Farewell — Goodbye
As far as I know, I’m not planning to take any extended trips anytime soon. I am also not planning on this being my last post on A Legacy of Faith.
Since only God knows the future, I was careful to use the word “planning” in those statements. I’m sure that you can think along with me of at least a couple of places in the Bible which deal with the mistakes made by people who are totally confident about their futures. It is interesting to me that the two passages that came immediately to my mind–Luke 12:16-20 and James 4:13-17–concern people who saw for themselves a bright future. I suppose that’s what we all desire, but, as most of us learn from experience, that may not always be the case.
Actually, this post comes from the weird way in which my mind works (when it does work). I was listening to something while I was walking one day. As I was listening, a word was used that, for some reason, kind of got stuck in my head. It’s a word that may not be used as often as it once was, but it is by no means a word I had never heard before. The word was farewell.
Until I started thinking about that word and then did a little research on it, I guess I thought that “farewell” was equivalent to “goodbye,” “so long,” “catch you later,” and other phrases people use when they are departing from one another. While we may use those words and phrases without thinking too much about them, I discovered that two words – the ones in the title of this post – actually carry with them a message.
There are actually two words within the word “farewell” – “fare” and “well.” When the definitions of those two words are put together in one word, a message is actually being sent that expresses a desire that the person or people from whom you are departing gets along (fares) well.
I also learned that, when I say “goodbye” to a person, I’m not just saying, “I’m leaving,” I’m getting off of the phone now,” etc. Instead, according to what I read, “goodbye” is a kind of shorthand way of expressing something that was more in vogue long ago. Over the years (centuries actually), “God be with you” became shortened to “goodbye.”
So what? Why in the world, you may be thinking, did I go to the trouble of looking all that up and why did I think that you would waste your time reading it?
Well, for one thing, I’ve already told you that my mind works in weird ways. The people who know me best can attest to that!
Yet another reason is that I sometimes get curious about things that some may see as inconsequential. I can tell you, however, that I have found out some very interesting things doing what some might refer to as “chasing rabbit trails”
I would like to think, though, that there is another reason or two for all of this. For one thing, the two words in the title sound a little more formal (and now meaningful) than some of the more flippant and casual words and phrases commonly used today.
I am far from being a person who is concerned about formality. At the same time, I often wonder if we haven’t lost something by being overly casual and informal.
I think that what prompted me the most to type all of this, though, was something that I need to consider. Maybe you do as well.
Each time that I open my mouth I am sending some sort of message. It might be advisable for me to understand the meanings of the words I am speaking and the message I am sending. This is not just true when I am leaving somebody, finishing a conversation, etc. It is true all of the time. We need to remember that it was Jesus who said…
I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. (Matt. 12:36-37)
Since we seem to get bombarded daily with things that are negative, discouraging, and destructive, I think that it would be good to remember to send messages from time to time that are positive, encouraging, and helpful.
So – with that, I will say…
farewell and goodbye.
AUTHOR: Jim Faughn
