remnant means “a usually small part, member, or trace remaining.”* what started me thinking about this word, back in 2018 when i was deciding on a new name for this endeavor (which at the time was called GOOD TOAST HANDMADE), were the remnant prairies.
remnant prairies are important where i’m from, in northern illinois. they are pieces of prairie that remained relatively untouched by pioneers and years of development; those which chose to remain steadfast even when left behind. and there we find the root word, remain, to whose entry my dictionary then directed me.
three definitions here were intriguing to me, and they read:
1 a: to be a part not destroyed, taken, or used up
2 : to stay in the same place or with the same person or group, esp. to stay behind
3 : to continue unchanged
the entry also directed me to the word mansion. so i followed the path there:
1 a [obsolete] : the act of remaining or dwelling, to stay
1 b [archaic] : dwelling, abode
i found something common to all of these words descending from the latin manere, “to remain”. hard to assign a word to the pulsation of my heart (recognition, as some would call it – knowing something that you already once knew)**, but the thread running through all these words spoke to me of something like
stillness.
i thought about what it means to be steadfast in the midst of change, like a rare flower in an ancient patch of prairie, or a warm house with the light on. i thought about what it means to dwell, or interchangeably, to abide, or remain. what does it mean to fully inhabit a place? both feet in, shoes at the door, not about to leave, not afraid to commit? i want more of this. this is what my world needs.
that was what i wanted to say with remnant. you are building something beautiful, something that is steadfast in the midst of change, something that gives others hope. it takes bravery to build a beautiful home, a beautiful community, a beautiful world. let us build together.
*etymology from Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, 1984.
**i know i am indebted to someone else for pointing out this idea, but i can never remember who. i have recently searched through the road less traveled (m. scott peck), trying to find the passage wherein he discussed this, but i haven’t found it yet, so perhaps i am remembering it from somewhere else.
