the yoda prayer
[if I find that anyone searches for yoda+prayer and comes to this site because of it, my brain will fuse]
The other night at Haven we tried a new exercise for bible reading for Mary’s Song of Praise in Luke 1:46-55. The task is to rewrite each phrase or verse in ‘Yoda’ language. Now, we did digress a little into the linguistic peculiarities of Yoda’s speech patterns. But for the purpose of this exercise, the rule is that we take the most important or pivotal element of the phrase or verse and put it first, followed by the next important etc etc with appropriate adjustments for comprehensibility.
So verse 47
With all my heart I praise the Lord,
(CEV)
and I am glad because of God my Saviour
might become
The Lord with all my heart I praise,
because of God my Saviour glad I am
or, for someone with a different interpretation:
Praise I the Lord with all my heart,
Glad I am because of God my Saviour
You get the idea. We did this as a group exercise where each person rewrote the passage as per Yoda. The interesting part comes when you compare your efforts. At least in our congregation there were some real differences in what people discerned as being the pivotal aspect of each verse or phrase. Even on your own, the exercise forces you to engage with the text in a meaningful way and reveal the particular inclinations you have in reading scripture.
December 9th, 2003 at 10:08 pm
Coolness is that idea, yes.
Try it, I will. Hmmmm.
Do or do not do, there is no try.
Do it I will.
December 23rd, 2003 at 8:16 am
I don’t know about “fusing your brain”, but I searched for “YODA Speech Patterns” and found your site. Congrats.
October 14th, 2004 at 8:39 pm
use it, I will
October 16th, 2004 at 12:01 pm
So will I, oh crap, I mean, Will so I, or I so will, or… whatever!
You know what I mean, great idea!