The origins of words have always fascinated me, and up till now I have only been able to hypothesize, as it were, as to whether two words that sound similar are in fact related to one another. But I came across an online dictionary of etymology today.
First I looked up my name. Grace originates from Latin (gratia) and Greek (kharites) and means gratitude, good will, virtue, to show favour, to be agreeable. Grace is directly related to Charity and Gratitude.
After that, I looked up what I am. Author.
It came to English from French and Latin and means "father, founder, enlarger". One who causes to grow, as in "augment". The same root word also spawned words like authority, authorize, auction.
Wow. To be an author is to set a child in the world. To be an author is to enlarge the world by my words, to cause a growing to take place in the minds of my readers. To drive the total upwards, as at auction. To attain authority. To authorize truth by printing it in a book. To augment the lives of others. And to create.
To create, as the Author of Life did at the beginning of time, at the beginning of his great Story. Yes, to be like God in this matter, for we are made in his image; as he creates, so do his creations.
It shouldn't surprise us then, if our creations don't always do just what we intended for them. As a mother gives birth to a child, as we breathe life into words on a page, that new creation takes on a life of its own, separate from its origins, separate from that of which it is created. For we are all sons of Adam and daughters of Eve.
