Maxims from God?

 

maxim - noun - a brief statement expressing a general truth or rule of conduct (Google).

Sometimes I think that God might very well speak to us by way of placards deposited within our sight lines. Now, I am not referring to billboards that are currently electronically manufactured to display multiple advertisements in a series, one folding into another and another and another within a given time frame. I actually noticed one like this on Park Avenue in New York City a couple of weeks ago, and it stunned me to think that the boulevard of refinement that I once knew well as a resident is actually transitioning into another Times Square. But I digress. What I am suggesting is that every once in awhile, we walk into some store or office or home, and a maxim will either be engraved in a paperweight of stone, silver, wood or framed as a print or stenciled on a wall, expressions of veracity or just behaviors that we should have learned in kindergarten. Some messages, the ones that are obviously not emanating from God or just Goodness incarnate, can be snarky. For instance, my daughter, who isn't all that keen on some of our relations, used to own a wooden paddle with something like "Friends are welcome; relatives can book a room elsewhere" painted on it. Although I wouldn't classify it as a maxim per se; there is a degree of candor inherent in the directive that we've all embraced but never actually spoken outrightly at one time or another :). 

Today, while I was waiting to get my hair done at my favorite local salon, I caught sight of an authentic maxim, one that theoretically could have come directly from the lips of angels since the actual speaker was not identified: "Live every minute with love in your heart, grace in your step, and gratitude in your soul." A reminder like this is timeless, always relevant. It makes me wonder, and maybe you, too, why so many people do choose to ignore perfectly good advice like this. Sometimes it is smart to read the writing on the wall, literally, and take ownership of it. I would like to think that most really do want to be the best versions of themselves but fall short as they are "only human." It is as though we convince ourselves that perfection is impossible due to circumstances beyond our control. Is this the right thing to do? Maybe. Maybe not.

I shall leave you with some food for thought: If the technologically advanced signboards on Park Avenue and Times Square as well as along the Pennsylvania Turnpike and elsewhere were to feature maxims like the one my hairdresser chose to make into somewhat of a marquee, would we be more united in ideology as a country? 

Hmm.

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