Due to the pandemic and my retirement in August, I’ve had more time on my hands than ever before. One thing I’ve engaged in is to take virtual Spanish lessons through the University of Tennessee. I started the third and last course in the series this week and it appears to be engaging but challenging.

To increase my vocabulary, I’ve been reading my morning meditations first in Spanish and then in English (Forward Movement- Day by Day). I’m fascinated when I find that Spanish often has 2 or 3 words for one English word, and then also vice versa, one word in English has two different meanings in Spanish.

In my readings this week, I encountered the word “la oración” which I knew to mean “prayer” from my morning meditations. But the context didn’t fit. I learned that “la oración” means both “prayer” and “sentence”.  Translating the word to “sentence” here made sense: “¿Esta es una oración simple o una oración compleja?” (Is this a simple or complex sentence?)

What if we treated all words, verbal and written, as prayers. When I speak to someone it should be to nourish them and bless them, not to try to knock them down. And when I write on social media or on my blog, it would be good before I type to remember how my words can encourage and inspire another, or how they can cause damage and promote anxiety.

Mi oraciõn es que mis palabras sean una benediciõn para ti.
(My prayer is that my words are a blessing for you).

Blessings, my friend,
Agatha