-Thru Tree is also located next to a gift shop. Our theory is that gift shops that are not located next to such peculiar objects do not survive. (Tourist traps continue to appeal to our inner 6-year-old.)

8. The Ferndale Pie Company does sell, to no one's surprise, pies. But they also made the genius move of selling pie crust scraps topped with cinnamon sugar. And the folks who run it are really nice.

9. There's something about the front desk of an inn being inside a general store that adds a Green Acres/Petticoat Junction feel to a place.(And if you long for that kind of thing, the store and motel seem to be for sale: Francis Creek Inn ) Mindy was not surprised to find a Pixley Street in Ferndale. 

10. This photo is either of a hippie in Willits with a cat resting on top of his backpack or a Sasquatch (Big Foot). From this photo, it's really difficult to tell which of the two it could be.

-- Dean and Mindy

Ten East Travel Observations

1) I think it's swell and understandable that the State of California rest stops have a separate depository for cigarettes and cigars (safety's sake with the fire and such if these were deposited in trash containers) but why does it need a lock? Is there a risk of thievery?

2) Ate in Bakersfield at Salty's BBQ (can't imagine they used consultants to get a name that would appeal to the health conscious). Just as the honkytonk in "The Blues Brothers" had both kinds of music (country and western), Salty's has the best of both worlds - smokin' and grillin'.

3) Our daughter has quite the fondness for trains, exclaiming "Amtrak, Amtrak" when they pass (you may think our nonexistent four year old son would do this, but Jill is in college). She would have had plenty of opportunities for excitement as we headed into the high desert country, seeing plenty of trains, stationary and chugging along.

 

4) In Barstow, you can see one of the original Harvey Houses (the 19th century fast food oasis for the locomotive set, and landmark for fans of a certain Judy Garland musical western Judy Garland "The Harvey Girls" ). There you'll find a Railroad Museum and a Route 66 Museum (either one could both double for Ramshackle Museums).

5) For cheap travelers, have we got exciting news for you! Motel 6 now has a high speed Wi-Fi option! (It's extra, of course, but then so is the slower Wi-Fi option)

6) In Needles, we asked about the front desk clerk about the Wagon Wheel restaurant because we're suckers for anything involving wagon wheels. She told us it wasn't exactly a "refined" dining experience, more Southern country cooking. Yes, we ate there. Bonus: the place is located on Route 66.

7) Those of you who are fans of the comic strip Peanuts will be happy to hear there is a dog park in Needles named in honor of Snoopy's skinny, mangy brother.

8) Kind of cool to see the netting covering this bee transport truck. I suppose crashing into a hazardous waste truck would be worse, but this is one of those vehicles you want to give a lot of space on the highway. We wondered if the bee that attached itself to our car between Needles and Big River had escaped from here.

9) Driving along in the desert, we began to notice a number of bridges over washes (areas subject to flash flooding) with a great variety of names. Here are names of the washes bridged between Barstow and Needles: Iron, Ogata, Astrid, Hawes, Turtle, Ambose, Marble, Willow Springs, Macdonald, Haller, Hoff, Rojo, Neprud, Mustang, Clipper Valley, Fortress, Providence Mountains, Blind Hollow, Halfway Hills, Black Canyon, Newton, Southfork Piute, McGinley, Crestview, Woods, Homer, Watson, Fox, Lemming, Buzzard, but our favorite was the Chuckwalla Wash Bridge. (Wash bridges are not to be confused with the ditch bridges such as Ardis, Tank Tower and Arbol.)

10) Driving through the high desert, every turn is likely to present mountains or a rock formation presented in light and color with fierce, gob-smacking beauty. To our friends who believe that all nature is a product of random chance, as is our perception of it...well...let's say we just don't see it that way.

-- Dean and Mindy

Ten Going South Travel Observations

This month, we're traveling to the farthest North, South, East and West churches we can find in California. Each week, in addition to church reports, we'll be reporting about our travels.

In the Bible, "South" is the region of heat, dryness and spices, but also carries some sense of protection (David hid on the south side of a stone when he was hiding from Saul) and delight (soft winds wafting sweet smells). The kingdom of Judea, which was (slightly) more faithful to God than the northern kingdom of Israel, was in the southern portion of the Promised Land. This week we aimed for the church furthest south in California.

1.)  Observation not for the faint of heart We stopped for lunch at Arby's, and I (Dean) wanted to bring my soda to the car. But I also needed to go to the rest room. Taking a drink into a truck stop rest room is a questionable action but... it gets worse. I rested the drink on the toilet paper dispenser. I was seated. The drink fell. It hit my knee. Diet Dr Pepper exploded all over my shirt. The vast majority the ice went in my shorts. I'll never know what people in the rest room thought about the guy laughing loudly in the stall.

2.) Many drive-ins in Southern California are now the homes of swap meets. But that doesn't mean you can't find entertainment there anymore. We drove by a marquee advertising "Blink 80 True," apparently a tribute band saluting Blink 182, scheduled to perform Saturday 12:00 - 5:00 pm. So while shopping for used back packs and Star Wars knick-knacks, you can listen to a band that could only get a gig at a swap meet to cover "Josie".

3.) Checked the drawers at the Best Western for a Gideon Bible but it was not to be found. Last month at the Marriott in Indiana there was a Gideon Bible along with a Book of Mormon. Last week at our hotel in Dorris there was no Gideon Bible. Might be a California trend. When the Hotel Healdsburg opened in 2001 the decision was made not to have Gideon Bibles but we kept some at the front desk, and I (Dean) was asked for a Bible once by someone reading I Corinthians 13 at a wedding.

4.) Driving through the Central Valley, you might notice one or two or three dozen signs protesting water policy. There's math on the signs ("Water = Jobs"), sports ("Fighting for Water") and, of course, politics. These signs probably were crucial in Barbara Boxer's choosing to not run again. Some of these signs have been up for a while, like the one that says, "2013 - 80% Water Reduction, 2014 - ?"

5.) May we just say that the world needs more quality Mexican food available 24 hours a day? 

6.) We found a classical station as we approached San Diego with the ads and commentary sometimes in English and sometimes in Spanish. As far as we could tell, one language or the other was used for each announcement rather than everything being announced in both languages. It seems XLNC1 transmits from Baja California for the enjoyment of the San Diego and Tijuana market. The musical selections were even more varied than the classical station we tend to listen to, and included the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine" played baroque style.

7.) Both of us spent a number of childhood vacations in Southern California. The scenery has changed (a lot) since then. We were glad, though, that even through the misty rain and multiple hotels beside the freeway in Anaheim, it was still possible to see the Matterhorn at Disneyland from the freeway.

8.) We stopped at the Coalinga/Avenal rest stop on our way south and I (Mindy) was struck by the clean smell and park-like atmosphere. Turns out these rest stops (there's one on either side of the I-5) have 4.5 stars on Yelp. I hadn't realized one could review rest stops.

9.) It does rain in Southern California. We woke up Sunday morning to news reports of "It's rainy. Drive safely out there," but really, it was barely drizzling. After church, the clouds decided to get serious, and for the first several hours of the drive home, actual raindrops made taking photos through the car windows difficult. Nearer to home, we had fog on departure and arrival. All this made the surrounding hills, when we could see them, very green.

10.) It's a long way from our house to the southern border of California.

-- Dean and Mindy