More readers of my stuff.

The bumping of this thread afforded me the opportunity to take advantage of FreeSeeker's link to the Karl Lembke essay. (Thanks FreeSeeker.) Oddly, although I am a self-professed word junkie, it had never occurred to me to plumb the definitions of the words in The Rede. How very intriguing. Lembke states: ""Bide" does not mean "obey". It means "endure"." That piqued my interest, so I looked it up. Following is Merriam-Webster's online offering:

Main Entry: bide
Pronunciation: 'bId
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): bode /'bOd/; or bid·ed; bided; bid·ing
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English bIdan; akin to Old High German bItan to wait, Latin fidere to trust, Greek peithesthai to believe
Date: before 12th century
transitive senses
1 past usually bided : to wait for -- used chiefly in the phrase bide one's time
2 archaic : WITHSTAND
3 chiefly dialect : to put up with : TOLERATE
intransitive senses
1 : to continue in a state or condition
2 : to wait awhile : TARRY
3 : to continue in a place : SOJOURN

M-W, indeed, confirmed Mr. Lembke's statement with meaning 2. However, I suspect that it also may be a contraction or variation of the more common abide with the following definition:

Main Entry: abide
Pronunciation: &-'bId
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): abode /-'bOd/; or abid·ed; abid·ing
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English AbIdan, from A-,perfective prefix + bIdan to bide; akin to Old High German ir-,perfective prefix
Date: before 12th century
transitive senses
1 : to wait for : AWAIT
2 a : to endure without yielding : WITHSTAND b : to bear patiently : TOLERATE
3 : to accept without objection
intransitive senses
1 : to remain stable or fixed in a state
2 : to continue in a place : SOJOURN
synonym see BEAR, CONTINUE
- abid·er noun
- abide by 1 : to conform to 2 : to acquiesce in

This being the case, perhaps we are being called on to endure or withstand or bear patiently the Rede, or perhaps it derives from the intransitive sense of both bide and abide: sojourn or dwell, i.e., live. As in "where do you abide?" or as some of us who were raised in the Christian tradition might remember, "Abide with Me." Thus our charge might be to live the Rede.

Beyond the denotation, however, isn't the etymology fascinating? Akin to German: to wait; Latin: to trust; and Greek: to believe. Of course, as we know, the word "rede," although related to "read" as a verb, means "counsel" or "advice" in its nominative sense, as used here.

As such, perhaps we are also being called on not only to endure, but also to wait, trust, and believe —- and live — the Wiccan counsel or advice. Hmmm. Think on that. Isn't that lovely? Though I can't explain why, I find those words very comforting. (and very challenging).