There’s a book out there, God Is A Verb: Kabbalah and the Practice of Mystical Judaism, by David A. Cooper. You see, we Jews believe in an active god, a god who is not static, a good who acts through history. His name, the ineffable name we DO NOT pronounce, the name that has no vowels, is a form of the verb, to be. In fact, we often refer to God as simply Ha Shem, The Name. God is a verb. As Raymond would say…Most definitely a verb.
In the story of the burning bush, when God orders Moses to return to Egypt and free the Hebrew slaves, Moses asks God, (paraphrasing here) - but when they ask who sent me, what shall I tell them? God answers him - Tell them ‘I Am’ sent you. I Am - the two words that encompass all existence, past, present and future - I Am, I Was, I Will Be.
Is. Was. Will be. I recently read a post about the craft of writing. Can’t remember where I read it, but the writer recommended we go through our manuscripts and count the number of times we use the following words: ‘that’, ‘is’, ‘was’, ‘will be’. And begin deleting. Now I agree (deleted ‘that’) we tend to use those words often, probably far too often. But since when did the verb ‘to be’ become a sin against literature?
Tomorrow, great writers who have been.
I tend to overuse “that” and “was”. I try to be cautious of them.
I think this rule about only using “active” verbs in our writing is…meshugana. :^) When the story is active, use active verbs. When the story is quiet, pensive, tentative, use passive verbs. When the characters are active, use appropriate language. A manuscript only filled with action verbs (and no adjectives, adverbs, etc etc…you know, all the rest of those freakin’ rules) would certainly be….um….boring and predictable. Here is a wonderful passage from A River Runs Through It that breaks the rules….
Like many fly fishermen in western Montana where the summer days are almost Arctic in length, I often do not start fishing until the cool of the evening. Then in the Arctic half-light of the canyon, all existence fades to a being with my soul and memories and the sounds of the Big Blackfoot River and a four-count rhythm and the hope that a fish will rise. Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world’s great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of those rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters.
From A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean….
“Like many fly fishermen in western Montana where the summer days are almost Arctic in length, I often do not start fishing until the cool of the evening. Then in the Arctic half-light of the canyon, all existence fades to a being with my soul and memories and the sounds of the Big Blackfoot River and a four-count rhythm and the hope that a fish will rise. Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world’s great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of those rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters.”
Seems OK to me. ;^)
Penny
Why would some literally pundit put out a hit on “to be”? Who are they targeting, Shakespeare reboots? lol
XXOO Kat
Oops! I didn’t mean to post twice….although you could never read that quote too many times.
Amber - I think there are a lot of words we can overuse. I don’t think ‘to be’ is the biggest villain.
I love this passage, Penny. Love it so!
Yeah, Kat, a big hit on ‘to be’. Big hit!
Hey all, sorry about my comments function mis-functioning.
I don’t believe I heard about passive verbs until I got Microsoft word with grammar check (passive verb consider revising). I never have understood when it became the fashion.
I think a common thread runs through all religion. What you wrote reminds me of If not me, who? If not now, when?
Steph
Sometimes you have to use “to be” verbs. Avoiding them like the plague can result in sentences that ramble on - just to avoid passive construction. Not all telling is evil. I hate “absolute” rules any way. I know many of them are there for a good reason, but too much slavish devotion is well… slavish!
Casey - I know! Sometimes I’m racking my brain to think of five words to replace ‘was’ or ‘is’!
Yes, Steph. I am enamored of the greater concept of ‘I am’. All-encompassing. And thanks for reminding me of Hillel the Elder! You’re such a nice Jewish girl.
Sometimes the correct verb is WAS!
LOL, Anny!
It’s the advice of Mssrs. Strunk and White run rampant and filtered down to people with very little knowledge of grammar and what passive actually means. So they go and delete all forms of “to be” from their manuscripts.
Thanks for commenting, Cora. Yes, ‘to be’ has become a sin. I love ‘to be’, in all it’s various forms. There is nothing wrong with the passive tense.
Not me - I would love to have been Jewish. So much easier than Catholic/Greek Ortho. Just as much guilt I guess though.
In college, I was a shiksa. My college was about 80 percent Jewish. Finding a boyfriend whose parents would think me suitable was not easy. On the other hand we got a lot of holidays off and we had Kosher in the Cafe.
Steph, have you heart the ‘eat your schiksah joke? If I can remember it I’ll send it your way.