Grammar Rock

Who said English grammar couldn't be fun? If you've ever listened to Schoolhouse Rock, you know just how fun pronouns can be.

Pronouns can also have huge societal consequences. The Beatles proved it with their song, "I, Me, Mine," a George Harrison tune that lamented the ease with which people live for only themselves.

Centuries earlier, the Hebrew songwriters also knew the importance of pronouns. Although we don't have the original tune, we do have the words to this temple favorite:

Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. (Psalm 100:3)

Look at those pronouns go! To take just one example, look at how important that third person male pronoun is, especially in its possessive form. "It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture..."

Not only is this a lightning rod in the gender wars, it should engender in us a reverence for the God who owns us. We are not our own... We should therefore not live for ourselves, but for Him.

Take a moment this weekend and think about which pronouns most profoundly control your daily life.