“eldritch”: Merriam-Webster Dictionary’s Word of the Day
Today’s word of the day is “eldritch,” meaning “weird” or “eerie.”
The Word of the Day for October 28, 2008 is:
eldritch • \EL-dritch\
• adjective
- : weird, eerie
Example Sentence:
Christina accompanied her ghost story by playing a recording filled with creaks, howls, and other eldritch sound effects.
Did you know?
“Curse,” “cobweb,” “witch,” “ghost,” and even “Halloween” — all of these potentially spooky words have roots in Old English. “Eldritch,” also, comes from a time when otherworldly beings were commonly thought to inhabit the earth. The word is about 500 years old and believed to have come from Middle English “elfriche,” meaning “fairyland.” The two components of “elfriche” — “elf” and “riche” — come from the Old English “ælf” and “rīce” (words which meant, literally, “elf kingdom”). Robert Louis Stevenson wasn’t scared of “eldritch.” He used the term in his novel Kidnapped: “‘The curse on him and his house, byre and stable, man, guest, and master, wife, miss, or bairn — black, black be their fall!’ –The woman, whose voice had risen to a kind of eldritch sing-song, turned with a skip, and was gone.”
When I saw the word and the definition, a lightbulb went off.
During my teenhood, I was more than a wee bit into gothic rock (or what kids these days call “goth”). And of course, I loved the Sisters of Mercy. Who could not love Dominion/Mother Russia?
But why am I going on about the Sisters of Mercy in relation to “eldritch,” today’s Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary Word of the Day? Andrew Eldritch, the lead singer of the Sisters of Mercy. How apropos for the last name of one of goth music’s leading figures to mean “eerie” and “weird.” Of course, I realize that this was no mere coincidence, but that’d make me heart Andrew Eldritch even more.
A Christian Sacrifice
On October 10, 2008, Father Geoff Farrow was suspended as a priest and removed as pastor of the Newman Center, which still lists him as pastor, for speaking out against California Proposition 8, “Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry.” I thank and applaud him for speaking out even though he knew he would be rejected by his church and lose the life to which he’d dedicated himself. His immense and noble sacrifice hopefully will not have been in vain, for in making his sacrifice he is truly following in his shepherd’s footsteps.
a question arose which has haunted me: “At what point do you cease to be an agent for healing and growth and become an accomplice of injustice?” By asking all of the pastors of the Diocese of Fresno to promote Catholics to vote “Yes” on Proposition 8, the bishop has placed me in a moral predicament.
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there are TWO ends to marriage: 1) Unitive and 2) Procreative. The unitive end of marriage is simply a union of love and life. The Procreative end is, of course, to create new life. It is important to understand that the unitive end of marriage is sufficient for a valid marriage. The Church sanctions, and considers a sacrament, the marriage of elderly heterosexual couples who are biologically incapable of reproduction. So, if two people of different genders who are incapable of reproduction can enter into a valid marriage, then why is that two people of the same gender, who are incapable of reproduction, cannot enter into a valid marriage.
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I do not presume to tell you how to vote but I do ask that you pray to the Creator of us all. Think and consider the effects of your vote on others, especially minorities in our society who are sitting next to you in church, and at work. The act of casting a vote takes you a few minutes but it can cause other human beings untold happiness or sorrow for a lifetime. It can grant them hope and acceptance, or it can cause them to lose civil rights. It can be a rebuff to bigotry and hatred, or it can encourage bigotry and hatred. Personally, I am morally compelled to vote “NO” on Proposition 8. It is my hope that the people of California will join with those others around the world such as Canada, Europe and South Africa who welcome their gay and lesbian family members fully into society by granting them the civil right to marry.I know these words of truth will cost me dearly. But to withhold them, would be far more costly and I would become an accomplice to a moral evil that strips gay and lesbian people not only of their civil rights but of their human dignity as well. Jesus said, “The truth will set you free.” He didn’t promise that it would be easy or without personal cost to speak that truth.
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