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Heaven #4888 Your Light is Shining

Posted March 17th, 2014 by Normand Bo...

Dear Gloria,

in http://www.heavenletters.org/your-light-is-shining.html
parag. 7

"Love, of course, is not something you put on, and love is not something you have to describe or explain. If you are standing on a rung of a ladder, this is the rung you are standing on. This is the rung you stand on."

I am not sure about the meaning of this repetition: "This is the rung you are standing on. This is the rung you stand on." The first sentence uses the gerund (you are standing on) and the second uses simple present (you stand on). But what did God intend to mean with this repetition? Is it sort of musical?

Thanks

‹ Thank Heavenletter #4826 The Whole Truth about Love ›

Hi, Normand! Love, of

On March 17th, 2014 Gloria Wen... says:

Hi, Normand!

Love, of course, is not something you put on, and love is not something you have to describe or explain. If you are standing on a rung of a ladder, this is the rung you are standing on. This is the rung you stand on. The love I speak of is simply where you are.

Does taking that sentence that had been with the next paragraph, does that make the repetition more meaningful?

It could be for rhythm, beloved Normand. I also see the repetition for emphasis. I can kind of picture God waving His arms or putting His hands on the rung of the ladder to emphasize His point. Maybe!

I don't know if this comparison will really work, but let's say I said to you:

"Normand, you are standing on my toe." Then I point to where your foot is, and I add: "This is the toe you stand on!"

Does this work any better for you now?

Thanks again for your conscientious.

I was pretty sure that it

On March 18th, 2014 Normand Bo... says:

I was pretty sure that it was meant for emphasis. The problem "we" have in French is with the use of the gerund. Because we don't use the gerund systematically as you do in English. In French, we use the gerund in a very specific way to express with a little insistance an action we are doing at the precise moment we are talking: "I am doing the dishes: Je suis en train de faire la vaisselle" or "don't disturb me, I am busy working: ne me dérange pas, je suis en train de travailler".

Otherwise, we don't use very often the gerund. So there is no real way of putting together : "this is the rung you are standing on. This is the rung you stand on". For the French reader, it will simply sound like: "this is the rung you are standing on. This is the rung you are standing on" or "this is the rung you stand on. This is the rung you stand on". You see what I mean? The repetition has no effect in French. Even if we use the gerund for "the rung you are standing on", and the standard present "the rung you stand on", we cannot reproduce that rhythm.

This will need more digging for me.

Beloved Normand, leave out

On March 18th, 2014 Gloria Wen... says:

Beloved Normand, leave out the gerund, dear one. You know French. You can only do what can be done. Not worth more digging, is it? This isn't a breech, dear conscientious one.