TODAY THE WORDS are PUSH COMES TO SHOVE. I didn’t get this topic from all of the rowdy fun at the game/fun center with our grandsons, even though there was plenty of fun pushing with all of the young children who were trying to climb the same ladder, go down the same slide, ride on the same ride, etc. Well, maybe it started with all of the innocent pushing. My thoughts, however go to one of the interpretations of the phrase. Personally, I think the phrase originated in earlier times than some references in the 30’s and 40’s. It has been referred to rugby but also was referenced as a time when a person proves their worth in difficult times as when times when a push will not get the job done, it takes a shove (or more physical strength). If a person is trying to move furniture and tries to push it and it doesn’t move; it may require this person to muster up more physical strength and give it a shove. If a person is working on a project and it is more demanding than normal; we refer to the extra demand as when push comes to shove, this person will give this project everything it needs to get the job done. Push comes to shove is not a phrase which means a physical shove as it seems to personify. It can be mentally driven or emotionally stimulated as the situation commands. Now for the deeper thought…..A push not a shove thought….In this life, we are faced with so many demands on our time, we sometimes feel we have to “shove” when we really only need to push gently. Love is a good example of gently pushing and shouldn’t be a shoving match to see who loves the other most, who does more than the other, who shoulders most of the load, etc. In the individual’s participation, however, a little use of the phrase, “push comes to shove” should be applied. We need to give love our all, whether it be between husband and wife; parent and child; siblings and other members of our families and friends. It should not be required for someone to ask us to require “push comes to shove”. When we practice our faith and our beliefs, we should always use “push comes to shove” and exhibit the faithfulness and loyalty as God desires us to be. Let’s not be pushing and shoving our way through life; lets’ love and when push comes to shove; let’s live life; love life and live life to the fullest.
DAILY FEATURED BIBLE VERSE:
Joshua 1:9
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
(c) copyright 2013 Arline Lott Miller. The material here copyrighted, use only by permission.
