I’ve read that the English language is the most difficult of all, to master. Hard to believe, after looking at oriental writings. Or getting the rolling “R’s” in Spanish. Or the nasal twangs in French.

It must be that our language is so difficult because of words that are spelled the same, but are pronounced differently…and with “read” and read.” Or maybe it’s because of the silent letters. And English becomes more difficult, even according to where you live. Remember President Kennedy’s adding “R’s” at the end of some words. It’s common up in that area of the United States.

In training radio announcers, I had a two-page summary of what I had learned in English grammar in high school and college. I stressed that the word “escape” does NOT have an “X” in it. It’s is not pronounced “ex-cape.” It’s spelled “e-s-c-a-p-e” and should be pronounced that way. I reminded them of the “R” in the word “Feb-ru-ary,” and not to be fooled by the word “subtle,” which is pronounced “sut-tle.” And I had a full-page list of difficult words here in our area…”H-o-u-g-h” is pronounced “huff,” and “S-t-r-o-u-g-h” is pronounced to rhyme with “how.”

And there’s more to being a good announcer…I had a page of Sunday instructions…that in some denominations, leaders prefer to be called “Elders,” while others accept “Reverend,” while still others want to be addressed simply as “Mr., or “Brother,” And there are a variety of music preferences from Gospel to Choral to acappella.

I had three pages titled “Sports for Non-Sports People.” It reminded the announcer not to leave his or her post during a ball game if there’s a man on first, even if there’s only one out. Because a double-play can end the inning with one crack of the bat. The home team always bats last, so if the visiting team is behind at the end of its half of the ninth inning, and the home team is ahead, the game is over, because they’ve won the game, so there’s no use of batting in the bottom of the ninth. I had a new girl announcer once, who didn’t know sports and who hadn’t paid attention to my instructions, and she went wild…lost as a goose…when the teams quit playing in the middle of the ninth inning. She didn’t know how to move commercials into the post-game area because she didn’t realize the game itself was over.

Isn’t it nice that Christ doesn’t care a whit about your schooling. His interest is in your heart.

If you believe in your heart that Jesus is the Christ…that you see the error of your ways and want to change and live His Way, you’re as important to him as a king. Christ is no respecter of persons, and He may well have a round table up there, as they did in the days of knighthood, when the round table indicated that all were equal and no special one sat at the “head” of the group.

If you haven’t given your heart to Christ, talk to Him about it. He’s waiting.

37BT Bill Thornton June 14, 2005