More Clichés

A few weeks ago (or more...time goes by too fast, and I didn't look), I posted about clichés. Today, I came across another one.

We've all heard the phrase: "out of the frying pan and into the fire". We all know what it means, although if any of us are truly honest about it, we probably haven't really experienced it. For we live very comfortable lives in the US. Apparently it has been in use in some form or fashion since BC. Aesop made it famous in his fables. And, we Christian Reformers will be quite proud, Thomas More used it to describe William Tyndale during a pamphlet war. (And was quite right - literally.)

But perhaps the real phrase came into being as recorded thus:

"What shall we do! What shall we do!" he (Bilbo Baggins) cried. "Escaping goblins to be caught by wolves!" he said, and it became a proverb, though we now say 'out of the frying-pan into the fire' in the same sort of uncomfortable situations.  - J.R.R. Tolkien in The Hobbit.

Bilbo could have gone on to say "Escaping wolves to escape spiders to escape dragons." For Tolkien had the art of each trial of his characters being worst than the last down to an art...

Yes, I am re-reading The Hobbit. In preparation for the movie which shall soon be upon us. After all, it's been 16 or 17 years since I have read it, and I'm discovering I have forgotten more than half the plot. Now I shall be quite ready to see how well the movie follows the book. (Well, over the next three years...) And, truly, it's well worth reading. I forgot how well Tolkien writes.

But in case you're wondering, as my roommate was, no I will NOT be re-reading Les Miserables before the movie premiers. I think spending hours several years ago wading through Waterloo and then wandering around 19th century Paris sewer systems are more than sufficient for one lifetime. Besides, I'd much rather just watch Hugh Jackman for a few hours!

A Christmas Novella Review

It's Christmas once again and so I pull out a few Christmas stories to get into the season. (Or try to...when you live somewhere where you can still go to the beach every day, I can never feel very seasonal.) Among my favorites I add a few new ones. This year I added A Christmas Home.

Many of you might know the prequel to this book thanks to Hallmark's Hall of Fame: A Dog Named Christmas. A good story about a dog adopted for Christmas, A Christmas Home continues the story of Todd, his parents, Christmas and newfound friend Laura and her dog Gracie as they fae finding homes for the animals at the closing shelter. A simple story, easy to read and a nice way to spend an afternoon. If you just want to curl up with a short, heart warming tale as it snows outside (or you wish it would snow), this is a good tale.



This book was provided by Waterbrook Multnomah for review purposes only.

A Time to be Thankful

You may know the name Matthew Henry. He wrote (along with a few scholars as he died before it was completed) and excellent set of commentaries on the Bible. Once, he was robbed of his wallet. Knowing how he ought to give thanks for all things, he wrote (in true Matthew Henry style):

“Let me be thankful, first, because he never robbed me before; second, because although he took my purse, he did not take my life; third, because although he took all I possessed, it was not much; and fourth, because it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed.”

It is that time of year when we focus on being thankful, although, like Matthew Henry, we know it is our duty to be always thankful in all things. And so I shall be thankful:

First, because although I can’t remember the last time I saw rain, water still comes out of the faucet when I turn it on.

Second, because although Texas is not far from the equator, it is not directly on it.

Third, because although Texans don’t see to care who crosses into their border, they also don’t care who crosses back over it.

And fourth, because although I have now lived in Texas three times, I was not born here.

What would you do?

If you fell sick today and were told by God to set your house in order for you would soon die, what would you do?

Some people might make a bucket list and do whatever it is they’ve always wanted to do. Others might try to make a final effort to make their life count. Still others would call hospice and set their house in order so their family wouldn’t have to worry about anything. Most would beg God (whether they ever cared for Him before or not) for more life.

That is exactly what King Hezekiah of Judah did. You probably all know the story recorded in 2 Kings and in Isaiah. The prophet Isaiah came to the sick Hezekiah and told him to put his house in order for he would soon die. Hezekiah rolled over, cried, and begged God for more life. After all, he was a very good man, right? God heard Hezekiah’s cry, told Isaiah to return and said He would give Hezekiah fifteen more years. To prove He would do as He said, God changed time and set the sun back ten degrees.

In return, Hezekiah praised God. Then he begot Manasseh, who would be the most wicked king the nation of Judah ever had. And in his great pride, showed the tiny nation of Babylon all his wealth. When Isaiah called him to task on that and said God would one day hand all of Judah’s wealth and Hezekiah’s offspring into Babylon’s hand, Hezekiah didn’t care. He wanted only peace and truth for his own generation. He had no regard for his sons, grandsons or the legacy that would be lost.

The Bible tells us that Hezekiah was one of the most righteous kings Judah had. He tore down idols and high places, had scribes write up Solomon’s proverbs and turned to God in his greatest need when Assyria almost conquered them. Which made me wonder as I was reading this story recently, why did such a righteous man prefer life on earth over eternity in Heaven?

Who knows what Hezekiah had in mind. More good works, copying out more of Solomon’s proverbs, making the temple grand. There are a lot of things one can do in fifteen years, especially as a very wealthy king. And, in the end, God is sovereign. He always knew Hezekiah would have fifteen more years, Manasseh would be born and become an evil king and Babylon would overcome Judah.

But if you were told today to set your house in order for you would soon die, what would you do? Me? I would tell God to take me. I am ready to go Home.

Getting ready...

As you can see, I've made my blog more wintery. But it's wishful thinking. I've learned over the last three years that no matter how wintery my blog looks, whether Haley and I put up a tree or not, how many miles I run listening to Christmas music, whether I bake dozens of cookies or none and no matter how many gifts I purchase: I don't feel Christmasy.

Sunny blue skies, temperatures of 70 and an occasional frost do not make winter.

I've been having a lot of dreams lately of snow: mounds and mounds of snow. I picture it in my head. I see pictures on the internet. And I cry. I was talking to a friend just last night about the holidays and started crying. I'm not usually emotional. I keep my tears to myself. But thinking about another winter that isn't winter at all...perhaps it's just as well or my tears would freeze on my cheeks.

So, I guess I'm not getting ready for anything. Just hoping. And praying. And, perhaps, getting sick. As Proverbs wisely says, "Hope deferred maketh the heart sick..."

If only the desire would come...

Clichés

There are all kinds of clichés in the English language that, quite frankly, don't make any sense. In conversation last week, a friend remarked about someone, "Well, I guess she wants to have her cake and eat it, too...you know, that cliché doesn't make a lot of sense."

 "No, it doesn't," I agreed. "I mean, if you have your cake of course you're going to eat it."

Unless, perhaps, it's chocolate which I don't particularly like. I'll probably try to give that one away...

Of course, if you want to know something today you just pull up Google and find your answer. So, that's what we did. And the answer to "have your cake and eat it, too?"? Well, apparently, it's backwards.

When the cliché originally came into the English language hundreds of years ago, it was actually, "You can't have your cake and eat it, too." Which makes a lot more sense. For you can't both have a cake and have eaten it. (Unless you count that you have it digesting in your stomach.) And that is what we mean when we say that cliché: you can't have both of whatever it is you want - you have to pick one or another.

 I think I shall try to make a concerted effort to correct my English and now say, "Well, you can't eat your cake and have it, too." In all likelihood, the person I say this to will reply, "That's not how that goes." And, because I can be a smart alleck, I will then share my wisdom with one who, obviously, is not quite so wise.

 But I might just change the cliché totally. Because the English-speaking world does not have the market cornered on this phrase. It seems that most languages have a similar cliché, using different items to make the point of our inability have two things at once. My two personal favorites are:

 Dutch: "You can't have flour in your mouth and blow."

 Italian: "You can't have a casket full of wine and your wife drunk."

 I have to admit the latter makes me wonder... If I feel really smart-allecky, I might use that one. Just to see what kind of looks I get!

Grammar Report

My dad has been visiting this weekend. This morning he showed me Caleb's grammar report. And I will admit, my "baby" brother is a better writer than I...at least at satire. But, then, most of my younger siblings are better at just about everything than I am. (Maybe I can take credit in teaching them something and them excelling from there, but I doubt it.) Regardless, I do take pride in my younger siblings' achievements. So, with the writer's permission, I thought I would share:

Toilet paper can become a very complicated matter if one lets it get out of hand (no pun intended). Has anyone of us not had the unfortunate and deeply annoying experience of sitting down to do one’s business in the facilities and only realized that the tools required to complete one’s goal are not readily available when one reaches the end of the journey to heed the call of the wild? I myself have many times sat down in relative comfort and peace of mind to relieve my stress, only to realize that some inconsiderate philistine has taken all of the toilet paper required to finish my work and have had to make the awkward, and often treacherous maneuver to stand up and reach around the edge of the doorway and grab a roll from our supply of replacements. And in one than more occasion, not only did the uncouth barbarian take all of my immediately required amenities but they also didn’t bother to even open the new package of replacements, forcing me therefore to further extend my anguish and try to reach both arms around the protrusion and rip the package apart in order to restore peace of mind to myself and the rest of the household. The really tragic part of the whole affair is that it all could be avoided if certain proverbial idiots thought to merely place a new roll of urgently desired cloth on the back of the seat of relief. Of course we have all heard the excuses, “there was still some left”, “I forgot”, “I couldn’t find any”, “it wasn’t me” and my personal favorite “I didn’t think you needed any”. We often take our duties in this life for granted, but there is no calling that compares to that of caring for one’s fellow man and may we all be able to look in the mirror tonight and think with pride, “I didn’t leave my brother hanging”.