Interpreted By Love by Emily Owen

Have you noticed that almost everything seems to have a ‘day’ these days? Here are a few:

9^th April = National Unicorn Day (a magical day, to be sure)

4^th April = International Carrot Day (three cheers for carrots)

24^th November = National Editor Appreciation Day (I thought that was every day….)

23^rd May = National Goat Day (don’t forget to celebrate goats tomorrow)

22^nd May = World NF2 Day 

"What’s NF2?" I hear you ask. Or I might, had NF2 not rendered me deaf.

NF2 – Neurofibromatosis Type 2 – is the name of my medical condition.

"But Emily, this is a blog about writing," I hear you say. Or I might, had NF2 not…..

Recently, I was struck anew by some words in the hymn, ‘Dear Lord and Father of Mankind’:

Interpreted by love.

I am used to interpreters. Occasionally, I’ve been one. More often, I receive from one.

Interpreters, in my case Sign Language interpreters, seek to convey meaning rather than literal words.

During lockdown, I’ve had the privilege of teaching children, via video, Bible verses in Sign Language.

In Joshua 1:9, ‘God is with you’ could be signed word for word.

However, taking the positional sign for God (right forefinger raised just above head height, pointing upwards) along with the positional sign for person (left forefinger pointing upwards but much lower down, at chest height), and then bringing ‘God’ to ‘person’, conveyed the meaning in a way that a word-for-word translation would not.

Interpretation carries with it the desire for the receiver to truly understand.

I wanted the children to understand, as clearly as possible, what ‘God is with you’ really means.

Interpreted by love.

As I was drafting this blog - ie googling about carrots and unicorns - I had a message from Deborah Jenkins, and it made my day.

Deborah had been watching a programme, with her daughter and husband, in which one of the characters had NF2 (an amazingly unusual occurrence: NF2 is rare). Neither her daughter nor her husband knew what NF2 meant, but Deborah did.

Why did she know?

Because Deborah and I are friends, and we chat, and we get to know each other, and we are interested. Deborah asks me about NF2, and I tell her. And, because she’s taken time to understand, she was able to bring meaning to the alien ‘NF2’ the others heard.

Interpreted by love.

Interpretation begins with taking time to grasp meaning.

Interpreter is first receiver.

As Christian writers, we have the privilege of taking things God puts on our hearts and attempting to interpret them in words, and we pray they will bless the reader.

Interpreted by love.

As we seek to interpret, may we find space to first receive.

'Mary...sat at the Lord's feet' (Luke 10:39)

What day is it today? A day to receive from Jesus.

'For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you…..' (1 Corinthians 11:23) 

https://www.emily-owen.co.uk/