may you have peace... I'm a bit amazed (okay, okay, Dave, you're right, so now that I think of it, I'm not, really)... at the response just prior to yours. So... ummmmm... "high school," really. I'm kind of embarrassed for the person who posted (I usually am with things like this; I think I might go back and see if the poster includes his/her age, so that perhaps I can give him/her an even greater benefit of the doubt; though I am learning that, with some folks, age doesn't necessarily make a difference!)
I don't speak Islam, dear Forscher, as you can see, and obviously I spell it even worse. However, a greeting of peace is, IMHO... a greeting of peace. Whatever the language... or faith... behind it. As you probably guessed, I gave it a shot because I am a FIRM believer that one should make that effort whenever one can (i.e., use the language offered to you, if you can), and I have never ascribed to the thinking that just because English (the "American" form of it) is MY first language... it should be everybody's (of course, no one really thinks that.. ).
And I am certainly not afraid to learn new things... or make mistakes (small or great); I have learned that both are simply parts of the journey of life, and, IMHO, tend to make it all... ummmmm... a bit more "flavorful." So, I try to learn a few words here and there, as a gesture of goodwill, so that the person I am "speaking" with will see I at least made the effort. I learned that growing up in a part of San Diego where at least half the population (if not more) spoke Spanish. Personally, I very often cringe when I see other world leaders speaking or at least trying to speak English... ummmm... "American"... while my country's "leaders" (at least, the current one)... can't even speak it very well themselves (Can you say "nookiler"?). Some have problems spelling it (Can you spell "p-o-t-a-t-o-e"?... Or was it "t-o-m-a-t-o-e"?).
So, I don't feel too bad having flubbed this: hey, if "The Leader of the Free World"... and "Commander-in-Chief of the World's Superpower" can't speak his ownnative language properly, why should I feel bad? I'm at least two languages ahead of him (English and, by this attempt, Islam) and three, if you throw in Spanish. Four and five, if you include the little bit of Hebrew and Greek that I now know (hey, it wasn't my choice!).
A-n-y-w-a-y... I did not mind your correction at all; indeed, I think the phrase "nothing ventured, nothing gained" is absolutely correct, and so I now know how to return the greeting properly. THANK you! And thank you for your encouragement.
May the undeserved kindness and mercy of my Father, the Most Holy One of Israel, whose name is JAH... of Armies... and the peace of His Son and Christ, my Lord, JAHESHUA MISCHAJAH, be upon you, you and your entire household, to time indefinite.
I am your servant.
SA, a slave of Christ
To dear Tula - may you, too, have peace. And may you find it within yourself to not let such things as this make you "go there." It really wasn't worth the energy you spent on it, truly. I am nothing (other than your servant, perhaps), and was only trying to make a fellow human being, who gave me a very kind greeting, know that I appreciated his effort. That's it, that's all. If that offended you, I apologize; I also encourage you to look inside and ask yourself why it is that it did so. I bid you peace.
Your servant, and a slave of Christ,
SA
