Musings From A Rolling Eyed Turtle

One of the expressions we use to describe progress is that we are “moving forward”.   Correspondingly, if we are “going backward”, we are likely regressing or retreating. Even the old expression “two steps forward and one step backward” follows suit.   While difficulties may inhibit our progress (one step backward), at least things are still moving forward (two steps forward). I recently read a verse in Jeremiah that offered clarity to this forward/backward thing: “But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.”   (Jer 7:24) There are some clear indicators here on what causes us to go backward.   When we are not listening as we should be, we are going backward.   When we are not paying attention as we should be, we are going backward.   When we follow the stubborn inclinations of our evil hearts when we shouldn’t be, we are going backward. Going backward, as indicat

A TV commercial recently caught my attention.   The CEO of the company was the spokesman and he was quite proud of the product that his company makes.   As he described a bit of the manufacturing process, he claimed that the product was made with passion.   I recently read some Old Testament passages that made reference to craftsmen who used their skills to build the tabernacle.   For example: “And all the craftsmen among the workmen made the tabernacle with ten curtains.   They were made of fine twined lined and blue and purple and scarlet yarns, with cherubim skillfully worked”.   (Ex. 36:8) These craftsmen were entrusted with making items for the tabernacle that had very precise specifications.   While they may have made the items with passion, that was not the defining quality that set apart these workmen and their work.   It was their skill and craftsmanship. While passion is great, when it is expressed according to some of its dictionary meanings, that of “an ou

I love irony and a good play on words.   I once saw the following notice: “The lost and found key is lost and needs to be found” I assume, from the notice, that the “lost and found” items were being stored in some type of locked storage area and the key to the lock had been lost.   Talk about delicious irony! A key is a small metal instrument specially cut to fit into a lock and move its bolt.   But a key could also be something that affords a means of access, such as the key to happiness.   It can also be something that secures or controls entrance to a place, such as Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean. So, to take this bit of irony and engage in a play on words…. “To be lost and then be found, a key is needed” A classic hymn contains this familiar line:   “I once was lost but now am found”. What was the key that the hymn writer was suggesting?   Was it a small metal instrument?   Not likely.   But there is something that secures entrance or affo

It wasn’t the basis for a law suit, but the disappointment was still there.   Every time I made one and took it out, it just didn’t look like the one that was pictured on the box.   It sure tasted good though, every time, but it just didn’t meet the look-like expectations. We’re talking waffles here.   You know the waffles with the deep indentions where the butter and syrup almost seem to disappear.   Every time I mixed up the batter, put the batter in the waffle maker and took it out when it was done, well, it just didn’t look like the waffle in the picture on the waffle maker box.   But it sure tasted good. Then one day I took the waffle out and, for some reason, flipped it over as I put it on my plate.   Wow!   What do you know!   The waffle looked just like the one pictured on the waffle maker box!   Funny thing about waffles and most waffle makers, a different pattern is created on each side of the waffle as the batter is being cooked. It all reminds me of my need to