The corona virus has certainly changed our world in many ways. One of these is use of language. Linguists tell us that there are at least one thousand, that’s right, one thousand new terms that have come out of this pandemic so far. That is incredible! Most of the language has come out of medical terms and also what is termed “coronaspeak” or common social language. Some of the “coronaspeak” is actually quite funny. Here are a few.
Armchair Virologist – someone who doesn’t know anything, but poses as an expert
Corona-cuts – a hairstyle during the pandemic
Coronadodge – physically avoiding others out in public so as not to contract the virus
Corona-Waltz – manoeuvring around other people in public, like a dance, to avoid being close to them
Covidiot – a person behaving irresponsibly in conditions of containment
The COVID 15 or 19 (pounds) – extra body weight accrued during quarantine
Drivecation – a holiday, typically in a motorhome or RV, in one’s own driveway
Hamsterkaufing – stockpiling and/or hoarding (adapted from German)
Morona – a person behaving stupidly because of, or during, the coronavirus outbreak
Zoom-bombing – people hijack or interrupt a video conference
Zoom-room – the one corner of the home that is kept clean for video conferences
Zumped – when someone dumps another person over a Zoom video call.
One thing that hasn’t changed is the language of love. Words like compassion, sacrifice, sensitivity, dedication, patience, kindness and longsuffering will never change because such is the nature of love. Throughout this pandemic, there have been tremendous demonstrations of love that have affected us personally and our congregation.
One such demonstration comes from a lady named Val Foster. She is my sister-in-law, married to Janice’s oldest brother Ted. In a telephone conversation, Val volunteered to make cloth face masks for our whole church. She graciously stepped forward to take up this task and the finished products were delivered to my door step yesterday. She quietly worked in the background to turn out a large number of masks for our congregation to use when we start to gather again. She asked for no compensation, no recognition. This was completely a silent work of grace. But, I want to publicly acknowledge what she has done because she deserves our love and appreciation and because she paints a perfect picture of what servanthood is all about. Paul says, “…serve one another in love.” (Galatians 5:13) Val has certainly done that!
I close with the words of a song, sung by a cartoon character named Charity Church Mouse. It's one that our kids used to sing when they were small. It goes like this,
“Make me a servant humble and meek,
Lord let me lift up those that are weak.
And may the prayer of my heart always be.
Make me a servant, Make me a servant,
Make me a servant today.”
Thank you Val. You have taught us all a great lesson in servanthood! God bless you.
Have a great day, keep safe and keep in the love of Jesus – Pastor Ralph
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