Quinn - Importance of Language in Motilone Culture

I find it fascinating that the Motilone people place such a high significance on language. Bruce Olson describes how the Motilone people think of one's speech as one's life. Bobby's song on page 133 highlights this well.

"Jesus is in my mouth;
I have a new speech.
Jesus is in my mouth;
No one can take Him from me.
I speak Jesus' words.
I walk in Jesus' steps.
I am Jesus' boy;
He has filled my stomach, and I am no longer hungry."

Equating speech with life reminds me of how many ancient languages use the same word for "breath" and "spirit." Bobby's song is reminiscent of so many western praise songs that call Jesus "the breath in our lungs."

Motions also have a tradition of having secret names that none but a few closest family and friends know. Olson recalls when Bobby first told him about his secret name on page 102. "...every Motilone has a secret name that is his real identity. Only his father and sometimes a few others know it. It is secret because, if someone knows it, he has complete power of that person." The knowledge of the secret name ties back to the significance of language. One's truest identity is rooted in a name with sacred, secret meaning. To know the word is to rule the person.

On page 164, Adji reveals on his death bed that Jesus had appeared to him and spoken his secret name. For him, that was comforting. He knew that Jesus not only knew him on the deepest possible level, but that he and Jesus were pact brothers and that Jesus had total power over him. This reminds me of the deep intimacy David writes of in Psalm 139 and, though not entirely related, Jesus' secret name that no one knows mentioned in Revelation 19:12.

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