I just got to thinking about words. We use them every day. Written or spoken, we can’t get along without them. I’m puzzled and saddened by the fact that, with all the beautiful words to choose from, why do some of us (let’s face it, a lot of us) use ugly, degrading, base words? Is it to get a reaction? To show that we’re really up with the times? Or is it because our vocabularies are a few sizes too small, like the Grinch’s heart?
Little Sand Lake by Missy Albrecht
Some words are lovely in themselves. Vespers is one of those words. Vespers are prayers sung or said in the late afternoon, evening worship. A friend and I agree that the very sound of this word brings feelings of peace. God had been with us through the day and won’t forsake us now that night is coming.
So many beautiful words are out of date now; they are as old-fashioned as the horse and buggy. Nevertheless they are words that are rich in meaning and beauty.
When I think of vespers, I can see clearly the ending of the day on the farm when I was a child. I hear a cowbell as the cows come slowly from the pasture down to the barn. It’s milking time. Chappo the horse comes with them. For him, it’s time to eat; it’s suppertime. And, after Dad milks, it’s suppertime for the Day family too.
The sun is about to dip below the trees west of the house. Mom puts the finishing touches on supper, strains the milk that Dad brings up from the barn, and we all, Dad, Mom, my little brother and I sit down to supper. It’s a simple meal: cornbread and biscuits (Mom always baked two kinds of bread for supper), brown beans, milk and butter and a chocolate pie, homemade of course. A feeling of peace settles over the small house under the big oak trees. The family is together. The day is done.
Vespers brings to mind other words too: eventide, the time after the sun sets; gloaming, a Scottish or Irish word meaning evening dusk; and twilight, the soft light just after sunset.
One of the most beautiful and yet saddest love songs is In the Gloaming, written in 1877 by Meta Orred and Annie F. Harrison. It begins, In the gloaming, oh my darling, when the lights are dim and low; And the quiet shadows falling, softly come and softly go… Click on the link and have a listen.
Tonight the quiet shadows will still come and go softly, the evening lights will grow dim and low as the day takes its leave. It will be a time for quiet reflection, a time for vespers.
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