A Story of Words

Photo by Ron Smith on Unsplash

Words have history.

They tell a story.

Even one individual word can send you on a historical pursuit.
I like to write, and when I write, I need to find specific words.

When I look up words, I stumble upon the etymology.
And then I'm side-tracked.

A simple definition search leads me to pronunciations, functions, and etymology.
And if you need to go look up the definition of etymology, go ahead. It's okay. You can come back and read the rest of this post later. 

Today I was looking at a line from a Christmas song.
It's one of my favourites ~  "O Holy Night".

(It has an interesting history itself, should you feel so inclined to read about it after you finish discovering the definition of etymology, of course.)

This line. These words.

"A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices."

That stopped me today.
How often do we feel that thrill of hope? Especially in the world we live in? You don't even have to watch the daily news to know of the hurts, wars, violent acts that are going on. How the hearts of people ache. How identity is lost and confused. How people are desperate and longing.

A thrill of hope ... 

So, with the help of Merriam-Webster's online dictionary, we will learn something together.

THRILL ~ to experience a sudden, strong feeling of excitement

               ~ vibrate
WEARY ~ exhausted in strength, worn out

HOPE ~ most commonly a wish for something to happen; but the more accurate meaning is to expect with confidence - that goes beyond wishful thinking and into a trustful knowing

Weary is a definition for a lot of people. We are worn out. We are exhausted. Emotionally. Physically. Spiritually. Weary. 

Hope is so elusive for us today. 

So a thrill of hope ... well ... imagine the feeling! A sudden surge that overwhelms you, giving you shivers up and down your spine, vibrating your body with tingles. Hope overpowering your being. 

And what kind of event could possibly do that for you? What could possibly cause such hope? Such a thrill? What could cause a weary world, your weary soul, to rejoice?

Go to the song lines just before the thrill of hope line:
"Long lay the world, in sin and error pining; 'Til He appeared and the soul felt its worth."
Yes!
And there you have it.
The weary, sin-tired world, soaking in pain and the results of sin.
Till the birth of Jesus and the promise of hope that came along.

He came, and the soul felt its worth. 

He came, and salvation came.
He came, and the weary soul rejoiced because it found a reason to hope. 

And onto the etymology of the word "thrill" ~ it has roots in the Old English word, "thyrlian", which means "to pierce". And that came from an even older word, "thyrel" which means "hole".
"Thyrlian" was a base word for of the word "thrillen" which means "to penetrate". All of this lead to the meaning of the word "thrill" as we know it today. And now I have to look up another word: Penetrate, so hang in there ... 

PENETRATE ~ to pass into; to enter by overcoming resistance; to diffuse through; to affect profoundly with feeling

Pretty good stuff, I'd say.
To be thrilled about something is to be pierced by it. To be penetrated. That goes deep.
A thrill of hope?
Hope pierces you; it penetrates. It enters in and spreads throughout. 

The weary heart depends on the thrill of hope. 

Think on it. 

*** O Holy Night ~
Placide Cappeau de Roquemaure - poet who wrote the original lyrics
Adolphe Charles Adams - musician who put the lyrics to music

John Sullivan Dwight - writer who translated the lyrics into English