Years ago when there were secretaries in offices, one of their main responsibilities was to take dictation. They would use short hand to “take” a letter or a memo or anything else. There were terms that were used in this process, for instance, “period, paragraph”. That told the secretary that the sentence was complete and the paragraph was complete. When they would type up the document they would know to end the sentence and to start a new paragraph.
When dictaphones became the rage it followed the same format as a secretary taking dictation. The same terms were used, the documents came out the same. Now, AI will transcribe your documents but will also clean them up, “enhance” them to better get your point across. Secretaries probably did this too, mainly to enhance the grammar. Anymore though we are on our own, especially when writing an email or text. Unless we use AI we are all responsible for what is written and what is read.
I’ve always been a fan of punctuation. I love commas. I love dashes. Most of the time if I give something an exclamation point I’m going to give more than one. I get overly excited if I use a semi-colon. I saw an interview recently where Taylor Swift referred to her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, as a human exclamation point. That is the perfect description of him. He has so much energy and joy and excitement. Of course, the internet was eaten up with all of that.
I was sitting at Mass last week, listening to Fr. Darrell’s homily on the readings and taking notes. I always take notes these days. You never know when an idea or line pops into your head, or if Father is going to say something profound. I did take notes but looking back at them I couldn’t tell you why I wrote any of those down. I will tell you that with pen in hand, when he finished what he was saying I took my pen and said to myself, as I made a stab in the air and said “Period”. Then I went a few minutes later and in the air I returned the typewriter carriage and said “paragraph”. Then we went ahead with Mass and I put my notes away.
Here are some of Fr. Darrell’s periods from this past year:
- live in hope and not in fear
- we are surrounded by a great crowd of witnesses – who is a witness of faith to you? Let them know.
- all of our possessions will go to someone else when we die
- how much more will God in heaven give to those who ask
- there’s a time to go and do and there’s a time to sit and listen – practice our relationship and stay attached to Christ
- going to Mass and supporting those around us
- combination of God’s power and His love
- the thing that stands out about Peter and Paul is that they both knew they were forgiven. They didn’t let their sin be the final word.
- we are a diverse group of people but we are the same in that we have to eat food to live – we need the Eucharist
- we are made in the image of love
- the sign of peace – the world’s peace vs Christ’s peace – no matter how it is extended it is a very sacred moment
- when we know our future is secure then we can enjoy what is there today – to be present in the moment
- do you believe that God answers prayers?
- mercy is the willingness to put yourself in the chaos of others
- Easter says you’re doing more than you know
- Jesus is the man in the middle
- justice is getting what you deserve
- Lent gives the opportunity to look at your own faults
- Jesus’ words are a challenge
- grief may teach you so much more than your good fortune ever did
- I am a sinner
- Make time to make the life we want to live
- Today is what matters: the present is the present
- you shall not use scripture on anyone but yourself
Please understand that these are my notes from his homilies. Some of these may have been my thoughts that were sparked with his words.
So as much as Tay considers Trav to be an item of punctuation (from someone who loves words as much as I do), I will go toe to toe with her about Fr. Darrell. I think she’d appreciate it.