Don't cry over spilt...

My blog topics usually come from an idea file. I jot down thoughts that come to me as I read scripture, listen to audiobooks, converse with friends, or remember the past. Most are days old or at least several hours. Tonight's came from minutes ago.

I am home alone while my wife attends her Monday night ladies Bible group. I had just prepared my supper of eggs topped with melted cheese, turkey sausage with mustard, and a piece of toast with butter and jelly. Is your mouth watering yet? Mine was. I carried my water glass and plate from the kitchen through the living room. My destination was the upstairs bonus room to watch an old movie that I had begun earlier.

As an afterthought I stopped by the lamp table between our downstairs recliners to get my phone. Fortunately it was the glass that slipped from my fingers and not the plate. Even though the glass was only about a third full of water, it still made a mess on one recliner, the table, and the nearby floor. I set my plate back on the dining room table just as the phone rang. It was my son from Texas returning my call. I quickly explained my dilemma. We agreed to talk in 10 minutes. I got several dish clothes from the kitchen and mopped up the spill.

I stayed downstairs and hurriedly ate my supper. Then I called my son. After concluding the call, I went upstairs, but not to watch the DVD. I had decided on my blog idea for the day: don't cry over spilt...

First thing I did was research the old adage "don't cry over spilt milk." Its meaning was easily ascertained. There is no use complaining over something bad that happened in the past and cannot be changed. The origin of the phrase is a little less precise. One idea was that it is an historical reference that appeared in a document written by British historian James Howell in 1659. He apparently was commenting on an event from European folklore.

Another source was that "don't cry" was likely to have come from faery lore. In days when people believed strongly in fairies, it was common to lay out a shrine for them consisting of small quantities of food and drink. The preferred drink of faeries was purported to be milk. Whenever milk was spilled, it was considered to be a little extra offering to the fairies and nothing about which to worry.

Getting upset and crying or crying out over any spill is a fruitless waste of time and energy. As the Serenity Prayer begins, "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." When you create a mess, clean it up quickly and quietly and salvage that time and energy.