English 101 Is Like Breathing
Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. It’s something we do all the time. The first time I remember anyone teaching me how to breathe was when I was learning to play the flute in band. My breathing instruction continued while I was in high school chorus. I got breathing lessons again when Ray and I took natural childbirth classes while I was expecting John.
It struck me recently that the school subject we called English when I was in high school is a lot like breathing.
English is about communicating. Communication is made up of two parts:
- Taking in the thoughts of others and
- Revealing our own.
Reading literature to take in the thoughts of others is the breathing in part of the subject of English; communicating through writing is the breathing out part. I like to think of the breathing out part as:
- Grammar,
- Handwriting,
- Creative writing,
- Letter writing, and
- Journaling.
The literature we “breathe in” impacts what we “breathe out” in communication. Yesterday we talked about watching over our children’s hearts.
Watch over your heart with all diligence,
For from it flow the springs of life.
Proverbs 4:23
One way we watch over our children’s hearts is to be purposeful about what literature they “breathe in” so that what they breathe out honors God.
Call me weird, but I have always enjoyed grammar. Even watching Mrs. Landrum diagram sentences on the blackboard in the basement of Ashland City Elementary School when I was in 7th and 8th grades was fun to me (I told you you could call me weird).
However, I was a homeschooling mama before I realized just how practical the subject we call English can be. As I said, it’s all about communication and that is a subject near to the heart of God. These words of Paul to the Ephesians are a wonderful course description for the breathing out part of English. It speaks to the wholesomeness of our words and the impact of our words on all the people Jesus told us to love as we love ourselves.
Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth,
only such a word as is good for edification
according to the need of the moment,
so that it will give grace to those who hear.
Ephesians 4:29