Wednesday, October 1, 2014

It Said . . .




The museum curator repeated himself, “Preach to the eyes, not just the ears.” He noted the daily lesson a child could get, without the parent even saying a word, if the child looked at a mural painted above the window of the Tree of Life as he ate his bowl of cereal.  The curator encouraged us to let the things we use in our homes serve the dual purpose of beautifying as well as teaching a message of our values.

When the curator said it, I thought of several things that hung on the kitchen wall when I was a little girl. There was a wooden plaque with a picture of a cowboy and the quote, “Be careful of the words you say, keep them soft and sweet. You never know from day to day which ones you’ll have to eat.” I wasn’t exactly sure what it meant, but I vowed that day that I was never going to use the sh-- word . . . just in case.

Next to that plaque was a quote board Aunt Idon made us for Christmas. (She was a repurpos-er. She knitted all ten of us kids nose-warmers and glued carpet scraps in a quilt pattern to her basement floor until it was wall-to-wall carpet.) Aunt Idon made the quote board from a hymn number holder in the front of the chapel, and Uncle Ernest attached a gold chain to the top of it so it would hang. Aunt Idon wrote several quotes in her best calligraphy and we slid those quotes in and out just like the chorister did with the hymn numbers. “PLAN AHEAd” was one message. The “d” was barely squeezed on the page. It certainly gave Luke 14:28-32   more meaning when I read it later in life.

Down the wall from the quote holder was the “little table.” When it was latched in place it looked like a bulletin board, but when it was unlatched it came down into a small table for children. For years and years I stared at the quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, “What you are thunders so loud in my ears I cannot hear what you say,” that hung on the little table.

Words of wisdom. One-liners that I've read over and over and pop into my head at will.  Sentences that have taught me truths and made my life better. For the next month I’ll be sharing them here on the blog in the 31 Day Writing Challenge hosted by Myquillyn Smith.  I hope you'll enjoy them.


October 1 - It said . . . 
October 2 - Charity Never Faileth

3 comments:

melanie said...

October is good for many reasons and this is another one. Looking forward to your posts this month.

Your aunt sounds quite resourceful. Wall-to-wall patchwork carpet. That's dedication to a covered floor.

Ande said...

I'm so glad you're doing this! I'm so excited to get to read The Neighbor every day! You did a great job preaching to our eyes. I remember when we all picked a temple picture to go in our rooms. And I can very distinctly remember something about not sacrificing what you want for eternity for what you want now (I might slaughter it if I try to quote it) on the fridge. You're a great mom.

Ande said...

"Don't trade what you want most for what you want now."!!! That's what it was. God bless Kurt.