I Said I Was Sorry . . .

Say you're sorry . . .  Can you make a person say that they are sorry? Does it have any meaning if it is not heartfelt? 

Sorry is from Old English sarig "distressed, grieved, full of sorrow," from Proto-Germanic *sairiga- "painful", from *sairaz "pain." However, in English it is often used as a polite remark even when such emotions are not present. In this way not unlike, "excuse me", "pardon me", or "I apologize", all of which have the connotation of asking for forgiveness. 

When people are truly sorry they feel distress resulting from their behavior. This suffering is usually felt first as mental anguish. If a person is not personally sorry because of their actions, they may become "sorry" due to punishment. You can make somebody sorry they did something because of this punishment, but you can't make someone regret what they did to the other person for the other person's sake. They may be sorry because they are sore (bodily), but still glad (not sorry) about what they did to the other person. In fact they may feel quite sore at the other person, but not really sorry for what they did.

Sore (adj.) is from Old English sar "painful, grievous, aching, sad, wounding", influenced in meaning by Old Norse sarr "sore, wounded," from Proto-Germanic *saira "suffering, sick, ill".

So, when someone is sore because of punishment, we could call this saira-tion (making to be ill, sore-ation). Serrate is from Latin serratus "sawlike, notched like a saw".

The Eighteenth Floor of Hell(Diyu), Chamber of the Saw

The notches on saws are like mountain peaks, such as the Sierra (from Latin serra "saw") Nevada mountains. These peaks are sharp looking. Peaked mountain tops are chief among mountains, being the highest. see horns: Be Fruitful and Multiply

In biblical Hebrew sar is "chief, ruler, official, captain, prince," and sarah is "noble lady, princess." Compare this to, Old English sar (wounding), Proro-Germanic *saira (suffering), and *sairaz (pain). Why would "ruler" and "noble lady" have an association with suffering, sickness or illness? 

One possibility would be that the sar (chief) or Sarah (noble lady) is the inflicter of sar (wounding), *saira (suffering), or *saira (suffering). They might have the power to do this because of their highness, their Royal Highness. Because they are at the top, they might come off as sharp while pronouncing judgements, and they are even peaked (wearing a crown). 

    Theodora Queen of Arta Icon, Peaked with a Serrated Crown

The goddess that is represented by a snake (Uraeus) in Ancient Egypt was called Wadjet. She was known as The Lady of the Houses of Flame (pr nsr, or perneser(punisher?), also the Eye of Ra, and Nesert "searing one", among other titles. She was represented as the shinning fiery serpent goddess. She was powerful; a symbol of power and protection often worn on the pharaoh's crown. Power can be used to punish the wicked. This does not make the punisher bad, necessarily, if the "punishment" purifies (pyro-fies) and directs one toward the good. see Testing, one, two, three

And I will bring the third part through the fire and, refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested . . . Zechariah 13:9

    Uraei with Sun Disks, Reverse side of the throne of Tutankhamen (1346-1337 BCE)

To the Hebrews, who had come out of Egypt(therefore familiar with this concept of the goddess, Wadjet), this powerful  sarah (i.e. Lady of Flame) became painfully present to them in the nachash seraphim; the so called fiery/bitting (seraphim) serpents (nachash) that God sent as punishment to the complaining Israelites. After they were bitten by the nachash seraphim, the Israelites become sorry (sera-y, touched by the seraph), didn't they? Then YHWH instructed Moses to make a seraph and put it on a pole (nes). So, Moses made a representation of a seraph; a nachash nechosheth, i.e., serpent of bronze (not unlike the Egyptians's depictions of the goddess/power, Wadjet), and when the Israelites looked upon it they were healed. In this way, they were healed by the very thing which inflicted the suffering upon them to begin with. 

    Fyodor Bruni, Nehushtan, 1841 (Nehushtan; the bronze serpent idol[nachash nechosheth])

There is a similar word in Hebrew to seraphim transliterated as serappim "anxious / diquieting thoughts." When someone is guilty of doing wrong they often are plagued by disquieting thoughts. Pangs of conscience are a kind of message from God that you have done wrong. Maybe these disquieting thoughts (serappim) are named after the messengers or angels which transmit them on behalf of God, i.e., the seraphim/seraphs the "burning ones" who behold the face of God.

    Depiction of a Saraphim Angel

Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: With two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried out to another and said "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts [YHWH Sabaoth]. The whole earth is full of his glory." 

And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the sound of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live amoung a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts." 

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with thongs from the altar. With it he touched my lips and said," See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." Isaiah 6:2-7 NAS 

God interacts with people through his messengers like the seraph with the burning coal in the passage above. It is clear that Isaiah was sorry for his uncleanliness in the presence of the LORD, and he was not punished for this offense. If he had not been sorry and humbled in the presence of the LORD what would have happened then? Would the seraph had made him sorry through some sort of suffering? 

"It's Beautiful!" . . . uh oh.

    Angel of Death, Raiders of the Lost Arc (1981)

If a person is not sorry for what they have done, is there any good in saying, "I'm sorry"? What is gained through a forced recitation of the words? It can be humiliating for the person who is not sorry to have to say that they are sorry, but is the resulting ill feeling constructive?. What should be said, for example, when a playmate is annoying you because you want his toy and he won't give it to you, so you hit him? A grownup comes in and says, "Tell him that you are sorry." "Sorry," you say in order to not get in trouble, but you don't mean it. 

Adventure Time, Season 5, "Bad Timing"

Why not be honest and say how you feel? Like, "I hit you because I'm angry." That's the beginning of a dialogue that could possibly end in a sincere apology. Right? You should probably only say sorry when you really mean it, when you wish you had not done the thing, when you are actually grieved by what you have done. If a person is in the wrong and not sorry for it they will probably be visited by those angels of conscience (serappim) and maybe be scared into a sincere (sin-sar? grieved by sin) sorry, like the Israelites in the desert. It's the mental feeling of illness, that the (burning) guilt of sin brings on, that can cause a change of heart. Receiving physical punishment does not necessarily produce this result. Not all "sorry"s are equal.

And what about saying sorry when you are not really distressed or full of sorrow because of what you have done? It seems we use this world rather liberally in the English language, and it is somewhat removed from its original context. However, this does not necessarily make it wrong to say it for that reason . . .

If I have made any unintended mistakes in this post, I'm sorry. 

Salt of the Earth

Everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another. Mark 9:49-50

  Salted with Fire, janrichardsonimages.com, The Painted Prayerbook

What does this mean, to "be salted with fire"? 

To be salted can mean "to be seasoned". Maybe it makes sense to think of it like that, every one will be "seasoned" with fire. Season(v.) is from Old French assaisoner "to ripen, season". So if a person is salted it might mean he or she is ripened or brought to full potential. To be brought to full potential with fire is a kind of testing or trial which purifies (pyro-fies) like clay pots put in a kiln and precious metals in a fire.

And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. . . Zachariah 13:9

In Greek hala αλα, halas αλας is "salt".

Is one who is salted or seasoned with hala (salt) holy? Holy is from Old English halig "holy, consecrated, sacred, godly". From Proto-Germanic *hailaga. We are called to be holy and we are also called to be the salt of the earth.

   Madonna and Child. A Holy Salty Pair.

You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. Mt. 5:13

Salt is used to preserve and flavor food. It is also often used in ritual.

You are to offer them before the LORD, and the priests are to sprinkle salt on them and sacrifice them as a burt offering to the LORD. Ezekiel 43:24

Does the  hala (salt) help to make the food halig (holy)? 

Salt preserves food and helps to make it complete in taste, make present the whole flavor, and in that sense, it is fit for royalty. It might even be considered to be angelic, holy, transformed, compared to bland unsalted (unholy, or un-hala) food.

    Fish in Salt

It is interesting that certain words used for greeting are similar to words for salt.

Hail (compare with hala[salt], hello) as "salutation in greeting" is from Old Norse heill "health, prosperity, good luck". If those who are salty are those who have been purified, then wouldn't this mean that they were healthy (hala-thy)?

Those who are healthy are those who are whole, or perhaps whole-y.

Health is from Old English hælp "wholeness, a being whole, sound or well." From Proto-Germanic *hailitho, from Pie *kailo- "whole, uninjured, of good omen".  Cognate Old English hal "hale, whole", Old English halig, Old English hælan "to heal".

Helen in Greek is Helene, probably the feminine form of helenos meaning "the bright one". Helen was considered the most beautiful woman in the world. She must have been quite healthy, and since she was beautiful would have been considered to be, perhaps, tasty . . . so was she salty?

  Helen on the Trojan Ramparts,Gustave Moreau, 1826- 1898. - Helen of Troy - beautiful and bright, like an angel.

Was this the face that launched a thousand ships and burnt the topless towers of Illium? Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss. Her lips suck forth my soul; see where it flies! -- Come, Helen, come, give me my soul again. Here will I dwell, for heaven is in these lips, and all is dross that is not Helena. -Christopher Marlow, Doctor Faustus, The Harvard Classics, Scene XIII, ln. 88-94

Bright can mean intelligent, it can also mean something very shiny like the angels who are bright, holy, and whole which makes them salty (and probably intelligent).

    Angelic Energy, ashtarcommand crew.net

Salutations is ultimately from Latin salutationem "a greeting, saluting".

Perhaps we might say when greeting someone, "Salt!", or "Salt-utations!", or "salute-tations ", as well, since it is a good thing to be salty.

In Hebrew "salt" is melach, "angel" is malak," king" is melek, and "to become king or queen, to reign" malak. So again there is a similarity in the word for salt and also words meaning the kind of people who might be salty, whole or holy, namely angels, royalty, or the gods.

  Pala dei Linaioli(detail), by Fra Angelico

The English word natron is a French cognate from the Spanish natrón , from the Greek nitron. This, in turn, is from the Ancient Egyptian ntry "natrón". Natron was taken from dry lake beds in Ancient Egypt. It was used as a cleaning product domestically and for the body, in burial rituals and mummification. It was also used for fish and meat preservation, among other uses. 

It is interesting that the Ancient Egyptian word for gods / divine was very similar, ntr (neter). The gods (neter) were the royalty of the underworld / afterworld / neterworld. They would be the salty ones, would they not?

   Osiris, Lord/King of the Dead, God of Re-birth. One of the ntr

So, perhaps salt was named with the intent of meaning something "divine" or "of / like the gods". 

We might take salt for granted because it is so readily available to us, but try to imagine life without salt . . . it would be pretty bland. Life would also be pretty bland without salty people, but they are readily available to us as well. In fact you can be one yourself. You ARE the salt of the earth! Don't become tasteless. God is in you and all around you. Don't take that for granted. Act accordingly.

Om Nama Shivaya