PARACLETE

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Dr. Goodword
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PARACLETE

Postby Dr. Goodword » Wed Jul 21, 2010 10:50 pm

• paraclete •

Pronunciation: pæ-rê-kleet • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: 1. The Holy Spirit as a consoler, a comforter. 2. Any person who consoles, comforts, or intercedes for another.

Notes: According to the Apostle John, Jesus sent the Paraclete from His Father to comfort the disciples when He left them. It has traditionally been assumed that this Paraclete is the Holy Spirit, the third member of the Holy Trinity (the Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost). For this reason, the word is capitalized when used in its sacred sense. However, since the New Testament was written, the meaning of the word has expanded to anyone who supports, defends, or comforts someone else.

In Play: We hear this word most often in its spiritual sense: "Harvey Wallbanger appealed to the Paraclete for spiritual sustenance every time he went on the wagon." We should not leave its secular sense behind, though: "Clara Sill became an important paraclete of Beryl during puberty, when she developed a serious case of acne."

Word History: English borrowed this word from Old French paraclet, the remains of Latin paracletus, itself borrowed from Greek parakletos "defender, comforter". The Greek word was derived from the verb parakalein "to invoke", made up of the prefix para- "to the side of" + kalein, kle- "to call". The Greek root goes back to an older verb meaning "to call, shout out". It came through Old Germanic directly to Old English as hlowan "to roar", which today is the verb low, the sounds cows and other bovines make. It is difficult to make the case that English call comes from the same root despite the sound and meaning similarities. Still, these similarities comprise a very suspicious coincidence.
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Slava
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Postby Slava » Fri Jul 23, 2010 5:57 pm

Now then, if you have two of these, so you have a set of sports shoes?
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.

LukeJavan8
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Postby LukeJavan8 » Mon Jul 26, 2010 12:24 pm

Harvey Wallbanger???
In AA it is important to have a "higher power", but the
higher power does not do all the work.
-----please, draw me a sheep-----

mmb16
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Paraclete - Holy Ghost

Postby mmb16 » Wed Jul 28, 2010 10:30 am

When I was a kid in Catholic School, we called the Holy Spirit the Holy Ghost (spooky!) and when I heard about the Paraclete, it went right along with the symbol of the Holy Spirit as bird -- in this case, a parakeet.

LukeJavan8
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Postby LukeJavan8 » Wed Jul 28, 2010 4:36 pm

Me too.
I raised parakeets (budgies) as a kid, and one was
named 'Clete, for the same reason.
-----please, draw me a sheep-----


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