Page 40 - BACK TO BETHLEHEM

has a meaning and you can’t understand it apart from its
context. I can think a word in my mind but you won’t know
what I’m thinking. You might say, “I can tell by the look on
your face; you are surprised or you are angry or you are
discouraged or you are sad or you are happy or you are hungry.”
But unless I speak a word, you don’t know what I’m thinking.
Sometimes one word is not enough. Sometimes you need a
sentence. Sometimes you need a paragraph.
We have an expression, “In other words.” So, when
Lillian wants me to really know what she is saying, she will
give me her command and then she’ll say, “In other words,” and
she’ll restate the same command. Sometimes when the house
is on fire and someone says, “Jump!” you understand one word.
If a missile is flying toward your head and someone says,
“Duck!” you understand one word.
I used to golf but I don’t anymore. I hit a lady in the
head with a golf ball and she sued me and I yelled one word,
“Fore!” She didn’t duck. It’s her fault! It was a good shot. It
went over the pin, over the fence and into the parking lot where
she was putting groceries in her car. So, that was a good shot!
One word sometimes can communicate an idea but let’s
say the word is “person”. I am thinking of a person. Who am
I thinking of? You don’t know if it’s a girl, a boy, a child or an
athlete or a political person or a character in the Bible. You
need more words. You’ll say, “I need more than ‘person’.”
“I’m thinking of an animal. What is it?” You don’t know. One
word is not enough. “I’m thinking of a plant. I’m thinking of
a food.” You might say, “That’s not enough. I need more
words.” What if the word is bigger, like “planet”. And I say,
“Tell me everything about a planet.” You would say, “Which
one?”
Here’s a word; universe. I say, “Tell me everything
about the universe.” Or I say, “Tell me everything about the
galaxy.” It’s one word and it’s too big. Even “earth”, you
would say, “I need to know about weather and about rocks and
about plants.” So, one word is not enough.

38