You need new boxes

In language learning, you quickly realize that, while some grammar boxes are the same, others are completely different. It's the same with word meanings. In English we might say that to need and to want are different words. In Clovish (the language of Clove Island) they are the same word. In English we might say that we raise people, plants, and animals. In Clovish we use a different verb for each type of growth. As we learn the language, we create new boxes to understand it better.

The same goes for culture. In America, someone telling me what to do when I'm walking down the street would be put in the "rude" box. On Clove Island, it's in the "family/friends" box. Only those who care about you will say things like that.

Or the fact that every.single.person asks if I'm married and why I'm not married. I have to consciously take that from the "annoying and rude" box and put it in the "normal and matter of fact" box.

People being late? That goes from the "disrespectful" box into the "normal expectations" box. Degree of lateness is also pretty well defined in the culture. After awhile you learn the rules for which events to show up for closer to the stated time.

Guilt trips for everything? I have to take that from the "I feel so guilty and in trouble" box and put it in the "they love me" box. Same with comparisons, those go in the "they love me and want to encourage me" box.

You see how being in another culture messes with you? You need new boxes, and you have to put things in different boxes than before.

Then there's the Word. What box does that go in? I put that in the "so amazing that He changed my life" box. So everything I say and wherever I go I seek opportunities to share the Word with people. But I have to realize that their boxes are different and the ways I communicate those truths has to fit in their boxes.

Or do they need a new box too?