Another quote from Love Wins

"Do you know any individuals who grew up in a Christian church and walked away when they got older? Often pastors and parents and brothers and sisters are concerned about them and their spirituality - and often they should be. But sometimes, these individuals' rejection of the church and Christian faith they were presented with as the only possible interpretation of what it means to follow Jesus may in fact be a sign of spiritual health. They may be resisting behaviours, interpretations, and attitudes that should be rejected. Perhaps they simply came to the point where they refused to accept the very sorts of things Jesus would refuse to accept."

Beth, wnes i gwneud ddoe?

What did I do yesterday?

Fe wnes i ddeffro yn gynnar - I woke late.

Fe ddarllenais i, ac ysgrifennais i, a gweddiais i, yn ychdig, hefyd - I read and wrote and prayed a little too.

Fe taclusais i y tŷ a fe es i allan - I tidied the house and went out.

Ble? I hear you say. Or lle, if you are from North Wales - where did you go?

Wel, roedd fy nghwr, Andrew yn aros - my husband Andrew was away. Fe es i fy Mhle yn hoff - not sure if that is correct. 

It should say: I went to my favorite place - y llyfrygell gwladriaeth

The State Library

(yes, I did have to look up the word state)

Fe wnes i benthyg llyfyr a wnes i ffoto copios - I borrowed a book and did some photo copies.

Fe es i'r caffe, wedyn a ddarllenais i am hanes theatr - I went to a cafe afterwards and read about theatre history.

Mae o'n gwych - it was wonderful!

Love Wins - not written in Welsh this time :-)

I have just started reading Rob Bell's book, Love wins: a book about heaven, hell and the fate of every person who ever lived.

In the preface, there is a great quote and it pretty much sums up why I ordered the book in the first place:

"-for all those, everywhere, who have heard some version of the Jesus story that caused their pulse rate to rise, their stomach to churn, and their heart to utter those resolute words: I would never be part of that.

I am one of those people - and I am not alone.

In his preface, Bell goes on to write:

"A staggering number of people have been taught that a select few Christians will spend forever in a peaceful place called heaven, while the rest of humanity spends forever in torment and punishment in hell with no chance for anything better. It as been clearly communicated to many that this belief is a central truth of the Christian faith and to reject it is in essence to reject Jesus. This is misguided and toxic and ultimately subverts the contagious spread of Jesus' message of love, peace, forgiveness and joy ..."

Yes!

I will be reading this book over the coming months - and splashing my thoughts all over this blog.

So look out!

I have a dream ....

If Martin Luther King had been from South Wales, he might have said:

Mae breuddwyd gyda fi.

Translated literally, this reads: a dream is with me.

But if he had been from North Wales, he might have said:

Mae gen i freuddwyd

It means the same thing, a dream is with me, but the possession pattern is different.

Instead of Gyda fi (with me) or gyda ti (with you) or gyda fe (with him) ... they use the word 'gan' and it doesn't come at the end of a sentence but towards the beginning. The word 'gan' also conjugates and causes a soft mutation Which, in Martin Luther King's case, means his breuddwyd would have turned into a freuddwyd (dream).

I am trying to learn this new pattern for when I discourse fluently and at length (yeh, right) with the poor unsuspecting inhabitants of Criccieth.

And just in case I find myself sharing my dreams, along with other stock standard 'Dick and Dora phrases like the sun is shining, my name is Liz, and where is the toilet, I thought I should write a script.

Here goes:

Mae gen i freuddwyd! - I have a dream.

Oes gen ti freuddwyd? - do you have a dream?

Oes, mae ganddo fo freuddwyd - yes, he has a dream. Mae ganddi hi freuddwyd, hefyd - she has a dream too.

Yes, that's right I will be holding regular group therapy sessions in North Wales.

Mae gan gwr freuddwyd - my Husband has a dream.

Spilling all my family secrets.

Mae gan chwiriod freuddwydio hefyd, a fy meibion - my daughters have dreams too and my sons.

Mae gan fy nheulu freuddwyd - my whole family has a dream.

At this point, I will probably fling my arms wide and ask:

Oes gen ti freuddwyd? - Do you have a dream?

I wonder whether anyone will reply?

(apologies to M L K and of course the Welsh language - I'm sure I have made plenty of mistakes) 

Dysgu am poen

Dw i 'n dysgu i siarad Gogledd Cymraeg - I am learning to speak North Walian.

Mae pobl o Dde Cymru dweud 'tost,' am 'pain'

The people of South Wales say 'tost,' for 'pain.'

All kinds of pain - one word 'tost!'

A sensible economy, in my opinion.

Yn y gogledd, mae y pobl dweud - in the north people say:

Poen: pain

Pigyn: sharp pain (what a lovely word) pigyn!

Cur: ache

Dolur: sore

Dw i ddim yn gobeithio teilmlo yn sal yn y Goggledd - I hope I don't feel ill in the North.

Mae o 'n rhy cymhleth - it's too complex.

Sometimes Disney gets it just right ...

Beth, medru dweud?

Ond, sut ydw i'n dweud am hynny yn Cymraeg?

But how do I say that in Welsh?

Hmm...

Mae Disney yn da iawn rywbryd

That says: Disney is very right sometimes.

At least I think it does. :-)

Dydd Sul

Roedd heddiw yn dydd Sul - today was Sunday.

Fe ddaeth fy Nghwr Andrew i gartref - my husband Andrew came home (I suspect there is something wrong with this sentence).

Roedd o 'n gweithio yn America ers gwaith - he was in America for work.

Rydyn ni 'n cael brecwast gyda Phoebe a Andy - we had breakfast with Phoebe and Andy.

It was actually brunch but I can't begin to imagine what the Welsh word for brunch might be - brecinio perhaps?

Fe wnes i crempogau. Roedd nhw 'n hyfryd.

I made pancakes - crempog is such a lovely word for a pancake, don't you think? The 'au' makes it plural. They were lovely.

Roedd y tywydd yn diflas - the weather was miserable.

Fe aethon ni i gyrru yn y mynydd - we went for a drive in the hills.

Fe ddylwn i 'n mynd i 'r eglwys, nawr - I should be going to church now. Ond dw i ddim eisau gadael y glo cynnes neu fy nghwr - but I don't want to leave the warm fire or my husband

Meddwl yn Cymraeg

I haven't blogged much lately. Indeed, a world terrorists has been eliminated. A prince married without mention and most significantly my father in law said goodbye to his seventies without without so much as a comment comment.

But funnily enough, no one has noticed.

Well, maybe one person.

Ond dw i ddim yn poeni - but I am not worried

Dw i 'n rhy prysur! I am too busy.

I have a language to learn.

Dw i wedi bod yn ymarfer siarad Cymreag am hanner awr, bob dydd. I have been practicing speaking Welsh for half an hour every day. Sometimes, morning and evening.


Dw in meddwl yn Cymreag, trwy 'r dydd - I think about Welsh all day.

Pryd dw i'n deffro, pryd dw i'n bwyta fy Nghinio, a pryd dw i'n mynd i wely.

When I wake, when I eat my lunch and when I go to bed.

Dw i'n periant! I am a machine.

Dw i ddim wedi yn ysgriffenu yn Cymraeg, yn aml iawn - that is to say: I don't write in Cymraeg very often. Achos, dw i'n ofni i wneud camgymeriadau - because I am afraid to make mistakes.

Ond, dwyt ti ddim yn dysgu heb gwneud camgymeriadau - but you can't learn without making mistakes. 

A mae o'n amhosibl i feddwl am rhy gormod pethau - and it is impossible to think about too many things (don't know how to say at once in Welsh). 

Felly, dw i'n wedi prenderfynu i ysgriffenu fy mhlog yn Cymraeg am gyfnod - therefore, I have decided to write my blog in Welsh for a while. 

Dydy o ddim yn bod ysgriffenu yn dda - it will not be good writing. 

(Not sure if that should be dydy o ddim or dydy hi ddim - whether the subject is masculine or feminine?

But it doesn't matter. 

Dwyt ti ddim yn dysgu heb gwneud camgymeriadau! You can't learn without making mistakes!

So, if you are one of those people that didn't miss my lack of world commentary, mae'n ddrwg da fi! Sorry!

Dw i'n mynd i ysgriffenu yn Cymraeg nawr - I am going to write in Welsh now. A ti'n medru darllen yn Cymraeg, am gyfnod - and you read in Welsh for a while.

Hwyl