In Greek the word "euangel" literally means good message (hence good news) , or more literally "good angel", (angel meaning "messenger" or "bearer of news"); this is the root of the latinised English word "evangelist". But when the word was first translated into Mediaeval English it was translated "good spell" (written "godspel"). "Spell" at that time meant "word", and also curiously, "play", and "enchantment" (related also to spiel - game or play) and the word "god spell" was eventually contracted to 'gospel'.
So of course I visited his blog--he is a professor at Cambridge University in England, as well as an Anglican priest, a poet, a Harley lover. He'd posted this gem under the title "The Daily Miracle":
What a miracle that you should be reading this! The everyday miracle that we call ‘reading’, a miracle of interpretation, of leaps from shapes on paper, to unsounded sounds in the mind, leaps from sounds to meaning, and from common meaning to a communion of minds! We take it all for granted, we scarcely notice what we are doing, but sometimes we should pause and reflect what an extraordinary achievement literacy is, and how privileged we are to be able to do it.
and I have been thinking with gratitude and wonder about the Magic of words all day.
Hi! Thanks for commenting on my blog today. I can see you are a fellow lover of reading and teaching. I've become a follower on google friends!
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