Need More Words

We need more words in English.

I heard a radio interview (Morning Edition on NPR, I believe) the other day with someone talking about the 10 Commandments, or the Decalogue in Jewish tradition. Among the many interesting things that were said was the troubling nature of the 10th "saying" and its less than capital nature.

So, how serious is coveting anyway?

For me, there are not clear descriptive terms that align themselves with emotional states. The lust I feel for my wife is not the same emotional state (or physical manifestation, either, boyo) that I feel for that piece of German chocolate cake. And it's not even close to what I feel when I look at a dual processor G5 PowerMac with 23" flat panel display (OK, that did making me a little hot).

And if we begin breaking it down, there's things that I can desire, in all of its various flavors, and not want, or intend to have. And there are things I can cooly appreciate, and neither want nor desire, covet, or lust after.

Then again, if our language was more precise, completely definitive, then we would have less need for the poet. Instead of saying, "yes, it's something like that", we would all simply shake our heads in perfect agreement, saying exactly what we experienced and meant.

Back to the old map and territory business.

Oh, and the book they were talking about in the above interview was the Jewish Study Bible. Might have to get one of those.