Saturday, April 23, 2005

Performative Language

I just got back from a "Corazon" trip to Mexico. Corazon is a ministry dedicated to ending poverty in Mexico. Weekly they send a volanteer group to Tiajuana, Tecate, or even Encinata to build a house for a needy family in one day. Today we finished really early it was about 4:45pm when we crossed the border back into America. sometime in the next few posts I'll have some pictures.

Often I find myself in amazed by human compassion. I watch people act in love, meeting needs of others and I am moved. Compassion has been a substantial concept in my life lately. The very word strikes my heart and pierces me. There are certain words that have strong performative effect on us, these words are more than utterances that communicate meaning but they make something happen in us they demand a response. You might be able to realte. Are there words that hold significant meaning to you? Are there concepts that when mentioned something is stirred in you? What are some of these concepts?

4 comments:

Ashley said...

Wes,
Just going down to Corazon with you, I know exactally what you are talking about. I have been on several missions trips but I have never seen anything like what I saw happen in just about 7 hours. Corazon means heart in Spanish, and let me say, when you see someone building someone else a house that probably never would have ever been able to live in one, you see their heart. I will post more about Corazon on my blog.

Paula said...

What an amazing opportunity you have and how beautifully God is shaping His heart of compassion within you.

You asked about concepts or words that make us burn with passion? Here are mine. freedom, total acceptance, unconditional love, boundless grace

spiritual ingenue said...

A friend once shared a powerful prayer with me: "May my heart be broken by that which breaks the heart of God." I started to pray that way, and now I can't watch the news for getting overwhelmed by the lostness of man. It's a prayer you have to be ready to pray, not one to be taken lightly.

What an awesome weekend.

Blessings,
Jan

wellis68 said...

Locutionary language is simply the utterance

Illocutionary language is the intent or definition of the utterance, what you mean by it.

perlocutionary is performative, what it causes to happen.