Lost in Translation

Satar Lite sign 2
Originally uploaded by SierraSunrise

In Thailand, it is not unusual for intersections to have names. It is only recently that I noticed the sign at a particular 3 way intersection we frequently pass--usually I am too occupied with watching out for traffic (if I am moving) or the sign is blocked by big trucks (if I am stopped).

I first noticed the Latin script text of the sign. I quickly assumed it must be a name of foreign origin because there were two sounds represented that the Thai language doesn't have--a final "r" sound, and a long "i" sound followed by a final t.

So I looked at the Thai to try to figure it out:

สตาร์ ไลท์

Sounding out the Thai letters, I came up with (using letters that represent approximate American English sounds):

sahtah lie (as in the English word "lie")

figuring in the unpronounced Thai letters (which are used frequently in words borrowed from other languages and often represented with a ์ symbol), I came up with:

satar lite (as the sign reads)

Then, I applied a little bit of mental processing, I came up with:

starlight

Which I later learned was the name of a factory located near the intersection.

It is quite common in Thailand to see signs representing English words written in Thai script. Sometimes it takes a lot of effort to figure them out. Sometimes I never do get it--at least not in the limited time I have while driving past a road sign.

I remember one of my language instructors joking to me: "you're the only American in this class and you have the hardest time reading English."

Isn't it so much easier when things are presented to us in a way we can understand? It is why we work so hard at learning the Thai language--in order that we can communicate with the Thai people--through words as well as actions--how much God loves them.

It is why God sent Jesus to earth--in order that God could communicate though the life and teachings of Jesus the things He wants us to know about Him and what our response to God should be.

As Jesus said:
Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father." --John 10:37-38 (NIV)

And as Paul later adds:
For we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand.--2 Corinthians 1:13 (NIV)

How thankful I am that we have a God that wants to communicate with us and who went to great lengths to do so.  I'm thankful that so many who went before us went to great effort to preserve the actions of God in world and the record of the words of God's prophets and especially Jesus.