Exploring Sign Language

I ended up sitting with the deaf in our church's Christmas celebration on Sunday. I had a great time singing along in the sign language and following the interpretation for the performed songs and the sermon. Singing along wasn't that hard for the most part, and anyway, many of the words are actually very straight forward and some so simple that you could guess them - on a good day at least. Like word fine (like "a fine shirt")

A couple of curiosities that sparked my thinking (true at least in Finnish Sign language)

Christmas: like undressing a fake beard.
The fact that this idea is seen as nearest to Christmas, certainly reveals that the language is not very old, and apparently not very idealistic to attempt linking Christmas with the Christian theme of the birth of Jesus. Sort of unfortunate but honest, I guess. I suppose it's up to the person themselves to make the connotations they like.

Messiah/Christ: sort of "gimme" sign with both hands.
The sign is equal "to expect/expected" which is different to the Hebrew/Greek "anointed one" and changes the whole idea of the word. But I suppose, it works in New Testament perspective. In a way it's also true that the words are not real Finnish or English either, and the way they are used sometimes stretches the meaning much further from the Biblical ideas than the "expected one" does.

I'm sure I'll do this again sometime soon, and perhaps catch up some more to be better able to contact the deaf. (I did learn some more than these three :) ) And I surely recommend it to you too, its fun at least.




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