Congratulations on your February article, “Word of God, Speak!” It was written for us “pew-sitters.”
Every trade and profession has its own unique expressions understood only by their own. Example: What does “The pump lost its prime,” mean? Is it proper grammar? Or, “The rose boxes in holds 2 and 4 were stopped up.”
We are not speaking of a malfunctioned pump but the inability of a pump to perform due to a lack of inlet fluid. “Rose box” is a term used to describe a device designed to screen out debris from blocking the flow of bilge water to the bilge pump. These terms may mean nothing to the general public, but they are used on a regular basis by maritime personnel.
All too often a speaker or writer uses words or experiences foreign to the reader–pew-sitter. The pew-sitter naps!
All pew-sitters are not theologians.
All pew-sitters are not court recorders.
Every writer-speaker must keep in mind 1 Corinthians 14.
While on active duty (February 1943–February 1967), I had two tours as a supervisory instructor at the Army’s Transportation School, Fort Eustis, Va. Instructors who “talked down” to the students were relieved on the spot.
Henry A. Shave
Peach Bottom, Pa.
Read More Letters to the Editor
Send letters to “Letters,”
c/o The Lutheran Witness,
1333 S. Kirkwood Road,
St. Louis, MO 63122-7295;
or send them via e-mail to Lutheran.Witness@LCMS.org.
