Luke 10 -- greeting the peace lover

When Jesus sent out the 70 disciples in this chapter, he gave them the same basic instructions for finding room and board: look for a "man of peace" in the visited community.

Luk 10:5 Hangi eve girerseniz, önce, 'Bu eve esenlik olsun!' deyin.
Luk 10:6 Orada esenliksever biri varsa, dilediğiniz esenlik onun üzerinde kalacak; yoksa, size dönecektir.

It's nice to encounter sentences filled with short, familiar words. Today, let's unpack just one word, esenliksever. It's one of those marvelous compound words that Turkish assembles so nicely. It combines the adjective esen (peaceful) with the syllable used to transform an adjective into a noun ( -lik- ) and sever (lover).

How do you know when you've found the right one? By invoking peace upon his house, when you enter it. If you don't "connect," you know it's time to move on.

One of the most frustrating contracts I ever worked on began with the understanding that it would lead to a full-time job. Well past the time when this was supposed to happen, a honcho from out-of-state let slip the fact that this desired consummation would never come to pass. I almost threw up in the parking lot as I left the job site at the end of the day. In retrospect, I'd never "connected" with my nominal manager. He gave me a few tasks, signed my time sheets, and that was it. Was this an issue on my side? Or on his? Probably a little bit of both. Apparently, I'd neglected something pretty important when I focused on the task at hand, and failed to properly integrate / ingratiate myself in the local company culture. I had neglected the key relationship.