Morbid Angol Mondókák - Morbid English Nursery Rhymes

Rájöttem, hogy sok angol mondóka van ami eléggé morbid. Mi akik ezeken nőttünk fel ritkán gondolunk arra, hogy igazából mennyire negatívak a jelentései ezeknek a mondókáknak.
I realized that quite a few of the English nursery rhymes are pretty morbid. We who grow up with them are so used to them that we rarely think about the negative meanings that they have.

1)

Ring around the rosy, pocket full of posies
Ashes, ashes, we all fall down.

Körbe a rózsa, zsebek tele bokrétával,
Korom, korom, mindannyian leesünk.

Ez egy több száz éves mondóka, ami állítólag a bubó pestisre utal. Morbid.
This is an old nursery rhyme which allegedly refers to the black plague. That's morbid.

2)

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall,
All the king's horses and all the king's men,
Couldn't put Humpty together again.

Humpty Dumpty ült a falon,
Humpty Dumpty nagyot esett,
A király összes lova és összes embere
nem tudtak újra összerakni Humptyt.

3)

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe,
She had so many children she didn't know what to do.
She fed them some broth without any bread,
Kissed them all soundly and put them to bed.

Volt egy vénasszony aki egy cipőben lakott,
Annyi gyereke volt, hogy nem tudott mit kezdeni velük.
Adott nekik levest kenyér nélkül,
Megpuszilta őket és letette őket aludni.

Szegénység: Minden gyerek kenvenc témája!
Poverty: Every kid's favorite topic!

4)

Rock-a-bye baby in the tree top,
When the wind blows the cradle will rock
When the bow breaks the cradle will fall,
And down will come baby, cradle and all.

Ringatózik a baba fenn a fa tetején,
Amikor fúj a szél, ringatózni fog az ágy,
Amikor eltör az ág, a kiságy le fog esni,
És le fog esni a baba, a kiságyával együtt.

Ezt a mondókát szoktak mondani az anyukák a gyerekeknek amikor lemennek aludni. Semmi nem nyugtatja egy gyereket úgy mint egy történet egy kisbabáról aki kiesett egy fából. Jó éjt kicsim!
Mothers sing this to their kids as they put them to sleep. Nothing is more calming to a child than a story of a baby falling out of a tree. Good night little one!

5)

Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
and Jill came tumbling after.

Jancsi és Juliska felmentek a dombra egy vödör vízért.
Jancsi leesett és eltörte a fejét,
és Júliska jött utána bukfencezve.

6)

London bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down.
London bridge is falling down, my fair lady.

A londoni híd leszakad, leszakad, leszakad.
A londoni híd leszakad, szépséges hölgyem.

Did I miss any?
Magyarul is vannak morbid mondókák?

Reminiscent

Yesterday I met with a guy from church for coffee, and after walking from the church to the coffee shop we go to almost every week, we found to our surprise that it was closed.


Not only was I sad to see that one of the best small businesses in Eger had closed, but as I thought about it, I realized how many memories that place held for Rosemary and I from our time here in Eger.

It was in that coffee shop that we first met with 2 young women back in 2003 to talk about the possibility of a Calvary Chapel church in Eger. We borrowed our friend's car and drove up from Debrecen just for the meeting. In the end, nothing really came out of that meeting itself - but upon hearing about this meeting, and realizing that we were seriously praying about coming to Eger, someone else offered to let us hold Bible studies in her house.

After moving to Eger in 2005, we met with our church planting team in this coffee shop every week for prayer and planning. The four of us were regulars - every Tuesday at 10. The coffee shop was quite compact, and I will never forget one time when we were praying and I overheard the elderly woman sitting next to us say to her friend, "Look, they're meditating!"

I met with people from church in this coffee shop for years, had a lot of meaningful conversations, and went on dates with my wife here.

Café Arabica, this is a sad day. You were an Eger icon, and you will be missed.

Church Retreat in Nagybarca

This past weekend we had our annual church retreat. It was our fifth church retreat and our second time having it in Nagybarca.
This retreat is one of my favorite events of the whole year, because we go away as a church and spend a weekend together, worshiping, studying the Bible and seeking the Lord, and being together in fellowship.
Our goal with these retreats is to draw closer to the Lord and closer to each other. We often worship together, but things like cooking together and playing sports together and having time to talk and hang out together are things which help build community.


This weekend, instead of inviting a guest speaker as we have in the past, we had some of the men from the church share on the topic of fellowship and community - how God's design for the church isn't that it be a club or a support group in which a bunch of individuals who follow him gather together occasionally to study the Bible and worship and then go our separate ways, but that rather God's design is to create a people for himself (Titus 2:14, 1 Peter 2:1-12, and many verses), a body. And therefore true fellowship (Gk: koinonia) is about community and about belonging to each other (Romans 12:5).

It was a blessing to see that message of community being worked out amongst us and people serving each other - watching each others' kids, taking turns cooking, cleaning, etc.

We also had a really blessed time of prayer together on Saturday night. I prayed for one young guy who afterward told me that in his entire life he had never prayed and had never been to church other than the one time he came to our youth group.

Nate also loved being at 'camp', and had a great time.
Last summer during the World Cup I told him about how soccer players fall down and pretend to get hurt, even when nothing has happened to them. Nate apparently took note of this, and his favorite game to play is that whenever we play soccer and the ball gets near him he pretends to fall down and get hurt.
It seems that he has really understood the most important aspect of soccer, and is potentially on his way to a successful career on the Italian national team!

God and Pop Music

In 1977 Aurthur Holmes wrote a book called "All Truth is God's Truth". The basic premise of the book is that it is not only Christians who are able to recognize God's truth, and that if someone recognizes some aspect of truth, even if they are not a Christian, that truth is still valid, as it is God's truth.

I find it interesting to observe how people who are not believers perceive God, especially when they have apt or profound perceptions.
And I think there is a lot of music and other forms of art which reflect spiritual truths even though they are made by people who have no commitment to Jesus.
There is also just as many - if not more - examples of popular art forms saying things about God that are wrong, sometimes even blasphemous.

Robert Frost once said: "Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence."
Discerning Christian people should be able to engage ideas, weigh them against God's truth revealed in the Bible, glean from the good and 'spit out the seeds'.

In a way, the whole genre of 'Contemporary Christian Music' is a bit odd, if you think about it. I love music made by Christians that communicates Christian messages and reflects Christian values, and I think that modern worship music is inspirational and even a great tool for outreach and evangelism. However, it is the whole CCM scene that I think is a bit odd.
For example:

• Before Christians started making their own 'pop' music - what music did Christians listen to? Did they ever listen to music that was not made by Christians - and yet continued to love Jesus and walk with Him?
  
• Why do many Christians trust that others Christians are capable of using discernment in regard to what Hollywood films and television programs they watch, but tell them categorically not to listen to 'secular music'.
• If the point of art is expression and communication of ideas and feelings - wouldn't it be more effective to have Christian art forms in the mainstream, rather than creating a sub-genre ghetto in which Christians are making music (and movies) which will only be listened to and seen by other Christians?

Anyway - here are some songs about God that I have run across lately:



This is Dashboard Confessional - one of my favorite bands:



Other examples of God in popular culture?

Reminder

I found this sign on a building in Budapest today:
Ezt a kiírást találtam ma egy budapesti épület falán:



In English it says:

"In this building operated the State Office of Religious Affairs.
In remembrance of the victims of the Communist religious persecution
Blessed are those who suffer persecution for the truth"

That last line is something similar to something Jesus said - but here is the real thing:
Az utolsó sor olyasmi mint amit Jézus mondott egyszer - de itt az igazi:

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
(Matthew 5:10-12 ESV)
Boldogok, akiket az igazságért üldöznek, mert övék a mennyek országa. Boldogok vagytok, ha énmiattam gyaláznak és üldöznek titeket, és mindenféle rosszat hazudnak rólatok. Örüljetek és ujjongjatok, mert jutalmatok bőséges a mennyekben, hiszen így üldözték a prófétákat is, akik előttetek éltek.
(Máté év. 5:10-12)

A lot has changed in Hungary and in Eastern Europe since the end of Communism. Religious freedom is a blessing and something that we should be thankful for. This is a good reminder that we shouldn't take the freedom we have for granted.
Sok minden megváltozott Magyarországon és egész kelet Európában a rendszerváltásóta. A vallásszabadság egy áldás és egy olyan dolog amiért hálát kellene adnunk. Ez egy jó emlékeztető a számunkra, hogy ne vegyünk természetesnek azt a szabadságot ami van nekünk.

However, we should not forget what Tertullian said: "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church". Persecution is thus, not only something which the Church can overcome - but it is in fact something we NEED in order to grow.
Obviously official persecution by the state is not the only form of persecution that Christians can experience, and 2 Timothy 3:12 tells us, 'Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted'.
Azonban, ne felejtsünk el Tertulliánus szavait: "A mártirok vére az Egyház magja." Az üldöztetés így nem csak egy olyan dolog amin a Keresztények tudnak felülkerekedni - hanem valójában olyasmi ami szükséges a növekedésünkre.
Nyílván, a hivatalos állami üldöztetés nem az üldöztetés egyetlen formája amit a Keresztények megtapasztalhatnak, és a 2. Timóteus 3:12 azt mondja nekünk, "mindazokat, akik kegyesen akarnak élni Krisztus Jézusban, szintén üldözni fogják".

Opposition to our faith is not just something we can overcome, it is something we need in order to grow. May God help us that the opposition we experience to our faith would lead us closer to Him and out of complacency.
A hitünk ellen való ellenségeskedés nem csak egy olyan dolog amin felül tudunk kerekedni, hanem olyasmi amire szükségünk van ahozz, hogy növekedjünk. Adjon az Úr, hogy a minket érő üldöztetés közelebb vigyen minket hozzá és kirázzon bennünket a 'nem-törődöm' vagy 'nem érdekel' hozzáállásokból.

Special Ingredients

Found this in the menu of a restaurant in Mukachevo, Ukraine:


I have a few questions:

1. Bathing? On a pizza?
   
2. Do hunters really bathe so often, that it belongs on a pizza that bears their name?
3. What is this supposed to say?
4. This was approved? What was approved? By whom? Was the the translation approved, or was the use of "bathing" as a special ingredient approved by the public health department?
   

In Hungary I always want to read menus in Hungarian, because more often than not, the English translations of the menu are strange, if not incomprehensible.

I don't say this to criticize the people who translate the menus - I know that it can be hard to know how to translate specific dishes - and I also know that most restaurants don't have the money to pay for an expensive professional translation, and so it usually gets done by the owner's nephew who speaks a little English, mostly learned in high school and from watching TV and playing video games.

Every now and then we run across some really funny translations. Our favorite was at one of the nicest restaurants here in Eger, the menu featured "cake with scum on top" (HU: scum = salak, söprödék).
Obviously, what it should have said was "whipped cream", but when the person translating the menu looked up the word "hab" in the Hungarian-English dictionary, there were many options, and he/she guessed that scum would be most appropriate to describe a desert.

Nonetheless, I did not order the Hunting Pizza. Mostly out of fear that it would have scum on it. The pizza I did order was scum-free and quite good.