Enactmenting Gruntled Pents
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I know that’s a strange title, but perhaps that is because it emanated from a strange mind… mine! Let me see if I can get this to make sense for you.
A lot of words we commonly use have prefixes. A prefix is sometimes one letter, or perhaps two, or maybe even three that you tack on to the front of a base word to change its meaning. To “sub-marine” therefore means to go “under” the “water.”
But have you ever thought about how some of the words that we put these prefixes on really don’t have a place in our regular vernacular? For instance, you may have attended a Civil War reenactment if you’re into that sort of thing, or even a crime-scene reenactment if you were on a jury that took a field trip, but have you ever been to an enactment? Yep, that’s a real word alright, but you don’t usually hear it much around this part of the country.
What about this one: At one time or another you’ve probably been disgruntled in your life, right? But in your whole life, have you ever been gruntled? I’m absolutely sure I’ve been disgruntled, and I’m even pretty sure I know what that means, but since the prefix “dis” means the opposite or absence of whatever base word it precedes, exactly what is “gruntled”? Actually, there is such a word as “gruntle” after all. It is defined by Mr. Webster as “to put in a good humor,” in case you didn’t already know- I sure didn’t!
Now all of that foolishness was to entertain perhaps just a little, but also to get to a point. Our title, in addition to “enactmenting” and “gruntled,” also includes the word “pents.” If you look that one up with Mr. Webster he will tell you it means “to shut up” or “confine”- as in, pent-up feelings or emotions. But if you add the prefix “re” if front of it, well, then we have problems. If “pent” means to “shut up or confine” and “re” means “again,” then “re-pent” would have to mean “shut up or confine again,” wouldn’t it? Now we both know that doesn’t make much sense- even to the valedictorian (of a total class of 15, mind you) son of an Ag teacher! But hold on, this gets better, I promise.
The trouble we’re having with the word “re-pent” is that it is translated from a couple of Greek words into our English version- and trust me, it makes more sense in Greek! The Greek prefix “meta” (translated as “re”) means “after.” The Greek base word is “noeo,” and literally means “to think.” Thus, the Greek word, metanoeo, translated into our English word “repent,” means “to think again.” Therefore, to “repent” is literally to rethink, or change one’s mind. Those who had demanded Jesus’ crucifixion because they believed Him to be an imposter, were told to repent (and be baptized, Acts 2:28) - to re-think and change their minds!
But in the New Testament, evidently “repenting” includes more than just changing the mind. John the Baptist told his audience, “Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance…” in Luke 3:8. This changing of the mind is supposed to also produce a change in course, direction, or conduct. It’s not just changing your mind- its changing your mind so that your actions change too!
Now, what if we put all those silly words from the title together in the light of our new-found understanding of them? An “enactment” is something that has been acted out. To “gruntle” is to make happy. And, to “repent” is to re-think and change your mind so that your course, or direction, changes. Put them all together and what do you get? You become “happy” because you’ve “changed your mind” and are “acting” accordingly, see Genesis 4:6-7a! See how easy that was? Thanks for playing along, and I hope you learned a little along the way to boot.