Heart Talk by Connie Inglis

Have you ever done a word study on "love" or "heart" to help expand your writing? I'm sure you have if you've written about any kind of personal relationships. Today I'd like to share a book with you, one which I'm thinking none of you have ever heard of.

When our family moved to Thailand to work with minority language groups, my husband and I were introduced to a book by Christopher G. Moore called, Heart Talk. This book is like no other on the study of the word, *jai 'heart' in the Thai language. It is a fascinating read for anyone doing any kind of cross-cultural writing because it provides insight not only into "love" emotions but into most of the emotions expressed by Thai people.

In this book there are over 700  jai words/phrases that the Thai people know and use constantly. Whether it's talking about positive emotions or negative emotions, good character traits or bad character traits, right choices or wrong choices, the word or phrase usually includes jai. It is no wonder the author calls it, "the central metaphor in the Thai language."

Let me share a few of these "heart" words to help you understand how differently the Thai view life. There are some words that cross over culturally such as jai-yai 'heart big' in referring to a generous person, or jai-sing 'heart lion' in referring to a courageous person. However, there are many that are surprising and sometimes even opposite of how westerners think. For example, jai-nooy 'heart small' doesn't mean a stingy person. It is referring to someone who is highly sensitive emotionally, who is easily hurt or offended by others. Kin-jai 'eat heart' is a verb meaning, "to impress" in a good way; Or, jai-phra 'heart monk' referring to a person who is extremely compassionate and forgiving; Or naam-jai 'water heart' referring to someone who takes into account another person's feelings. This last one could be translated to mean empathy or sympathy in English but in Thai there are two totally different jai words for those feelings. Are you getting the picture?

But I must mention one of the most used jai words: kreeng-jai 'awe heart'--a word that is almost untranslatable into English. Moore calls it, "the heart of hearts of the Thai culture and class system.":

"The phrase reflects a rich brew of feelings and emotions--a mingling of reverence, respect, deference, homage and fear--which every Thai person feels toward someone who is their senior, boss, teacher, mother and father, or those in powerful position such as a high-ranking police officer."

It takes the author 1 1/2 pages to define this type of patron/client cultural system and even then he confesses that it goes so much deeper. Our western culture find this a difficult concept to grasp. Often we are more jai dii phii khaw 'good heart, ghost enters'. Anyone care to guess what that means?

I focus on this book today as a challenge, to all of us. In a world that is becoming smaller every day, where we interact with other cultures on a daily basis, a book like this can help us see the world through different eyes and then help us write about love, about emotions, about relationships in a whole new way. And maybe it will help us show Jesus' love in a whole new way too.

*Unfortunately, due to computer incompatibility, I could not mark tone on the Thai words.

Life In A Suitcase by Bryan Norford

Remember opening a suitcase at your destination? Contents packed too tightly for recognition? Socks stuffed in shoes, screwables poked in loose corners, last minute dumps screwing up the rest! Worse jumble still, if two people pack the same case! Or, heaven forbid, you find it’s someone else’s.

You try to set out garments so they are recognizable. It’s almost as bad as missing luggage—at least then you can buy new clothes! They look good. But cheaply bought, they soon look shabby. You retrieve lost luggage with relief. So good to unpack, iron and hang the real clothing attractive and orderly.

The Bible is like a suitcase. Contents often packed too tightly to be easily understood. Goodies packed in unsuspecting corners. Numerous writers pack differently. Some place their contents in methodical fashion, others lay it in as it comes. Some cram their stuff in panic or stress, others lay it in more leisurely.

Today’s writers are, or should be, the unpackers. Like good teachers, they sort and present biblical truths with clarity. They untangle difficult material, iron out apparent discrepancies, bring together similar materials, and provide access to what we need.

Without this, many find the Bible's contents a dense, impenetrable muddle once the covers open. Many will open the wrong suitcase. There they find cultural garments that fit poorly, fall apart after use, or are too revealing! Some will find these materials convenient, fitting their lifestyle or agenda. These garments supplant interest in longer lasting spiritual clothing.
 
There is one further move necessary to show off the Biblical content. Clothes show best when worn. They sell best when adorning models or advertisements. Writers must exhibit the truths they espouse.

Christianity will always be a counter culture, at odds with its social environment. It’s appeal is not in strutting laws and rules, all cultures do that; but in wearing the garments of salvation: compassion, grace, patience, love, faithfulness and forgiveness.

This dress stands out in a crowd more concerned with self-serving status than servanthood. For “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”