Monday, September 16, 2013

Perfectly Proper Punctuation.

Illustration for the book Living Word - Ivan Bilibin

And here's the post where I'm a hypocrite.

To be honest, as some of you have been awesome enough to point out, punctuation is not my strong suite. It's not that I don't know the rules of the English language, it's more that I'm not always as mentally organized as I should be. So this is the post where I'm going to tell you all not to be like me. Don't do what I do and make tons of typos and grammatical errors everywhere. Write English good--or well. Whatever works for you.

So my hypocrisy aside, why on earth is grammar important? This is a question I struggled with for years. For the longest time, my friends, most of whom were writers, all seemed to possess better grammar and punctuation than I, and would correct me all the time. It started to get disorienting, like that feeling you get when you stumble around in the dark trying to obtain a midnight snack. Once you've stepped on a lego, tripped over the cat, and nearly killed yourself by sticking your hand into the electrical socket you start to realize there was something you should have done in the first place.

You should have turned on the light.

For grammar, having a well ordered mind is like turning on the light. If you're anything like me, the first thought that pops into your head when you think of a 'well ordered mind' is "yeaaaaaaaaaaah, that's... not me." I understand, that's not me either. If you're the sort of person who's naturally organized, kudos for you. You don't need this post. But if you're like me, you are probably more spontaneous then you are neat. And that's really okay, that's who you are, but it's still no excuse not to be orderly. You can be yourself without the messiness.

One thing that Paul exhorts us to to develop as Christians is an organized mind. It isn't impossible. After all, our God is a God of order. An organized mind helps us to understand both His word and His creation. And grammar is a way that we demonstrate to others that we have an organized mind. 

To all you lovable grammar Nazis... you've probably noticed quite a few errors. Oh the irony. Well what can I say? I'm definitely a hypocrite here. I have a lot to learn. Physician heal thyself! 


1 comment:

  1. (Actually, I didn't see any errors at all. XD Not that I'm a hardcore lovable grammar Nazi, but... *Cough* XD)

    You have a very good point there, Brendan. I never thought about that. Good thoughts. ^_^

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