This picture was taken by a talented 9 year old photographer. His modest nature prevents me from telling you his name. Lets just say that we share a surname.
Surnames, mine is Tschirhart, I don't know what it means, I don't speak the language of my ancestors. I do know my way around in English well enough to know that an Archer shoots arrows, a Fletcher makes the arrow, and the Bowyer builds the bow. A Miller grinds the flour and a Baker bakes the bread. A Mason lays the brick, the Carpenter frames the door, A Cooper builds the barrel which holds the Brewers ale.
Old names that come to us out of past occupations, today a Tanner is just as likely to work in metal or practice medicine as tan hides.
A Fisher may steer the boat, and a Bateman may fish.
This brings me to the name of a person, Copernicus, one who works in copper. Work in copper he did not, but he could well have been the inspiration for the phrase, "a penny for your thoughts". His thoughts were great, fresh and new. Through observation, and brilliance he correctly discerned that the sun, not the earth was at the center of the solar system. Radical thought at the time.
Sometimes we are guilty of precopernican thought, it's easy to do, we veiw the universe from the center of ourselves, it's easy to think that we lay at it's center, but we do not.
Why is this important? the precopernican man, when he is sad, sees the world as sad. When dying he see the world as dying. The man capable of post copernican thought may lay in his bed and know that he is dying, but he knows that the world is full of life, he hears the voices of children playing though the window of the last room he will ever occuppy, the post coperincan man is content.
If a a whole culture can shift its thinking and see itself in away that before seemed impossible, than It gives me the hope to think that I can discover new things about myself. Surely realizing the I am not the center of the universe has been a good start.
Surnames, mine is Tschirhart, I don't know what it means, I don't speak the language of my ancestors. I do know my way around in English well enough to know that an Archer shoots arrows, a Fletcher makes the arrow, and the Bowyer builds the bow. A Miller grinds the flour and a Baker bakes the bread. A Mason lays the brick, the Carpenter frames the door, A Cooper builds the barrel which holds the Brewers ale.
Old names that come to us out of past occupations, today a Tanner is just as likely to work in metal or practice medicine as tan hides.
A Fisher may steer the boat, and a Bateman may fish.
This brings me to the name of a person, Copernicus, one who works in copper. Work in copper he did not, but he could well have been the inspiration for the phrase, "a penny for your thoughts". His thoughts were great, fresh and new. Through observation, and brilliance he correctly discerned that the sun, not the earth was at the center of the solar system. Radical thought at the time.
Sometimes we are guilty of precopernican thought, it's easy to do, we veiw the universe from the center of ourselves, it's easy to think that we lay at it's center, but we do not.
Why is this important? the precopernican man, when he is sad, sees the world as sad. When dying he see the world as dying. The man capable of post copernican thought may lay in his bed and know that he is dying, but he knows that the world is full of life, he hears the voices of children playing though the window of the last room he will ever occuppy, the post coperincan man is content.
If a a whole culture can shift its thinking and see itself in away that before seemed impossible, than It gives me the hope to think that I can discover new things about myself. Surely realizing the I am not the center of the universe has been a good start.
1 comment:
Your son has the gift of his father. Tell him I think it is a really good photo—wonderful color!
You know, it's funny, because I rarely think about last names and where they originated. And as usual, you've made me think about something I don't tend to otherwise. It's quite an interesting thought to realize that many last names came from what these families did to survive and thrive. It made me also think about how many last names are just the first name of one of their ancestors with a "son" tacked on. Richardson, Johnson, Carlson . . . this list could go on forever.
I'm not sure what my maiden or married surnames mean. All I know is that my first name means earth worker. When I told my husband that, he thought I said earthworm, so he calls me earthworm sometimes since then. :)
I think it is funny that my name means that, as I sit in an office all day and work at a computer. I should be a gardener or work an auger or something. Or at least a geologist???
Anyway, back to your post. I really like the last two paragraphs. I like what you said about contentment, hope, discovery and realization.
Thank you for another good post, Peter. Thank you for the shout out to the great Bateman name! :)
Thank you for another fine thought.
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