🎬Cliché Month: (don’t) Follow Your Heart 💓
Follow Your Heart?
Have you ever followed your heart only to have it lead you someplace you didn’t expect to go? Maybe you thought you were following true love. Maybe a religious experience turned out to be a little too much like a cult instead of being Bible based. Maybe you were totally certain you were supposed to go to a certain school, job, or address and all the promises fell flat.
Few platitudes are as universally celebrated as “follow your heart.” You’ll find it in graduation cards, you’ll hear animated heroines speak it as a mantra, and Hollywood pushes it as the way to fulfill your dreams. On the surface, it sounds empowering. But beneath the romanticism, there’s an uncomfortable truth: our hearts (emotions) are fickle, easily swayed, and often terrible navigators. Even God’s Word says our hearts are so deceitful that we can’t even know them ourselves.
Jeremiah 17:9 WEBUS
[9] The heart is deceitful above all things and it is exceedingly corrupt. Who can know it?
https://bible.com/bible/206/jer.17.9.WEBUS
Danger and Deceit
This is the danger of following your heart. Even though we’re told things like, “The heart knows what it wants,” or “Listen to your heart,” those efforts often lead us to a broken heart or into hopeless depression. And why? Because they mix up emotional desires with being led through this life by our loving Creator. Only the Spirit of The One who made us can lead to the places He planned and designed for us. Every other direction is hit and miss. Maybe it will lead to someplace great; maybe not. John Bevere speaks on this in his message: “Breaking Intimidation.” He says things of the soul can imitate things of The Spirit.
The affiliate link above is for the book at Amazon, and I’m not certain if that portion is in the book or only on CD, so I asked Microsoft Copilot for a summary of that portion of the message. Here’s that summary…
John Bevere warns that the soul (mind/will/emotions) can imitate the Spirit, creating impulses that feel right, sound noble, and even look “spiritual,” yet still come from human desire rather than God. He uses John the Baptist as the example: everything about his priestly family line suggested a respectable ministry path, but the Spirit led him into the wilderness instead—camel hair, locusts, and a calling no one expected. Bevere’s point is simple and sharp: following your heart is often just following your soul, and the soul, no matter how sincere, “cannot receive the things of the Spirit.” True direction comes from the Spirit, even when it contradicts what seems good.
1 Corinthians 2:14 BSB
[14] The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/1co.2.14.BSB
The Romantic Rebellion
The belief that our inner feelings are the ultimate moral compass took root during the late 18th-century Romantic Era. Poets and philosophers, who reacted against the cold rationality of the Industrial Age, argued that personal passion and raw emotion were inherently pure. Over the 20th century, pop psychology and modern individualism cemented the idea that it was unhealthy to suppress our desires. They suggested that trusting immediate emotional impulses was the highest form of self-discovery.
An Ancient Warning
Long before modern cinema made the human heart into the hero of every story, ancient wisdom urged caution with yielding to wild emotions. In classical philosophy, Plato illustrated the human soul as a charioteer (Reason) struggling to manage two horses—one noble, and the other a wild, rebellious appetite that was “the mate of insolence and pride… hardly yielding to whip and spur.”
Scripture provides more anchors against letting blind, emotional trust lead us to places of destruction or depression:
Proverbs 4:23 BSB
[23] Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/pro.4.23.BSB
Proverbs 3:5-6 BSB
[5] Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; [6] in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/pro.3.5-6.BSB
Rather than letting unchecked desires drag us toward a fire, wisdom calls us to tether our hearts to truth, discernment, and sound guidance.
Leading Your Heart
In the 2008 film Fireproof, there is a pivotal conversation between Caleb and his friend (and boss) Michael that perfectly dismantles this platitude. When Caleb tells Michael he is “in” with The Lord and wants some faith advice, Michael gets very excited. He calls Caleb his brother (but you gotta hear how he says it 😁) and then gives great big-brother-type advice:
“And don’t just follow your heart, man, because your heart can be deceived; but you’ve got to lead your heart.”
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Cliché Month: Read Between the Lines 🧩
It’s a cliché AND a game! What more could we want, right? And though I planned something simple for a relaxing Sabbath weekend, I ended up having to learn some new things, but I’m very happy to share a cool new trick at the bottom. After you look at the rebus puzzles to try and figure them out, you can click to reveal the answers. And this is so much easier than trying to print upside-down text like I tried first. 🙃
So for this cliché, it’s a phrase we all the time whenever we sense some kind of unspoken truth lurking beneath polite conversation. To “read between the lines” is human nature’s built-in radar for deciphering what is meant beyond what is merely said. But long before it became a way to “hear” the subtext in everyday dialogue, reading between the lines was a literal, tradecraft—essential for wartime communication, diplomacy, and survival.
Invisible Ink and Wartime Grids
The idiom traces back to the mid-nineteenth century and has direct roots in cryptography and steganography. Military couriers, spies, and clandestine correspondents needed ways to transport secret directives through enemy territory without raising suspicion. The solution was deceptively simple: write an ordinary, innocuous letter with unusually wide gaps between the lines of text.
In the blank space between those visible sentences, the author penned the real message using sympathetic, or invisible, ink made from organic acids like lemon juice, milk, cobalt chloride, or vinegar. To an officer who tried to intercept the message, the parchment appeared to carry a simple, and maybe even mundane, missive. But once the intended recipient exposed the paper to heat, a candle flame, or a specific chemical wash, the hidden writing would darken and reveal itself. If you did not know to literally read between the lines, you would miss the mission entirely.
A similar tactic relied on physical cutout masks known as Cardan grilles. When a recipient placed a custom stencil over a lengthy, seemingly boring letter, only specific words from alternating lines were visible through the cutouts, spelling out the real message.
Not by Words, But by Things
Visual rebuses operate on that exact same creative frequency—they challenge our eyes and minds to decipher hidden meaning from spatial placement rather than literal text alone. The word rebus originates from the Latin phrase non verbis, sed rebus, meaning “not by words, but by things.”
Originating during the Renaissance as intellectual parlor games across Europe, rebuses eventually evolved into the beloved graphic wordplay puzzles we know today. Placing a word in a specific direction, altering its size, or planting it firmly between physical boundaries forces our brains to decode subtext in a playful, visual way.
Try Your Hand at Deciphering
To celebrate the art of hidden messages, try solving the puzzle card below. Look at the spacing, arrangements, and word positions to unlock each common phrase or idiom.
Click here to reveal puzzle answers
1. For once in my life (four ones in my life)
2. Forget it
3. Try to understand
4. Travel overseas / Overseas travel
5. Breakfast
6. Downtown
7. Eyeshadow
8. Stepfather
9. Once upon a time
10. Potatoes (pot 8 O’s)
11. 3D movie
12. Top secret
Shabbat Shalom and let me know if you had fun with these. You can visit the ESL Vault Rebus Page for a bunch more free puzzles, and you can also find some rebus puzzles—including one called Read Between the Lines at the Google Play Store.
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🎵Cliché Month: Soft as a Kitten’s Ear 🐯
Whispers, Paws, and Unexpected Comfort
There is an unmatched texture in the natural world that immediately melts away tension: the delicate, velvety warmth of a kitten’s ear. It isn’t just soft like fabric, it’s alive and pulsing with gentle warmth. Pair that with the low, rhythmic hum of a cat’s purr—a soothing frequency that scientists say closely mimics the calming auditory comfort a baby hears in utero—and your defenses don’t stand a chance.
Our feline companions have an uncanny intuition for when our hearts are tender. Years ago, I had a sweet boy who was my constant shadow. Charlie always curled tight against my side whenever I would lie down. But there was great comfort in being pinned into place while we both slept.
When liver failure took him from me, my grief sent me to bed in the early afternoon. But then something remarkable happened. As I laid down, our other cat Abbie, who had always been a bit aloof with me and attached to my husband, walked quietly into the room, hopped up, and settled into the exact spot beside me where Charlie used to rest. I mean, the exact posture and everything! It’s like she knew I needed that spot filled just exactly the way Charlie used to fill it, and she held that quiet vigil until I fell asleep. Animals simply know when to offer grace without saying a single word.
From the Dry Goods Counter to the Nursery
We often treat toughness and tenderness as opposing forces, but true strength is almost always anchored in love. When we look back at the grit of the historic night riders from yesterday’s post—like my GG Great Grandfather John Wisdom, “The Paul Revere of the South”—it’s easy to focus solely on the sheer endurance of galloping sixty-seven miles through the dark. But the driving motivation behind that ride wasn’t just cold military duty; it was personal. His mother lived in Rome Georgia, and a son’s fierce love for his mama fueled every mile of that daring journey.
That is why the old idiom “soft as a kitten’s ear” carries deeper feeling than phrases like “soft as silk” or “soft as velvet.” Before the creation of synthetic microfibers, people measured comfort against the living world around them. While high-society writers favored imported silks, everyday speech favored the warmth of the hearth; the down on a baby chick; the fleece of a lamb; and the delicate fur of a newborn kitten.
By the early-to-mid 20th century, American department stores and textile mills grabbed the phrase for their advertising. Print ads for blanket makers like Chatham and St. Marys frequently pitched virgin-wool crib blankets and layette flannels as “soft as a kitten’s ear and warm as a mother’s hug.” Copywriters knew that comparing a fabric to an animal’s ear evoked something a bolt of woven silk never could: living, breathing warmth, gentle vulnerability, and total safety.
The Courage to Remain Tender
Living in this harsh, fast-paced world tempts us to build thick walls around our hearts. After enough disappointments and griefs, it feels safer to become distant and untouchable. But God never intended for our souls to become frozen. In Ezekiel 36:26, He makes the beautiful promise to remove our hearts of stone and give us responsive, living hearts of flesh—soft, beating, and capable of deep empathy.
Ezekiel 36:26 BSB
[26] I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/ezk.36.26.BSB
It takes real spiritual courage to stay tenderhearted because it means being willing to feel deeply and to let God’s gentle peace soothe our rough edges. While we need the spiritual equivalent of the layered oak hull of Old Ironsides to navigate life’s stormy seas, we must make sure the Holy Spirit is the most important layer. Never lose the warmth within. Make your convictions firm, but keep your spirit soft as a kitten’s ear.
In closing, if I haven’t mentioned it before (or if I have) I am really getting a lot from the book Bold and Broken by David and Jason Benham. (Affiliate link included.) And there’s an older country song that carries this message beautifully called Strong Enough to Bend by Tanya Tucker…
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Cliché Month: Tough As Old Ironsides
Boston Echoes
Over 35 years ago, the company I worked for assigned me within an hour of downtown Boston, Massachusetts. Standing in the historic heart of Boston has a way of resetting your perspective on the American story. When I took a tour of the city, history stopped being a hard-to-recall page in a textbook and became something real and memorable. I learned that the famous Battle of Bunker Hill was actually fought mostly on Breed’s Hill, and I got up close to the USS Constitution, the ship later dubbed Old Ironsides because of its resilience in battle. And because August 19th is “Old Ironsides Day,” it seemed the perfect day for this cliché.
Later, I stood captivated inside the Old North Church, where the acoustics let the soaring notes of a live violin echo right into my soul. That was part of the tour because of the famous Midnight Ride of Paul Revere.
Most of us picture Revere sitting in the window swinging lanterns, but he was actually the strategist on the ground! It was church sexton Robert Newman who crept up all 154 stairs to hang the two lanterns—”one if by land, two if by sea” —sending Revere galloping into the night.
That kind of courage has found its way into other historical events, and in my family, into our genealogy. In my family tree, my ancestor John Wisdom became known as “The Paul Revere of The South.” In May 1863, he rode nearly 67 miles through the dark from Gadsden, Alabama, to Rome, Georgia—swapping out exhausted horses along the way—to sound the alarm and save the city’s vital bridges and ironworks. Whether in Massachusetts or Georgia, history is forged by people willing to ride into battle and risk their own safety to protect others.
The Oak, the Copper, and the Broadside
That same resilience brings us to the harbor, where the USS Constitution still rests. On August 19, 1812, during a fierce battle against the British frigate HMS Guerriere, sailors watched in disbelief as 18-pound cannonballs shot by the enemy struck her hull and bounced harmlessly into the water. A sailor famously shouted, “Huzza! Her sides are made of iron!”—and the nickname “Old Ironsides” was born.
Her sides weren’t iron, of course; they were three dense layers of resilient white oak and southern live oak. But what held that indestructible wooden fortress together? None other than Paul Revere’s foundry, which forged the heavy copper bolts and spikes that pinned her hull planks tight under fire. Decades later, when the ship was slated for scrapping, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. penned his stirring poem Old Ironsides, rallying the public and cementing “Tough as Old Ironsides” into American slang for anyone built to take life’s hardest hits without breaking.
Taking the Hit and Standing Fast
Life has a habit of firing unexpected volleys. Hard news, sudden changes, and emotional friction can feel like a heavy iron shot headed straight for our hearts. Our natural instinct is often to retreat or fracture under the impact, but God designed us with holy durability as long as He is part of the layering.
2 Corinthians 4:7-9 BSB
[7] Now we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this surpassingly great power is from God and not from us.
[8] We are hard pressed on all sides, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;
[9] persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/2co.4.7-9.BSB
But spiritual toughness isn’t about being cold or unfeeling; it’s about what holds your frame together when the sea gets rough. When your life is anchored in faith and covered in grace, the enemy’s fiery darts and the world’s heavy blows simply bounce off. Hold fast to your course, stand firm in His strength, and trust that in Christ, you really are like the companion cliché to the one above: Tough As Nails. 🛠️
My thanks to Google’s Gemini for much of this history, and to Ancestry for the connections to my Great Great Great Grandfather.
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Cliché Month: Act the Giddy Goat 🐐
G. O. A. T. Cliché
I’m smiling as I write this, mostly because I found a cliché I’d never seen or heard before, and it’s just so funny and cute. I’ve mentioned before about Gabby, the goat owned by my babysitter when I was in second grade. Gabby was a typical hop-on-everything, climb every tree (especially the mostly-barren eucalyptus in the back yard), and eat the can or paper you’re holding kind of goat. So, I can totally picture the kind of person about whom someone might say, “Don’t act the giddy goat.”
I’m also laughing because it makes me think about how often the Google Play Store gives me a persistent tap on the shoulder while saying, “Hey Crystal, you look like someone who would really enjoy “Goat Simulator.” But then, that’s only one of many they think I’d enjoy, but still… Did they see my pictures from Goats on the Roof in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, or did they hear that one of my favorite restaurants there is “Local Goat“?
I haven’t actually downloaded it yet, but I asked Gemini about the game. It says it’s basically this cliché turned into a game: An absolute, unbridled, ragdoll physics mayhem.
The algorithm clearly thinks I need a daily dose of pure, nonsensical chaos, and I can’t exactly say it’s wrong! I mean, don’t we all just need to let go and be silly sometimes? So, what does it truly mean to “act the giddy goat”? It turns out, that delightful barnyard cliché has a surprisingly fun, head-spinning history.
From Divine Madness to the Barnyard
While the modern phrase might feel perfectly suited to the madness of a video game goat bouncing on a trampoline, the linguistic roots run far more serious and much deeper. To “act the giddy goat” is a colloquial gem, primarily British and Irish in flavor, that means to behave foolishly, play the clown, or carry on without restraint. It first became a popular idiom in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but the component words have been doing their own unique dance for hundreds of years.
The real surprise is in the etymology of “giddy.” It actually originated from the Old English word “gidig,” which literally translated to “possessed by a god” or mad. It described a frantic, intense, and often dangerous level of frenzy. Over time, the divine madness definition softened. By the Middle Ages, “gidig” was describing simple physical dizziness or lightheadedness. Centuries later, it settled comfortably into the meaning we often associate with it today: slightly silly, lighthearted, and excitable.
Combine that evolving “giddiness” with goats—creatures clearly designed to be chaotic acrobats like Gabby, renowned for sudden, joyful, frantic sideways leaps and head-butts—and you have the perfect expression for someone whose common sense has, at least for a delightful moment or two, left the building.
But when you think about goats, sometimes their “giddiness” looks a little… different. You can’t talk about funny goat antics without thinking about screaming goats, goat yoga, and the dramatic swooning of the Tennessee Fainting Goat. Because of a genetic oddity, they just comically go stiff as a board whenever they get scared or excited. And boy did I find a lot of videos of them!
Fainting Goat Videos
Letting Go(at)…
One of the videos I watched had some African visitors to America looking for goat meat and finding a farm with fainting goats. They mentioned how those same goats at their home would become quick meals for hyenas. It made me think of how we humans, when faced with things that startle or surprise us, might also freeze in our anxieties. But freezing could put us at risk of attack from the enemy of our souls, so we need to do like many of the goats and get up quickly. Maybe even get in a quick scream.
But the true giddy goat reminds us of the value of periodic folly. Taking ourselves too seriously all the time can be a fast track to burnout and spiritual stiffness. Scripture reminds us that a cheerful heart has a continual feast, and sometimes the most healing thing we can do is smile at our own awkwardness. Munch down that stubborn homework or tin can, jump up on a picnic table, and just enjoy a little random silliness. Which makes me think I really should try that game. Have you tried it? What do you think?
On the more serious side of things, I may have mentioned the devotion by a writer friend (Harriet E Michael) who was a missionary kid in Nigeria. I can’t recall which of her books mentions her complaint to her father about why God calls His followers sheep when all she saw growing up were smart goats and stupid sheep. Her father gently reminded her that goats are fine on their own, but sheep need a shepherd. And if we’ve become a wooden goat or a giddy goat for a time, we need to always come back home and find our true identities in being sheep that belong to Our Shepherd.
John 10:14 BSB
[14] I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me,
https://bible.com/bible/3034/jhn.10.14.BSB
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Cliché Month: When the Cat’s Away, the Mice Will Play 🐈⬛🐁
We Love Our Black “Galaxy” Kitty
In honor of National Black Cat Appreciation Day, I couldn’t help but think about how our sleek, shadowed feline companions get a bad reputation—mostly as symbols of superstition. But if you’ve ever known a black cat, especially a tuxedo cat, you know how not-scary they actually are.
Currently, we have a black feral who won’t come in the house, won’t sit on our laps, and gets a bit haughty if she sees us feed another neighborhood cat, but she lives here most of the time. We call her Galaxy because of the white cluster of fur on her chest, sort of like a spinning space galaxy. She likes to be scritched, and sometimes, she will even jump up on the front porch glider and sit close (but not too close) while “making biscuits” in the air. We feel a strong victory when we get her to enjoy our company like that.
But When The Cat’s Away…
The core sentiment of this cliché originated in medieval Latin: “Dum felis dormit, mus gaudet et exsilit antro” (“When the cat sleeps, the mouse leaves its hole, rejoicing”). By the early 14th century, the French had framed it as “Ou chat na rat regne” (“Where there is no cat, the rat is king”), emphasizing the immediate shift in control. In 1599, William Shakespeare referenced the concept in Henry V, pointing out that an unguarded territory invites chaos by “playing the mouse in absence of the cat.”
The common denominator is, of course, that the mouse is very happy to have the house (or castle) all to itself. And after our last indoor cat left to cross the rainbow bridge in January of 2023, we experienced exactly what happens when you have no cats and a closed storage room with a window. (Actually, we still don’t know where they got in.)
After that experience, I’ve thought very strongly about getting another indoor cat to dissuade any new critters from moving in during the cold winter, but thankfully, we haven’t seen evidence of them for awhile.
What Kinds of People Play Cat and Mouse Games?
Real character isn’t proven when authority is standing in the room taking notes; it’s proven in the unchecked moments when nobody is looking over our shoulder. What we are on the inside will eventually come out in our words and our behaviors. Scripture says…
Luke 6:45 BSB
[45] The good man brings good things out of the good treasure of his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil treasure of his heart. For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/luk.6.45.BSB
Mice may be small, but they make big choices to invade, chew, nest, and poop (yuck) when they think they can get away with it. Some people also make big choices in the abundance of little things they do without caring how they affect the big picture. I think it’s actually that big-picture care that speaks most about the integrity of a person.
I found so many quotes about integrity and character, that I could never share them all with you. But here are a few I like:
“Character is built by thousands of small choices.”
“Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us.” — Thomas Paine
“Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking.” — H. Jackson Brown Jr.
The Apostle Paul spoke of character to the Ephesian slaves (working class) in how they should obey their bosses…
Ephesians 6:6-7 BSB
[6] And do this not only to please them while they are watching, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.
[7] Serve with good will, as to the Lord and not to men,
https://bible.com/bible/3034/eph.6.6-7.BSB
But God Even Loves the Mice
My annual Bible study has had me in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah this week, and I’ve been amazed at the progression of the people as they learn about God’s law and about His grace. They’ve been in bondage due to sin and ignorance, so someone finds the Torah and begins reading it to the people. Many are moved to begin obeying it. This is followed by testimony of all the ways the people have abandoned The Lord and how, when things went bad, they would come back to Him. And what did He do? Over and over again, He forgave them and provided ways for them to come back into His holy presence.
There were some that just refused to be changed, whether by the law or by grace, and they made the prophet so angry that he beat them. But that’s an effect a person with no integrity can have on a person with integrity. They can push your buttons until you feel like pulling your hair out, or doing like the prophet and pulling out their hair. And when their lack of caring causes them to reject The Almighty, it feels even worse.
In case you want to see what The Bible Project says about these 2 Bible books, here’s their message on that subject:
But the goal of personal and spiritual growth is self-governance: deciding for and in ourselves that we WANT to do the right thing simply because it IS the right thing. We move beyond the fear of whether the “cat” is home or away, and we treat every moment as if we want to make the “cat” happy and proud. And we grasp the reality that God knows our (mouse) form and yet He still loves and forgives us. Now that’s a reason to get excited that we have freedom and time to play.
Psalm 103:14 BSB
[14] For He knows our frame; He is mindful that we are dust.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/psa.103.14.BSB
I’ll wrap up with these encouraging words from Hebrews…
Hebrews 4:14-16 BSB
[14] Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we profess. [15] For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin. [16] Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/heb.4.14-16.BSB
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Cliché Month: A Walk in the Park
Sometimes, a day or an effort may seem super easy. Other times, what we’re asked to do can be excruciatingly difficult. But no matter how easy or difficult it is, the one thing we don’t want is for someone else to think it will work the same for us as it does for them.
For example, an experienced baker may be asked to do something that, for them, is literally as easy as pie. If you asked me to bake a pie, I could do it, but it may or may not be easy. If I make an easy pie, it is usually a no bake something with a cream cheese filling and a graham cracker crust. 😋
Still, most of us have had moments that could be called a walk in the park. We often use that phrase to describe something effortless, easy, and free of any stress at all. We can see ourselves skipping through the task like we would skip through a park filled with greenery, beauty, sunshine, and even a light Spring breeze. 🏞️
Where Did “A Walk in the Park” Come From?
The idiom emerged in American English during the early-to-mid 20th century. Urban public parks were originally designed as tranquil, landscaped escapes from crowded, noisy industrial city streets. Because strolling down a level, paved park path required virtually no exertion or hazard, the phrase naturally evolved into slang for any task that was delightfully easy or uncomplicated.
The Path of Real Peace
Though our daily responsibilities are rarely effortless, we don’t have to carry the fatigue alone. 1 Peter, Chapter 5, puts it this way:
1 Peter 5:7 BSB
[7] Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/1pe.5.7.BSB
Stepping onto God’s path and walking with Him allows us to trade our striving for His steady guidance and true restoration:
Psalm 23:2-3 BSB
[2] He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.
[3] He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for the sake of His name.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/psa.23.2-3.BSB
May your steps be light, unhurried, and peaceful today. 🕊️👣
I’m a little sleepy today, so I got a little more help from Gemini. It’s starting to write more like me, but I still read and edit carefully like I would do in a human collaboration. Still, it was very helpful tonight.
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🎵Cliché Month: Stop and Smell the Roses 🌹
It seems like everything is a rush and a hurry these days. The chaos of trying to do all, be all, and have all keeps us striving on a regular basis. But does it bring the results we truly long for, like contentment and peace and happiness? And if not, how do we get there?
I think taking a detour that leads to someplace beautiful could be a great start.
Where Did “Stop and Smell the Roses” Come From?
While the sentiment feels timeless and like we’ve been hearing it forever, this modern idiom is often traced—not so far back—to professional golfer Walter Hagen. In his 1956 autobiography, The Walter Hagen Story, he wrote a famous piece of advice: “You’re only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry. Don’t worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way.”
I guess many people’s favorite flowers are roses, so over the decades, popular culture refined “the flowers” into “the roses.” Eventually, it turned into a universal shorthand for slowing down to appreciate the blessing of the present and whatever is going on in the moment. Even though my favorite flower is the carnation, somehow Stop and smell the carnations doesn’t have the same ring to it. 😉
It’s a Blessing to Focus on What Matters
When the pace of life becomes overwhelming, stopping isn’t just about freezing in place; it is an intentional act of redirecting our thoughts toward sensing all the goodness around us. Thinking, seeing, hearing, touching, and smelling all take just enough time to help us focus on the moment. King David needed a break like this during his time of exile:
Psalm 143:5-6 BSB
[5] I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your works; I consider the work of Your hands. [6] I stretch out my hands to You; my soul thirsts for You like a parched land. Selah
https://bible.com/bible/3034/psa.143.5-6.BSB
Taking that mental detour allows us to shift our gaze from the chaos of our schedules to the steady faithfulness of our Almighty Creator.
Releasing the Worry of the Rush
Much of our rushing is driven by the anxious belief that if we don’t hold everything together ourselves, things will fall apart. Anxiety isn’t just a topic on commercials advertising some new pharmaceutical relief; it’s a very real part of many lives. Even Christians with all the reasons in life to be at peace often struggle.
I don’t think I’ve shared yet about my diagnosis of severe PTSD (found when I was tested for Adult ADHD), but it has had effects on my health and in getting things done more than once. At the same time, I feel that God has given me experiences to recall and meditate on to bring balance. One of those was a trip to Niagara Falls almost 30 years ago. And it’s a story about the falls themselves that builds my peace and trust in The Lord.
Niagara Falls Erosion and Geology tells about the cracks that led to a couple major collapses at the American Falls with the major one in 1954 taking chunks of the viewing platform and railings at Prospect Point.
On my visit, I heard the story, so when I looked over the edges and saw the piled chunks of cement with pieces of the old railings sticking out, it made it very real for me. What makes it have balance is knowing how the falls became so much stronger as that collapse leaned against the crestline of the American Falls that still stands firm. And not only strength, but white water beauty was added to the scene as well.
Jesus reminds us that He is The One who governs our lives and plans to bring strength and beauty from them as well. And He gives us reason to lean into Him instead of collapsing into worry and grasping with white knuckles a railing that may not promise the safety we seek. He says…
Luke 12:25-27 BSB
[25] Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? [26] So if you cannot do such a small thing, why do you worry about the rest? [27] Consider how the lilies grow: They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory was adorned like one of these.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/luk.12.25-27.BSB
If God clothes the delicate petals of a bloom with such care, we can safely pause our striving and trust Him with our days and our moments—and with our whole lives.
An Invitation to Rest in YahShua
Ultimately, pausing to notice beauty clears away the mental clutter at least long enough to hear our Savior speak. He speaks most in His written Word, so while you’re stopped to sense the blessings around you, pick up a Bible and find great and precious promises to give you new strength:
Matthew 11:28 BSB
[28] Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/mat.11.28.BSB
Whether it is literally taking a beat to stop and breathe deeply while you walk in a garden, or simply turning your heart toward quiet gratitude in the middle of a busy week, don’t forget to take a pause today. What is one small, beautiful thing you can stop and appreciate right now?
Something I appreciate is really good song lyrics. This song by Hillary Scott & The Scott Family came from a cave-in (loss of a baby by miscarriage) in her own life. May the lyrics speak to you, readers, as you need them.
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Cliché Month: Time to Recharge Our Batteries
Shabbat Shalom Y’all (and All Y’all). I haven’t done a blog break this month because there are so many great clichés to bring out, so for this Sabbath, I asked Google Gemini to give me ideas that worked with the rest and rejuvenation of a Sabbath weekend.
I know it could be our batteries, your batteries, or my batteries, and it still means the same thing, so I wanted this to go out to all my readers to wish you a great recharge and restful weekend, especially if you’re in the USA or anywhere else with a strong heat wave.
Where Did “Recharge Your Batteries” Come From?
Unlike ancient agricultural idioms or biblical proverbs, “recharge your batteries” is a modern industrial metaphor applied to an ancient human need; the need to rest and recharge before continuing to move forward. Even God knew we’d need to recharge, which is why we have Sabbath and why YahShua (Jesus) said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” For this idiom, its history follows the rise of electrical technology before entering everyday speech:
- The Technical Precursor (1859–1900s): French physicist Gaston Planté invented the first rechargeable lead-acid battery in 1859, followed by Thomas Edison’s nickel-iron battery in 1901. For decades, “recharging batteries” was strictly an engineering term used for telegraph lines, submarines, and early electric vehicles.
- The Metaphorical Shift (1920s–1930s): As consumer radios, automobiles, and flashlights became standard household staples, the concept of a “run-down battery” needing to be plugged in to restore power entered popular culture.
- Documented Print Debut (1930s–1940s): By the late 1930s and through World War II, newspapers and military dispatches began using the phrase figuratively to describe weary workers, executives, and soldiers taking leave to rest before returning to duty.
So without adding any other pictures or song references, here are some ideas for your own personal recharge over the hot weekend. This list is fully from Gemini, so I could rest a bit as well. And I love the idea of the cool water foot soak. Comment below if any of these work for you.
Sabbath Recharge: Staying Cool in Extreme Heat
- Host a “Living Room Picnic”: Spread out a blanket inside under the A/C or a direct fan. Have a simple lunch of sandwiches, fruit, and snacks, avoiding any cooking that adds heat to the house.
- Themed Hydro-Sipping: Make staying hydrated feel special by infusing large pitchers of ice water with cucumber, mint, lemon, or frozen berries.
- Cool Feet, Cool Body: Place a shallow basin of cool water by the sofa or a comfortable chair and soak your feet for 15–20 minutes. It is an incredibly fast way to lower your overall body temperature.
- Low-Light Sanctuary: Pull the shades and curtains tight during the hottest hours of the day (noon to 4 PM). It creates a calming, sanctuary-like atmosphere while significantly blocking solar heat gain.
- The Afternoon Audiobook or Podcast: Instead of active reading, simply lay down, close your eyes, and listen to a peaceful audiobook, a podcast about rest, or a relaxing scripture playlist.
- A Taste of Winter: Pull something pre-made from the freezer, like a chilled soup (gazpacho), pre-cut frozen fruit chunks (grapes or banana slices), or enjoy a simple icy treat like a popsicle or a scoop of ice cream.
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🎵Cliché Month: The Left Hand Didn’t Know What the Right Hand was Doing
by Crystal A Murray (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
I didn’t grow up attending a parochial school where students had their knuckles slapped for writing with their left hands, though even if I had, it wouldn’t have mattered for me since I’m thoroughly right-handed. In fact, I only crossed paths with a few left-handers throughout my life until I met my husband, a born-and-bred southpaw. (And, no, right-handers are not called northpaws.🤔)
With August 13th marking International Left-Handers Day, it felt like the perfect opportunity to celebrate him and his unique trait that belongs to only about 10 to 12 percent of the world’s population. It also got me thinking about how much strange, unfair baggage has been historically tied to the left side—and the famous clichés and idioms that followed.
In everyday work and planning, we all know the frustration when the left hand has no idea what the right hand is doing. Tasks stall, wires cross, and you end up in a full-blown tug-of-war with your own to-do list. Scripture even reminds us of the practical necessity of coordination—nobody builds a tower without first sitting down to count the cost and make sure all efforts pull in the same direction.
“For which of you, wishing to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost to see if he has the resources to complete it? Otherwise, if he lays the foundation and is unable to finish the work, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was unable to finish.’”
Luke 14:28–30 (BSB)
Yet Scripture also offers a brilliant paradox in Matthew: when it comes to quiet generosity, we are instructed not to let the left hand know what the right hand is doing. In character, humility means doing good without staging a self-congratulatory parade.
“But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,”
Matthew 6:3 (BSB)
We truly need both: the intentional coordination where both hands work as a unified team, and the quiet integrity where one hand acts without demanding applause from the other.
Here’s to giving our left hands a little extra appreciation—and making sure both hands stay in sync. How about you: are you a left-hander, or married to one like me? Or maybe both? 🤲
P.S. A fun FYI for you: There’s an old trick I learned from a kid’s album many (many) years ago. If you hold your hands out in front of you with the palms facing away, when you extend your thumb to a ninety-degree angle, your left hand will create the letter “L.” Is that cool, or what?
This is a fun song with a catchy chorus, but I couldn’t find it with lyrics. Still, this is a pretty amazing ensemble singing in this video.
with Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, Brenda Lee, Kris Kristopherson, and Willie Nelson
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🎵🎬 Cliché Month: The Elephant in the Room
We’ve all been there: Gathered for a group dinner or party when that relative or friend walks through the door, dramatically sporting a new look. Maybe it’s a huge new tattoo, a noticeable facial piercing, a vibrant shock of wild neon hair, or maybe it’s a new relationship partner that no one saw coming.
Instantly, the conversation stumbles. There is a collective hush followed by a palpable second of silent checking and cross-referencing. Everyone’s gaze darts around the table, evaluating reactions without actually sharing an opinion—positive or negative—out of deep social fear that someone else in the room will disagree. The collective breath is held… and that’s when it arrives.
In that exact moment of shared paralysis, no one is just sitting at a dinner table anymore. Everyone is living out a classic, textbook example of The Elephant in the Room.
(That’s usually when everyone quits playing their White Elephant game for a while—though don’t worry, we’ll untangle that particular tradition in a bit!)
Where Did the Pachyderm Come From?
First, how did a giant mammal end up sitting on our living room furniture in the first place? 🐘
The core concept actually stretches back to an 1814 fable by Russian poet Ivan Krylov called The Inquisitive Man, which told of a museum visitor who noticed every tiny beetle and fly, but completely overlooked a massive, live elephant walking among the exhibits.
Later in 1882, Mark Twain adapted that same image for American readers in his short story Mrs. McWilliams and the Lightning, writing that an obvious truth was “as plain as an elephant in a house.”
Yet, the exact, modern phrase we use today—“the elephant in the room”—didn’t officially become a regular part of our language until the mid-20th century, first appearing in newspapers like The New York Times in 1952 before exploding into popular psychology in the 1980s as a way to talk about unaddressed family secrets. We humans, it seems, have spent over two centuries perfecting the art of ignoring the obvious!
The Psychology of Silence
The defining characteristic of an “elephant in the room” isn’t that the issue is hidden or subtle. It is the exact opposite: the issue is so glaringly obvious that everyone is aware of it. Yet, an invisible social contract keeps everyone tight-lipped.
Why do we do this? Usually, it comes from a mix of social conditioning, a fear of creating conflict, or simply waiting for someone else to speak up first. We convince ourselves that ignoring the massive problem makes it go away and hide, when in reality, the pressure to look at it only builds.
The funny thing about naming the elephant is that once someone finally has the courage to say, “So… are we going to talk about this?”, the collective sigh of relief in the room is almost deafening. Light replaces tension, and everyone can finally breathe again.
Speaking of Unwanted Elephants…
Since we’re on the subject of giant, awkward things in the room, let’s talk about a related pachyderm phrase that hits close to home—especially for those of us in writer’s groups or holiday parties that host a annual White Elephant Gift Exchange like we do in my local LCW group!
Have you ever wondered where that term came from? The history is surprisingly brilliant (and a bit petty).
Legend has it that in ancient Siam (modern-day Thailand), rare albino elephants were considered sacred royal property. Because they were sacred, they couldn’t be put to actual labor. If a noble or royal official displeased the King, the monarch would reportedly bestow a magnificent White Elephant upon them as a “gift.”
On paper, it looked like a high honor. In reality? Feeding, housing, and maintaining a non-working, giant, sacred beast was so astronomically expensive that the gift would completely ruin the recipient financially! It was a passive-aggressive masterpiece: a gift that was far more trouble and expense than it was worth, and one you couldn’t possibly get rid of.
Today, we’ve repurposed that royal headache into a fun holiday tradition where we swap quirky, useless, or eccentric items—hoping to pass off our own “white elephants” to a willing friend. And when we add “stealing” to the mix, it becomes quite comedic to watch the few really good gifts make their way into many hands before their final homes are decided.
Honoring the Real Giants
Since August 12th is World Elephant Day, it’s worth stepping away from our human idioms for a moment to celebrate the real animals behind these two (and more) proverbs. Elephants are extraordinary creatures. They are deeply empathetic, protective of their herds, and blessed with incredible long-term memories that keep their families safe through changing landscapes.
Truthfully, the only thing that makes a proverbial elephant in the room anything like the real thing is sheer size. They are certainly more majestic than most of the subjects we may be trying to avoid. So, I guess a way we can honor them as more than just large creatures is to become bigger (metaphorically) like they are and just stampede right over our fears of telling the truth. Directness paired with grace is always the best path forward. Let’s talk about the elephant in the room, or maybe just watch this clip from Hatari with adorable baby elephants and the fun Henry Mancini orchestration of “The Baby Elephant Walk” song:
Lots of help from Gemini on this one, so here’s a shout of thanks for the helpful collaboration. And one final bit of fun, can you tell whether this elephant is real or not?
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🎵Cliché Month: A Stitch in Time Saves Nine
A Stitch in Time Saves Nine—Or Ten, or Eleven…
It’s one of those old-school clichés we’ve heard a thousand times, usually repeated when we’re putting something off or just at the beginning of a problem when someone is warning us to stop things before they get any worse.
🪡Originating back in the early 18th century, the wisdom was pure and practical common sense: fix a tiny tear in a garment right when it appears. Then, it only takes a single thread. But if it is left to unravel, the cost is greater in multiple ways. It means spending exponentially more time, and it means many times the stitches or patching a massive rip later on.
Folk Origins
The first recorded printing of this idiom was in 1732. Thomas Fuller, an English physician and writer, used the phrase in his 1732 compilation titled Gnomologia: Adagies and Proverbs; Wise Sentences and Witty Sayings, Ancient and Modern, Foreign and British. In the original phrasing, Fuller actually recorded it as: “A stitch in time may save nine.”
Because Gnomologia was a collection of existing regional sayings and folk wisdom, we know Fuller didn’t invent the phrase himself—he collected it from oral tradition. Like most classic proverbs, it emerged organically from daily working-class speech rather than from a single famous author.
Why Nine?
“Nine” wasn’t chosen for exact mathematical precision—it serves two specific functions:
Rhyme & Rhythm (Mnemonic Device): The slant rhyme between “time” and “nine” was intentionally used to make the advice catchier and easier to remember.
Exaggeration/Scale: In English folklore and proverb traditions, “nine” frequently represented a substantial or magical multiplier (e.g., a cat has nine lives, cloud nine, a nine days’ wonder). It simply signified “a whole lot more effort later.”
The High Cost of Clothing
In the 18th century, textiles and garments were completely handmade. That meant they were extremely labor-intensive—and costly. Most people owned very few clothing items, and keeping them usable for as long as possible was a necessity.
The Mechanics of Fabric: Hand-woven fabrics under tension (like work clothes) can unravel quickly once a single thread breaks. Catching that loose thread right away required just one quick stitch—hence the literal advice to act before the entire seam gave way.
Simple Advice
It’s brilliant, simple advice… that almost none of us actually follow on the first try.
Enter procrastination. The word itself stems from the Latin procrastinare—combining pro- (“forward”) and crastinus (“belonging to tomorrow,” from cras). It literally means pushing today’s responsibilities into tomorrow’s territory. But let’s be real: just because the word starts with “pro,” doesn’t mean it’s a pro-level life strategy! 😁
Many of us play that familiar mental game of handing off today’s small, tedious tasks to our future selves. We convince ourselves that “Tomorrow Me” will magically possess boundless energy, pristine focus, and unlimited motivation. So we leave the box in the hallway, skip the small errand, or ignore the growing pile in the corner.
In reality, though, procrastination is just high-interest debt we charge to our future selves. What starts as a minor, easy-to-ignore delay slowly compounds over time. Before you know it, those few skipped “stitches” snowball into a full-scale, all-hands-on-deck effort like I’ve previously described as my Operation Cleanout.
So, what about you? What small “stitches” are you currently leaving for “Tomorrow You”—and why?
My Take
We’ve all heard the golden rule of organization: “Never touch an item twice—deal with it immediately.”
That sounds great on paper, right? But if I’m being completely honest, that rule has never worked for me, no matter how hard I’ve tried. Picking something up only to realize I don’t have the time or energy (or desire) to handle it right now just leads to moving it from one surface to another; one pile to another; or one room (or closet) to another. That’s when you begin to feel like your stuff is more in control of you than you are of it
The real secret isn’t learning how to handle things instantly; it’s learning not to pick them up in the first place until you’re actually ready to act on them.
That’s easier said than done in the digital age. While our digital devices are fantastic at compiling all those previously forgotten thoughts into one place, they are equally great at adding unwanted extra layers to every piece. The digital services mix all the ingredients into a lovely cake, but the notifications pile on so much extra icing that you can barely find the slice underneath!
This is the world for most of us now: Constant pings, live notifications, social media updates, and endless emails. We get pulled into opening messages and checking alerts out of curiosity or habit. The next thing you know, we’ve accumulated a mental inbox of things we want to know about but simply don’t have the emotional bandwidth to act on in that moment. Our FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) makes every read-wait-read notification become another thread pulling on our already tense and worn attention span.
Don’t Lose Hope
The positive turnaround isn’t about beating yourself up over a growing pile or an overflowing inbox. It’s about adding small, deliberate tasks that you know you can accomplish to reduce the overwhelm of so many tasks that feel impossible. When we protect our attention, by refusing to “pick up” an email or task until we actually have the time to process it, we stop generating false stitches that need fixing later. Getting a friend—like the wonderful friend I’ve been blessed with—to help you refocus on one pile or box at a time makes more of a difference than I can put into words. And I never knew just how much I needed her until she volunteered her time and her heart to partner with me in getting victory over my unravelling seams.
Some One Stitch Ideas You Can Use (Compliments of Google’s Gemini)
- Audit Your Digital Gateways: Turn off non-essential social media and app notifications so you aren’t continually tempted to “pick up” messages before you have the time and desire to process them.
- The Two-Minute Rule: If a task takes under two minutes (like hanging up a coat, replying to a quick text, or rinsing a plate), do it immediately before it enters your “tomorrow” pile.
- Process Inboxes in Batches: Schedule specific, dedicated windows during the day to check and respond to email rather than leaving your inbox open continuously as a distraction engine.
- Leave Things “Ready to Act”: If you know you aren’t ready to address a physical project or document, leave it completely untouched at its origin point rather than moving it halfway into your active workspace.
- The Nightly Five-Minute Reset: Spend five minutes before bed clearing off just one primary surface (like your desk or kitchen counter) so you start the next day with clean momentum instead of leftover debt.
- (My addition) Forgive yourself even while not excusing yourself. It’s okay to be an imperfect human. Just learn which imperfections create more chaos than peace, and gift yourself the effort it takes to get victory over them.
Biblical Wisdom on Diligence & Today’s Actions
Scripture frequently reminds us of the value of stewardship of our time, prompt actions, and the subtle dangers of letting small delays accumulate into overwhelming burdens:
Proverbs 27:1 BSB
[1] Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/pro.27.1.BSB
That Proverb reminds us that “Tomorrow You” is built on an illusion of guaranteed time, encouraging us to honor the moments and capacity we have right now.
Ecclesiastes 9:10 BSB
[10] Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/ecc.9.10.BSB
This Ecclesiastes verse emphasizes wholehearted focus when we choose to engage with a task. Doing it with intentional energy prevents half-hearted efforts that require fixing later on.
Proverbs 24:33-34 BSB
[33] A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, [34] and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and need like a bandit.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/pro.24.33-34.BSB
Solomon’s classic warning here highlights how overwhelming chaos and clutter rarely arrive in a single huge event; they creep in quietly through a series of tiny, repeated delays—the exact “unraveled seam” our cliché warns against.
One Day at a Time
I’ll close with this music I feel is totally perfect for all the stitches we may need to do in life. Whether it’s the stitch that saves nine, or the stitches to repair the torn seams, we still only have today to take care of them. And this version changed the lyrics on one line and made it even more fitting. Where the original says “violence and crime,” this one says, “crowding my mind.”
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Cliché Month: Beauty is Only Skin Deep; plus Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder
I’m bringing you two related clichés today because they are parts along the same line of looking at real beauty vs false beauty. I write from the point of view of someone who’s never really liked what she saw in the mirror, though I haven’t hated what I see either. It just always seemed like most others were prettier than me. There have been moments where I fixed myself up into something I was more pleased with, but even those never made me feel gorgeous or beautiful.
On the other hand, my acceptance of being more plain than those “real” beauties in my life has driven me to develop inner beauty. Caring how others feel, trying to be helpful to almost everyone, and freely talking about my various failures in life to make sure no one feels like I think I’m better than them has always been among my goals. Even with winning behaviors or skills, if they made someone else feel loss, it took the wind right out of my sails. (Hmm, that’s another cliché, huh?)
Sometime during my travels with the photo studio, a TV was on with a show called Monsters. The episode I watched back then (around 1990) has stuck with me for years even though I didn’t actually know the show or what the episode was called until a few weeks of deep searching gave me the result: Season 2, episode 23, called “The Bargain.” I’ve linked to it on YouTube, but the summary goes like this:
A woman owns a bookstore and has feelings for a customer who doesn’t seem to feel the same. She decides it’s because she’s plain, so when she sees an ad for a new face, she calls the number. Her new face is beautiful but comes with a few prices. In the end, the woman with her old face gets the guy who’d been in love with her inner beauty all along, so she lost everything by focusing on the outer shell. I guess this actually goes a little with yesterday’s cliché to not judge a book by its cover as well.
Now, the second cliché makes a similar point, and the illustration of it is shown perfectly in the old Twilight Zone episode called Eye of the Beholder from season 1, episode 39. But I was unable to find that in a full original episode without commentary. I have linked to the unveiling moment in the remake from 2002 since the point is still shown, and the videography still pulls off some of the tricks of the original.
If you haven’t seen it, I don’t want to spoil this one, so I’ll just tell you that it’s an episode about a woman who has plastic surgery to “fix” her face to give her the beauty of those around her. The surgery fails and the lights come on to reveal that beauty—both hers and others—is not exactly what most expect it to be.
On a side note, if you watch (or rewatch) this full episode, pay attention to the amazing use of shadows and camera angles that hide the actual faces of the cast until the reveal at about 16 minutes in. The strength of the film is in the audio until the lights come on, and you never realize something is being purposely hidden from the audience. It’s done brilliantly.
So how do we look at the world when we’ve been so trained to judge on outward appearances and yet somehow know they are not the answer? The Bible speaks to this in three different ways.
Proverbs 31:30 BSB
[30] Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/pro.31.30.BSB
1 Samuel 16:7 BSB
[7] But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him; the Lord does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the Lord sees the heart.”
https://bible.com/bible/3034/1sa.16.7.BSB
1 Peter 3:3-4 BSB
[3] Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair or gold jewelry or fine clothes, [4] but from the inner disposition of your heart, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in God’s sight.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/1pe.3.3-4.BSB
Each of us should work on our inner beauty, and we should also strive to see the inner beauty of others. It is that true beauty that will allow us to make genuine connections to each other; connections so strong that they supercede any abundance or lack of external beauty.
This message is portrayed beautifully in the Pure Flix movie called “A Hot Cocoa Christmas” (formerly called “Much Ado About Christmas”) and one I highly recommend is worth renting. I wish I could find the karaoke scene that shows the connection between the couple, but here’s the trailer for the whole movie:
Just imagine a world where the insides truly mean more than the outsides to most people. No more harming others because they’re wearing the shoes someone else thinks they deserve; no more attacking people because of any outward display (age, race, gender, etc.) someone dislikes; no more graffiti and damage to the outsides of buildings or cars or wherever people feel their appearances need to be made; and people dedicated to bringing out the best in others, so their inner beauty can shine. All that would be Heavenly. Dream with me, and let your own inner beauty sparkle. ✨🤩
Shout out to both Google Gemini and Microsoft Copilot for helping me find the info for that old show and for pointing out the symmetry arc my mind naturally found by looking at these three sources to present my points.
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Cliché Month: Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover
Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover
That’s the classic advice we celebrate for National Book Lovers Day on August 9th of each year since 1995. Note: The link goes to a page for 2023, but it’s the only one that gave a history. It also has some great quotes about reading like…
“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.” – George R.R. Martin
Appearances can be deceiving, though, and the true value of any story lies within the content of its pages. I agree… especially if that book happens to be a recipe book.
That makes my mind immediately jump to that classic Twilight Zone episode, “To Serve Man.” The Earth welcomed nine-foot-tall alien visitors called the Kanamits with open arms, largely because of a book they left behind with that noble-sounding title. Humanity judged the book entirely by its cover! Spoiler alert: If anyone had taken the time to actually peruse the pages inside—and decode a bit of the Kanamit language first—they would have realized long before it was too late that it wasn’t a manual for goodwill… it was a cookbook, and humans were the main course. 🙃 Here’s a quick clip from the episode:
The Proof in the Pudding
Thankfully, the recipe books in my home don’t require a government cryptographer to decipher, and their intentions are far more wholesome!
Whether it’s a cookbook, an instruction book, or a novel, every bookworm knows that the proof isn’t just in the reading—it’s in the application. What do you do with the words you read? A quote I’ve always liked says…
If all else fails, read the instructions — attributed to Agnes Allen.
When I first saw that quote over 40 years ago, it was appended by the followup instruction: And if that doesn’t work, follow them. That’s great advice since all the pretty recipe pictures and yummy ingredients won’t mean nearly as much if they’re never matched with a bowl and a mixing spoon. The Bible puts it this way:
James 1:22 BSB
[22] Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/jas.1.22.BSB
Once you make a cozy bowl from a trusted set of instructions, the true value of that book is undeniably in the taste. As another idiom says, The proof is in the pudding. (Which is wonderfully convenient, since August 9th is also National Rice Pudding Day!)
Turning the Page with Comfort Food
This is actually a perfect mashup of holidays—nourishment for the soul and nourishment for the body. One of the many “Today is special because…” sites I visited mentioned that most bibliophiles have more unread books than read books. I resemble that remark. 😁 And that even includes recipe books. That’s partly because I’m more apt to play in the kitchen and try to create something than I am to follow a detailed recipe.
For example, I’ve never made rice pudding, but one of my favorite experiments while looking for ways to sweeten food without sugar resulted in making fried apples with banana. Here’s a picture:
by Crystal A Murray (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
By caramelizing the bananas and butter directly into apples already sizzling with butter and cinnamon, you get the absolute perfect sweetness without needing added sugar. (Just a tiny touch from the vanilla bean paste!)
Tasty Fried Apples with Banana
- Apples ( I Prefer Honeycrisp Plus One Fuji or Gala; Peeled and Sliced)
- Banana (Mashed)
- Butter (Generous Amount Based on How Many Apples)
- Ground Cinnamon (To Taste; I Recommend Ceylon over Cassia)
- Vanilla Bean Paste (To Taste/About ¼ TSP)
- Optional Misc Spices Like Nutmeg and Allspice (To Taste)
- Optional Topping (Toasted Oats, Flax, Toasted Pecans, etc.)
Instructions: Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced apples, cinnamon, and a touch of vanilla bean paste, and a little water for steam. Cover and simmer until the apples begin to soften and caramelize. In another skillet, add the bananas and mash them with butter until they create a puree. Mix the puree with the caramelized apples and allow the whole mix to brown and caramelize a little more.
Serving Suggestion: Spoon into oven-safe bowls and sprinkle with your chosen topping. Put in a warm oven until time to serve. In my picture, you’ll notice I decorated the bowls with some thin slices of banana before adding the topping. But it was fine without the banana slices or crunchy topping. I think I was just trying to get a fancier picture like my efforts using 2 cutting boards. Whatever your method, please come back and add a comment to let me know you’ve tried them and what you think. Hubby used to like them better than most of those served in restaurants, but he cannot have any banana anymore. (Potassium is a no-no without kidneys.)
And with that, I bid you good reading and good eating. 📚🍮
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Cliché Month: Raining Cats and Dogs
Raining Cats and Dogs: The Truth Behind the Downpour
I’ve always been a cat person, but I’ve had some special dogs in my life as well. The first one I remember was Kute Kitty Kolleen of Keswick. She was a very red Irish Setter, and I was told she put up with me teething on her nose. (Yuck!?) I do not recall my teething days, but I sure loved that dog and her puppy Kollette. They both lived with my grandparents. I’ll save the other dog memories for National Dog Day on the 26th of this month.
With August 8th marking International Cat Day and the entire month of August celebrated as National Dog Month. (Wait, cats only get one day and dogs get a whole month? Not fair!) Both of our favorite four-legged companions are sharing the spotlight for this blog. That makes it feel like the perfect moment to dive into one of the most famous pet-centric sayings in the English language: “raining cats and dogs.”
The Slippery Roof Myth
At some point, I heard the story behind the cliché. The legend states that back in the 1500s, homes had thick thatched roofs made of straw and reeds. Cats, dogs, and other small animals would climb up to sleep in the thatch for warmth. Then, during torrential downpours, the wet thatch would get slippery or cave in—literally raining pets through the ceiling and into the living room!
It’s an amusing visual, and one I thought of immediately upon deciding to use this cliché, but it turns out that linguistic historians have largely debunked it. A properly constructed thatched roof was a foot or more thick and tightly packed, so even an abundance of rain wouldn’t send sleeping critters tumbling through the ceiling.
So, where did the phrase actually come from? While its official origin remains mysterious, historians point to two far more likely roots:
- Norse Mythology: In ancient Norse lore, dogs were symbols of the wind (associated with Odin, the storm god), while cats represented heavy rain and atmospheric turbulence (tied to Freyja, whose chariot was pulled by cats). A fierce storm of howling wind and driving rain was figuratively called “dogs for the wind, cats for the rain.”
- 17th-Century City Streets: In 1600s London, poor drainage meant that sudden, severe rainstorms created heavy street flooding. The rushing runoff would sweep up debris and, tragically, stray animals that hadn’t survived the storm, making it look to people passing by as though they had literally fallen from the sky.
Raining Dogs and… Polecats?
Early variations of the phrase in the 1650s actually described severe downpours as “raining dogs and polecats” before settling into the catchy pairing we use today.
Fun Fact: Wait, isn’t a polecat a skunk?
If you grew up in North America hearing “polecat” used to describe a skunk, you’re not alone! But when 17th-century English writers wrote about “polecats,” they were referring to the European polecat (Mustela putorius)—a wild, agile cousin of the ferret. When European settlers arrived in the Americas and encountered skunks, they saw a similarly sized, dark-furred animal with a potent scent gland and borrowed the name “polecat” as slang.
Rain Chaos and Muddy Footprints 🐾
It’s funny all the directions a mind can run from one little thought!
About pets and weather, isn’t it amusing how these idioms stack up? You’d think if it were literally raining cats and dogs, they’d be fighting like cats and dogs just to scramble for cover and get out of the deluge!
Unlike the disciplined ants in the old children’s rhyme (another thought direction altogether,) who politely march one by one, hurrah, hurrah to get out of the rain, a sudden downpour usually brings pure chaos when pets are involved.
So if it rains for you this month, I don’t think you’ll find any cats or dogs falling from the sky, but you may get wet neighborhood cats showing up on your porch for food. Here’s a collage with 4 of our rainbow bridge kitties who were indoor-only cats (2013) plus 4 of the outdoor cats who used to show up at feeding time (2022). We still have 3 of them showing up in 2026.
by Crystal A Murray (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
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🎵 Cliché Month: Any Port in a Storm 🛟
As August 7th celebrates National Lighthouse Day, I thought about the first time I heard this cliché. It was after I was married to my military husband. We were discussing some of the bad decisions people make when they are searching for answers. Even though he was in the Army, he still knew this cliché as a description for ports in life that aren’t good but are better than sinking. That’s why I asked the AI to make the dock in the above image have broken planks.
Driven by Desperation
Dating back a few centuries to the age of wooden sail ships, “Any port in a storm” was a mariner’s literal reality. When pitch-black skies and violent storms threatened to overwhelm a vessel on the tossing sea, a captain couldn’t be picky about where he docked. He couldn’t wait for his home harbor or a pristine coastal resort. He had to steer into whatever harbor or rough wooden dock was closest—even if it was known for rocky shores, thieves, or dangerous currents—because a risky harbor was still better than a watery grave.
In everyday life, the phrase has come to mean taking whatever makeshift solution or shelter is available during a crisis, even if it carries its own set of risks. But as my husband noted, settling for a broken port out of fear often leads to a whole new set of troubles once the storm passes.
I’ve selected my share of dangerous ports during the storms of my life. As a teenager, a friend and I got lost while touring The Queen Mary in Long Beach, California. Our house parent left without us, and we had to take city buses at night to an apartment of someone she knew and sleep on the floor until someone could come get us the next day. Anything was better than staying out all night in the dark and dangerous city. And when I was homeless, crawling under the overhang of a building that sat behind a casino in Las Vegas was better than sleeping in a park and watching a gang beat someone up. (That happened on my first night of homelessness, so no park felt like a safe harbor after that.)
Sadly, some people select a port because it looks safe enough, or maybe the person throwing the “rope” seems genuinely helpful, but the next thing these people know, they are roped into addictions or trafficking they never saw coming. Once there, they don’t trust any lighthouse they see because they don’t know if it could be another trick. We must remember this when we reach out to minister to those who’ve made bad choices but truly want to be free.
The Rest of the Story: A Living Lighthouse
On a lighter note, I’ve got a wonderful short video for you as a quick version of a Paul Harvey episode of The Rest of the Story. It’s a fun radio throwback on the maritime legend in the story below! While Paul weaves in the American folklore of ‘Hatteras Jack’—the selfless helper who appeared at the sound of a foghorn—the real-life history of the protective law and the SS Penguin belongs to New Zealand’s famous Pelorus Jack.
The Rest of The Rest of The Story…
(Thank you to Google’s Gemini for this amazing and true story.) Sometimes, the first moments of safety don’t come from a port at all, but from an unexpected guide who will get you to the port. Between 1888 and 1912, ships navigating the treacherous, rock-strewn waters of French Pass off the coast of New Zealand relied on a famous Risso’s dolphin named Pelorus Jack.
For twenty-four years, Jack would leap through the waves, riding the bow waves of oncoming vessels and swimming ahead to lead them safely past the razor-sharp reefs. Not a single ship ever ran aground while following his lead.
In 1904, a passenger aboard the SS Penguin shot at Jack, injuring the beloved creature. Outraged, the New Zealand government passed a historic law specifically to protect Jack by name. After two weeks of healing, the dolphin returned to his post—guiding ships safely through the storm—with one legendary exception: he never guided the SS Penguin again. Whenever that ship approached, Jack vanished. Years later, while trying to navigate without their guide, the SS Penguin struck a reef and sank.
The Only True Harbor
When the tempests and trials of life hit us, it’s so easy to feel tempted to just tie up to the nearest broken dock. But while the world offers many makeshift “ports,” there is only one True Harbor of safety when the crashing waves threaten to pull us under. That safe harbor is also our Lighthouse, YahShua HaMashiach (Jesus Christ).
When you’ve docked in dangerous storms and you suddenly realize the planks beneath your feet are giving way, remember that He is the True Light shining over the rough waters, and He’s ready to guide you all the way home. Here’s what God’s Word says about His Light:
Matthew 4:16 BSB
[16] the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.”
https://bible.com/bible/3034/mat.4.16.BSB
John had only met Him when they were each in their mother’s wombs, but he knew who would soon be bringing salvation to the world.
John 1:9 BSB
[9] The true Light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/jhn.1.9.BSB
And I love this verse I found in the Psalms about God Himself guiding us into safe harbor.
Psalm 107:29-30 BSB
[29] He calmed the storm to a whisper, and the waves of the sea were hushed.
[30] They rejoiced in the silence, and He guided them to the harbor they desired.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/psa.107.29-30.BSB
Now enjoy this beautiful a capella version of I Thank God for The Lighthouse by Vocal Union…
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Cliché Month: Toe The Line 👣
Boundaries With Purpose…
Aren’t you glad the toes in this image stay lined up exactly on the line rather than crossing into the text and creating unreadable chaos? That neon yellow boundary keeps order and allows the text message to remain crisp, visible, and perfectly legible. When things cross the line, structure (even digital structure) can collapse into a messy blur.
P.S. A quick spelling alert: Because we often talk about “towing” a heavy load, many people mistakenly write this idiom as “Tow the line.” But as you can see from our neon friends above, it is strictly Toe the line—as in physically placing your feet against a boundary!
And that physical boundary is exactly where tonight’s cliché story begins…
From Deck Seams to Track Meets
While we use “toe the line” today to describe following group rules or conforming to expectations, its literal roots come from strict physical discipline.
The most widely accepted origin comes from 18th-century wooden warships. The wooden decks of Royal Navy vessels were built with long planks sealed together using black pitch and tar. When the crew was called for morning inspection or disciplinary roll call, barefoot sailors were ordered to stand in a row with their toes touching the dark seam line running along the deck.
Standing still with your toes precisely on that mark meant you were paying attention and doing exactly as told. And since obedience to command in the military is necessary for victories and to save lives, most sailors did, in fact, toe the line. Here’s an image I found at archive.org depicting an inspection of hands and feet by The Royal Navy.
by Major W. O. Carlile, published in the Illustrated London News (1873).
Public Domain.
Interestingly, Captain Basil Hall was one of the first Royal Navy officers to write down the phrase “toeing the line” in his 1831 memoirs, describing how boys on the ship were made to stand at the deck seams as a routine discipline drill or punishment.
As time went on, the practice spread:
- In Schools: children were made to line up with their toes touching a floorboard or painted stripe before entering class or answering roll call.
- In Sports: Early runners placed their shoe tips right at the starting mark. Stepping over meant instant disqualification.
In every scenario, the lesson is identical: get as close to the line as required, but don’t step over it.
A Little Wiggle Room
Which brings us to the annual August 6th celebration of National Wiggle Your Toes Day. As one website reminds us, it’s one of the easiest holidays to celebrate because it doesn’t require any special equipment or dress code. Personally, I think wiggling barefoot is best, though. 🐻🦶😁
Really, there is a fun irony in celebrating toe freedom right next to an idiom about strict obedience. Toeing the line requires keeping your feet anchored and perfectly still. But once the inspection is over, the race is run, or the school day or work is done, there’s nothing quite like kicking off your shoes and giving your toes some room to wiggle.
Sometimes, learning how to toe the line is what earns us the freedom to relax when the day is done! Apparently, it’s even a treatment for anxiety, so don’t wait for just one day a year. Free up those “piggies” and get wiggling.
And don’t forget how much obedience is mixed with blessings in God’s order of things. Here’s a message from God through Joshua to the Children of Israel…
Joshua 1:7 BSB
[7] Above all, be strong and very courageous. Be careful to observe all the law that My servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may prosper wherever you go.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/jos.1.7.BSB
Plus…
Psalm 37:23 BSB
[23] The steps of a man are ordered by the Lord who takes delight in his journey.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/psa.37.23.BSB
This one took quite a bit of research between Google, Gemini, and Archive. Big thanks to both models of Google Gemini for their collaborative help.
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Cliché Month: Don’t Spill the Beans 🫘
Don’t Spill the Beans: From Secret Ballots to Grandma’s Kitchen
Most of us know what it’s like to keep a secret. And some secrets are harder to keep to ourselves than others. Maybe a juicy piece of news, a surprise party secret, or some other plan that’s supposed to be a surprise, but a slip of the tongue can ruin the reveal. So, especially when dealing with those who just aren’t good at keeping secrets, someone might tell them, “Whatever you do, don’t spill the beans.”
It’s an everyday expression, but how on earth did legumes become the official currency of confidential information?
The Secret Ballot of the Ancient World
The most popular story behind the phrase goes all the way back to Ancient Greece—known as the birthplace of democracy. Long before paper ballots or digital voting systems, ancient Greek societies needed a simple way to hold secret votes. They decided a simple opaque urn and two distinct colors of beans would be the best solution:
* White or light-colored beans represented a “Yes” vote.
* Black or dark-colored beans represented a “No” vote.
During the voting process, voters would step up to the urn and discreetly drop their chosen bean inside. The dark jar kept their choice hidden from the crowd. The vote was meant to remain strictly confidential until every ballot was cast and official counts began.
However, if someone clumsily knocked over the container—or tipped it accidentally on purpose—the beans would scatter across the floor. The vote tally was revealed prematurely, the secret process was ruined, and the entire election had to start over. All because someone had literally spilled the beans.
Spill it, Girlfriend!
While historians note that the exact English phrase really took off as 20th-century American slang (where “spill” meant to confess a secret or talk out of turn), the ancient image of a tipped jar spilling hidden votes remains the perfect visual metaphor.
A Tipping Point in Pop Culture
When I told my husband the subject of this cliché post, the phrase instantly brought to both of our minds the classic children’s game Don’t Spill the Beans. Do you remember it? It was originally introduced by Schaper Games in 1967 and later made famous by Milton Bradley. The game took the idiom literally. Players carefully balanced small plastic beans one by one on top of a teetering red plastic pot. The goal? Steady hands and precise placement—because one wrong move sent the pot tipping over, sending plastic beans clattering across the table. Now the game is made by Hasbro, and you can get it at Amazon where you’ll notice the “beans” are flat and colorful. But it still looks fun—and frustrating. (Link uses my affiliate shortcut.)
It looks like the ancient Greeks and 1960s game designers had the exact same lesson in mind: balance is everything, and once things tip over, it creates a mess.
When Spilling the Beans Would be a Real Disaster
Thankfully, it never happened, but I shudder to think of what we would’ve missed if it did. For all the history and game-night nostalgia, when I hear this cliché, my mind skips right past ancient Greece and board games and heads straight to my grandma’s kitchen.
Back then, making a pot of pinto beans was a labor of love. Long before they ever hit the stove, Grandma would sort through them by hand, carefully picking out the tiny pebbles hidden among the dry beans. A few times, I got to help her, but she preferred doing it mostly by herself to make sure nothing got missed. Then came overnight soaking followed by hours of slow cooking, seasoned generously with a good amount of bacon grease until the whole house smelled amazing. My mouth waters just to think about it.
So, in our family, “spilling the beans” would have been a crime. After all that work sorting, seasoning, and simmering, nobody dared spill those beans—because everybody wanted to eat them! 😋 (And don’t forget the diced white onion on top.)
I’ll end this with a couple Scriptures for when God Himself will spill the beans. It’s best not to have anything to hide (unless it’s a good surprise,) but there will come a time when all things will be revealed.
Luke 12:2-3 BSB
[2] There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, and nothing hidden that will not be made known. [3] What you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the housetops.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/luk.12.2-3.BSB
Ecclesiastes 12:14 BSB
[14] For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/ecc.12.14.BSB
Many thanks to Google’s Gemini AI for the collaboration and help in finding this history of this phrase, the history of the game, and the beautiful image at the top.
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Cliché Month: Barking Up the Wrong Tree
Can you see that smug little grin on that sneaky raccoon’s face? He knows he tricked the dog into thinking he’s treed, but I’m sure the chase will be back on again shortly.
If you’ve ever put all your energy into a goal or project and suddenly realized you were far off base, you have experienced barking up the wrong tree. But don’t worry because you’re in good company. Humans, and even their four-legged hunting companions, have been doing that very thing for centuries.
The Frontier Origins…
The phrase “barking up the wrong tree” is a uniquely American phrase born on the early 1800s frontier. Settlers at the time relied on trained hounds to hunt raccoons at night. When cornered, a raccoon’s go-to defense was to scurry up a tree to get away from the chase. The dogs would then surround the trunk and bark furiously—a behavior known as “treeing”—to signal the hunter.
Raccoons, though, are super clever. A smart raccoon would often climb one tree and leap through the upper canopy into a neighboring tree. From there, it could sneakily slip away while the eager hounds would be left at the base of the first tree. Their noisy barking at a completely empty tree was just the distraction needed for the critter to get away before the hunters arrived. (Sneaky little smirking things. 😏)
I think I was about 14 years old the one and only time I went hunting for raccoons with my dad when we lived in Kansas. I only remember three things about it: it was too early in the morning and super dark outside, it was freezing and wet, and my little brother Jason was adorable when he would say, “We gon go coo hun” in his cute 4-year-old voice. Oh, and I remember the big gray Weimaraner he took hunting with us, but I don’t recall if he ever treed any raccoons.
Beyond the Hunt…
It didn’t take long for the phrase to move from describing a factual event between dogs and raccoons to becoming a statement about anyone in pursuit of an illusion. By the 1830s, the phrase leaped into popular print as a shortcut for misdirected energy, mistaken accusations or assumptions, or chasing a false lead. A person didn’t have to be running from a pursuit to confront a pursuer with a firm rejection and the notice that, if they thought they would get their way, they were barking up the wrong tree.
Barking Up the Right Tree…
Many years ago, a visiting young minister used the song “Satisfaction” by The Rolling Stones to illustrate the search for real satisfaction. He talked of how the songwriter had experienced fame and fortune and tried who knows how many diversions, and yet sang about trying over and over to be satisfied without ever getting there. Many of us exhaust ourselves barking up all kinds of worldly trees—status, approval, material success—only to find they leave us empty-handed.
In Isaiah 55:1-2, the prophet calls out to the unsatisfied who are barking up all the wrong trees. He calls them to a free and satisfying feast and then asks them to look at the real value of what they have been spending their money on and their work accumulating.
Isaiah 55:1-2 BSB
[1] “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost!
[2] Why spend money on that which is not bread, and your labor on that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of foods.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/isa.55.1-2.BSB
When we change our focus from the empty branches and look to The God and Creator who knows our true needs, we can feast on those things that truly satisfy. We can stop wasting our time barking up the wrong trees and instead bark up the True Vine and receive fruit from The Tree of Life. 🌳🧬
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Cliché Month: Don’t Put All Your Eggs in One Basket
Most of us are familiar with the old advice to not put all your eggs in one basket. But do most of us know what it means or where it began?
The phrase as we know it today was famously popularized in 1605 by Miguel de Cervantes in his novel, Don Quixote. In the story, the sidekick Sancho Panza offers this bit of pragmatic wisdom: “it is the part of a wise man not to venture all his eggs in one basket.” It was a bit of cautious advice offered to Don Quixote, a knight who notoriously chased wild dreams and battled windmills, thinking they were monsters.
Not having read the novel myself, I asked Gemini for a summary around this part of the story. In case you don’t know it, Quixote was apparently a man of knightly bravado and chivalry (declaring that a single knight was worth a hundred ordinary men). His quest for vengeance resulted in both him and Sancho being beaten. Sancho’s advice was to remind Quixote that bravado without considering the odds is a quick way to have your gallant dreams completely shattered.
A funny note here: I don’t think I ever knew the setting for Don Quixote. I just knew there was a windmill on the book cover and that the main character was known for tilting at windmills. After finding out it was set in Spain, and learning that Spanish windmills are different from Dutch windmills (my childhood trips to Solvang, California, had me thinking all windmills were Dutch), I decided you shouldn’t keep all your windmills in one country, either. 🤔😁
As the phrase is used today, it’s often related to either finance or to hopes and dreams. Whether you’re managing investments, planning your career or other future ventures, or simply navigating the daily twists and turns of life, Cervantes’ advice is still good over four centuries later. Spread your risks, plan your options, and always have a safety net. Because, if that single plan (basket) tips, you could go hungry—and have a big mess to clean up.
And speaking of going hungry, I just have to tell you about what I think is one of the most pleasant ways to have eggs prepared. It’s called “Eggs in a Basket” and many restaurants will prepare your eggs this way by request. (Cracker Barrel no longer has it on the menu, but they can still do this.) The cook will take two halves of your choice of bread and cut out a hole in the center of each. The bread is then griddled, and one egg is broken into each slice of bread where it cooks along with the toast. I prefer mine over medium since the runny parts absorb perfectly into the griddled bread that surrounds the egg. If you like eggs and toast, I highly recommend this preparation method.
I’ll close with a biblical way to look at this cliché: Asking The Lord for multiple ways to minister to others is prudent. Not everyone needs to be fed or clothed. Some just need to know someone cares enough to listen. Others need prayer. And some may need biblical wisdom to guide and direct their lives. Because only God knows the depths of people’s hearts, He is the best One to guide us in how to spend our human investments to bring about the best returns.
James 1:5 BSB
[5] Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/jas.1.5.BSB
Isaiah 30:21 BSB
[21] And whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: “This is the way. Walk in it.”
https://bible.com/bible/3034/isa.30.21.BSB
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Cliché Month: Actions Speak Louder than Words
I almost added an ellipsis at the end of the word “speak” in the above illustration. I forgot to ask for it in the prompt, so when Nano Banana created it, I was pleasantly surprised to see this powerful message of “Action Speaks” jump right out at me. Even without the remaining words of the cliché, it’s a solid and true message.
I realized after writing all of this that it’s almost an argument against yesterday’s cliché that the pen is mightier than the sword. I mean, if you’re taking action by a sword, that would definitely be louder than threatening words. But today’s message is more about the actions that must follow the life-changing words of the pen.
Has anyone ever told you they loved you and then made you doubt their words by their behaviors? Or have you ever had someone promise you something from the bottom of their heart with a pinky promise and, no matter how strongly they swore its truthfulness at the time, never fulfilled that promise?
If you answered yes to either of those questions (and I’d think most people could,) you’ve had a demonstration of words being weaker than actions. If the bad behaviors or broken promises have broken something in you, then you’ve truly understood the louder language of actions.
Of course, this also works the opposite way. Like when I moved in with my grandparents at 12-years-old and fell in love with a neighborhood kitty cat that started hanging around our house. When she showed up pregnant, I asked my grandfather if we could bring her inside to have her kittens, and he vehemently said no to my pleas.
One afternoon, a few days later, I got home from school to find a box in my room. Not only was it perfect for Mama Cat, but Grandpa had added some cushiony towels and cut a little area in the front of the box shorter to make sure she could get her oversized belly in there. Those actions were not only a gift to the cat and her kittens, they were a precious gift from my grandfather to me that stayed with me forever.
Actions speak! AND they speak louder than any words—no matter how true and passionate those words may sound. It’s why real Christianity is far more than an emotional confession during fleeting moments of fear or conviction. What you do after you stand back up from your knees makes all the difference. It’s why baptism is one of the first things offered to new converts. More than a ritual, it’s an action that speaks of your plans to turn away from your sins by literally washing them away in the figurative blood of Christ. Your old self, along with the actions you engaged in while in bondage to sin, is buried with YahShua (Jesus) in baptism, so your new self can rise up like He did in resurrection and perform new actions that imitate Him.
What would Jesus do? is much more powerful than What would Jesus say? (Though, in His case, what He said was pretty important as well. 😊)
Even the Bible has strong words about the importance of actions over words. When shallow actions performed by habit spoke to The Messiah that people didn’t really care about Him as much as they did their rituals, He called them hypocrites.
Matthew 15:8 BSB
[8] ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/mat.15.8.BSB
Action that springs from the action of listening with our hearts brings blessings when we act on what we have learned:
James 1:25 BSB
[25] But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so — not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer — he will be blessed in what he does. (Emphasis added by me.)
https://bible.com/bible/3034/jas.1.25.BSB
YahShua says it’s our good deeds that shine a light and glorify God:
Matthew 5:16 BSB
[16] In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/mat.5.16.BSB
In First John, we’re reminded of the power of action and truth:
1 John 3:18 BSB
[18] Little children, let us love not in word and speech, but in action and truth.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/1jn.3.18.BSB
And in Colossians, we’re reminded how important our focus is whether we are speaking words or doing actions:
Colossians 3:17 BSB
[17] And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/col.3.17.BSB
And I’ll close with a parable of YahShua that perfectly demonstrates today’s cliché. It’s called “The Parable of the Two Sons” and says:
Matthew 21:28-32 BSB
[28] But what do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first one and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ [29] ‘I will not,’ he replied. But later he changed his mind and went. [30] Then the man went to the second son and told him the same thing. ‘I will, sir,’ he said. But he did not go. [31] Which of the two did the will of his father?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. [32] For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/mat.21.28-32.BSB
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Cliche Month: The Pen is Mightier Than the Sword
I know, I know… If you’re a writer, you’ve been told to “avoid clichés like the plague” (the ultimate cliché in itself!) So why am I planning a month of posts all about clichés?
Though the publisher’s advice to avoid using clichés is not empty advice, totally dismissing them ignores a crucial fact: clichés are clichés for a reason. They are successful linguistic vessels that earned their status by capturing universal truths and vivid imagery so perfectly, they had to be repeated—and repeated again.
While clichés can be efficient methods for driving home a point without launching into a wordy diatribe, overused phrases can make writing feel lazy and flat. Still, a bit of clichéd shorthand to convey a warning or some sage advice is powerful when used correctly.
Throughout August, we’re going to take a deep dive into the paradoxical world of clichés to learn the DNA of persuasive language. We will peel back their layers to expose the colorful, often surprising history and background behind phrases that still bring important punches of truth and deep thought to our prose. We will learn how to transform them from lazy shorthand back into powerful tools of expression.
For example, the exact phrase highlighted in neon text above was coined in 1839 by the writer Edward Bulwer-Lytton for his play Richelieu. Beyond the play, it became the ultimate rallying cry for persuasion over force and freedom of speech.
We see the power of the pen throughout Scripture as well. Way back in Deuteronomy, God told the children of Israel to write His commands where they would see and remember them:
Deuteronomy 11:20 BSB
[20] Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates,
https://bible.com/bible/3034/deu.11.20.BSB
In the book of First John, the authors use the pen to share what they have seen with their own eyes and touched with their own hands to those who read their words. In verse 4, they share their purpose:
1 John 1:4 BSB
[4] We write these things so that our joy may be complete.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/1jn.1.4.BSB
God told Habakkuk to write clearly on stone tablets where a herald could pick them up and carry the penned words to others.
Habakkuk 2:2 BSB
[2] Then the Lord answered me: “Write down this vision and clearly inscribe it on tablets, so that a herald may run with it.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/hab.2.2.BSB
Paul told the Corinthians that he used the power of his pen to write things in ways he knew they would understand:
2 Corinthians 1:13 BSB
[13] For we do not write you anything that is beyond your ability to read and understand. And I hope that you will understand us completely.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/2co.1.13.BSB
And God Himself told Moses to chisel out 2 stone tablets (more than once), so He could use the power of the written word, though He didn’t need pen and ink since He was God and could use His own hand.
Deuteronomy 10:2, 4 BSB
[2] "And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke; and you are to place them in the ark.”
[4] And the Lord wrote on the tablets what had been written previously, the Ten Commandments that He had spoken to you on the mountain out of the fire on the day of the assembly. The Lord gave them to me.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/deu.10.2-4.BSB
So whether it’s the finger of God, a chisel, a paintbrush, an antique pen or feather, a modern roller ball, or a printing press (physical or digital), the power of words conveyed by a writing instrument is significant. The Holy Bible is the most amazing collection of words ever penned, and it still has soul-changing power.
Let’s take this month to learn the power of words, even as used in the form of a cliché, and undo the negative definition of the word cliché. Let’s learn to master the principals that made these succinct moral lessons powerful before they became relegated to the weakness of cliché, ensuring our own words resonate with equal weight and authority.
Many thanks to Google’s Gemini AI for the cool neon word art, the history of today’s cliché, and some inspirational words and editing for putting this all together.
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