Who knew? September 24 is National Punctation Day. This information came to me by way of the calendar I refer to every morning as I am getting ready to begin my day. Clearly I have not noticed this before in years past. But today there it was. I went straight to the definer of truth-Google- to see what this actually meant. Could ‘punctuation’ mean something other than what I thought it did? Is it really a celebration of some ancient festival that I have known nothing about until now?
No. Today is meant to honor the period, comma, apostrophe, quotations, colon and semi-colons that float in and out of our sentences and paragraphs every day. These lowly marks of black on white page or blank screen help us express ourselves and say what we really mean. I hear people, mostly older people, lament with regularity how ‘younger people’ do not know the correct usage of these servants of grammar. Maybe. It may just be that those younger than a certain age have simply learned to use them differently as the many ways in which we use language has changed. It is probably a woe that has been expressed over and over throughout time.
The truth is I have always loved nearly everything that plays into the formation of writing, of literature, of communicating with the written word. And now for a confession. In the days when English classes included diagraming sentences, this exercise was one of my favorite activities. Drawing those lines and intersecting slashes, using colored pencils to define subject, predicate, verbs, adverbs, adjectives brought me a heady joy. Just writing about it now sends a kind of thrill through me. I know. Geek!
Punctuation is important and can make all the difference in the world if it is misplaced or used incorrectly. One of my favorite examples of this in the spiritual quest comes, not from a theologian, but a performer. Gracie Allen, best known for being married to George Burns, was a vaudeville comedienne and singer/dancer. At some point she is said to have made the statement, “Never place a period where God has placed a comma.”
I have no idea in what context Gracie said these words but they have stuck around for decades. The United Church of Christ even used it as a part of one of their ad campaigns at one time. It has always made me smile and wince at the same time. How angry I can get when it seems to me people are throwing periods into faith statements or biblical interpretation causing conversations to grind to a halt! And yet, how easily I often overlook, or refuse to see when I do the same. A period or comma can make all the difference in the world in creating an openness of spirit, a sense of humility, a place where God can speak over the noise of our own thrashings.
So, Happy National Punctuation Day! May all the dots, dashes, slashes and marks you make bring clarity to the intention of your words today and every day.
Oh how I loved this “Pause”! I am often referred to as a “grammar snob”, wanting to edit all that is written and offering corrections to the spoken word, but I cannot help myself. Diagramming sentences isn’t taught in schools these days yet, when tutoring elementry children, I still show it to the students. Being visual learners as most are, they adore it and call it their Art class. I cannot help myself!
Good News! I asked my son what he was learning in his 9th grade English class and he mumbled (as teenagers are want to do), “Commas and stuff.” What a wonderful thing! The teacher is a 25 plus year veteran of teaching high school English, and thank goodness for my son, she is still teaching. Bless her heart!
And Cheryl Hauser, keep on editing! That’s great!