Five Minute Friday - History

One word. Five minutes to write about it. This is the idea behind Five Minute Friday and this is today's free-writing post.

history repeats itself

rich history

learn from history

history will show . . .

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Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it. ~George Santayana

Possibly one of the best-known quotes about learning from what has gone before, and I think it's because there is a lot of truth in it. We do need to learn from history. We can observe what went right and what went wrong in the past, and maybe avoid some pitfalls. We may be able to learn lessons from our mistakes and from the mistakes of others. 

We learn from history that we learn nothing from history. ~George Bernard Shaw

Most people's historical perspective begins with the day of their birth. ~Rush Limbaugh

Oh, but "that was a long time ago and the world was different then" is often leveled at older folks as they draw contrasts between how things were done when they were younger, or at anyone looking towards an earlier time in history for lessons or wisdom. And yes, times do change and technology and attitudes change as well. But in general, human nature doesn't change all that much. Humans have always had a tendency to be short-sighted and selfish and to do what we want regardless of of consequences. In short, we are sinful.

Thankfully, God's character doesn't change with the times and tides. His goodness and mercy and holiness have been the same since the beginning of time. The principles of holy living that he's given us have remained the same as well, but we kind of don't like to hear that. Perhaps because we are unwilling to learn from human history that whenever we rebel against God's laws things turn out badly.

This is spelled out clearly throughout the story of the Bible and we can see it down through the ages. Humans fail and rebel and try to solve our issues apart from God's plan, and whenever we do, we damage our relationships, our society, and the world we live in. But because God is eternally merciful, whenever we repent and turn to him and honor him he hears and forgives and restores us.

No matter how dark your personal history, God loves you. No matter how broken and ugly human history is, littered with the violence and evil of our cultures and nations, God wants us to turn to him and to restore us to his kingdom.

if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

~II Chronicles 7:14~

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

~Hebrews 13:8~

 

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Those who don't remember the past are condemned to repeat the eleventh grade. ~James W. Loewen

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This post is linked at Five Minute Friday for the word prompt "History".

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 ©2006-2024 HS Coffee Break/Just A Second/A Fresh Cup of Coffee. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. https://morecoffeebreaks.blogspot.com/ 

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Wednesday Hodgepodge - At The End of Day

A hodgepodge is a jumble or assortment of things that might not appear to belong together. Joyce at From This Side of the Pond hosts a weekly link-up called Wednesday Hodgepodge that is a little collection of questions for bloggers to answer just for fun and to get to know each other. I always look forward to chatting with friends over coffee, so pour a cup of your favorite and let's visit for a few minutes!

Here are this week's questions - and my answers - for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge.

1.  What is one cliche you think is nonsense? What's one you think holds truth?

 

Nonsense: "It goes without saying." Every time someone says something goes without saying, they say it anyways. Am I right? Another one that I think is nonsense would be "ignorance is bliss". It's really not. The title I gave this Hodgepodge, "at the end of the day", is one my family has complained about, along with "it is what it is". 

Truth: "What goes around comes around" I don't believe in karma as an actual spiritual force or anything like that, but I have observed that the way we treat others and the attitudes we have will affect how others treat us. If you gossip a lot, don't be surprised to find out you're the subject of gossip, or that no one trusts you. If you're known for canceling or backing out of plans at the last minute, don't be surprised when you're not invited or included in the planning any more. Things like that.

 

2. What's the last thing you broke and how did it happen?

 

Not counting fingernails, because I break those a lot but don't recall specifics . . . I think the last thing I broke was the frame of my sunglasses. I'd been needing a new pair for a long time because the lenses had that almost permanent foggy quality, but I kept putting it off. I always push my sunglasses and reading glasses up on my head sort of like a headband, and finally one day as I did that with my sunglasses I felt something kind of give, and sure enough when I took them off there was a little piece on the bottom of the frame that was cracked. I glued them so they would hopefully last until the new pair arrived (and I ordered the new ones immediately!), and was really careful, but about a week later the cracked piece fell out completely. Thankfully the new sunglasses arrived a couple of days later.

 

3. Are you a fan of s'mores? Have you had a s'more this summer? Last thing you ate that you wanted to ask for s'more of?

 They aren't my favorite thing ever, but I like them. I love toasted marshmallows and like them with graham crackers, but I'm not a fan of milk chocolate. Plus I find them a bit dry. I much prefer to just eat the toasted marshmallow! I don't think I've had one this summer.

Last night I had some ice cream for dessert after dinner and it was so good, I wished I could let myself eat more! Probably a good thing it was the last serving in the tub or I might have indulged in another scoop! 

 

4. A mode of transportation you've never tried? Will you someday?

 I've never been in a helicopter or a hot air balloon. The thought of going up in a balloon is terrifying to me, but my husband has often said he'd like to do it. I have no intentions of planning a hot air balloon ride, but it's something that my husband would probably be able to talk me into if he tried. (I hope he doesn't read this! I'm not ready!)

5.  Believe it or not, next week's Hodgepodge lands in a brand new month. What's your happiest memory from the month we're bidding adieu?

 

Most definitely the family vacation we enjoyed last week! We had the whole family together for the weekend at a nearby vacation home and had so much fun! Our oldest son and his family could only stay for the weekend, but the rest of us were together for a couple days longer. We packed a lot into the time we were all there, and hopefully will make a group vacation like that an annual event.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Last week I answered the question about overreacting with a story about a phone call I took at work from a very unpleasant and unreasonable person. Well, yesterday I took a call that made last week's rude caller sound like Miss Manners in comparison. The man started off by yelling and cursing and his behavior deteriorated from there. He was also completely unreasonable, and wasn't nearly as interested in resolving his complaint as he was in using the foulest language and most disgusting personal insults he could think of. What is wrong with people anyway? 

Also last week I shared about the changes coming to the Wednesday Quotes link-up hosted by Marsha at Always Write. Marsha had decided to step back from hosting the link-up, and asked if any of the participants would like to take it over. I was considering it, possibly as a month-long link-up. Turns out another WQ blogger, Sadje at Keep It Alive, had offered to take it over as a bi-weekly link-up so we are going to co-host. We're still working out the details of how we'll do that so if you're interested, keep an eye on one or both of our blogs. In the meantime, I'll continue to give a shout-out to Marsha's Wednesday Quotes 2024 when I share quote collections. I've been using the tagline "See what we're inspired by this week!" so now I'm wondering . . . can we be inspired by cliches?

Every cliche about kids is true; they grow up so quickly, you blink and they're gone, and you have to spend the time with them now. But that's a joy. ~Liam Neeson

I think he's right about that, and perhaps some of those cliches about kids are inspiring.

I don't believe that old cliche that good things come to those who wait. I think good things come to those who want something so bad they can't sit still. ~Ashton Kutcher

I think both can be true. Do you agree?

In every election in American history both parties have their cliches. The party that has the cliches that ring true wins. ~Newt Gingrich

Certainly politics is full of cliche statements, especially during the election season! 

What cliches do you find amusing, nonsensical, or surprisingly truthful? Leave a comment and let me know!

I'm sharing in this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.

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 ©2006-2024 HS Coffee Break/Just A Second/A Fresh Cup of Coffee. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. https://morecoffeebreaks.blogspot.com/ 

 This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Fresh Cup of Coffee helps continue the coffee breaks and conversation.

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Everyday Images #43

Welcome to another installment of my challenge and reminder to myself to take photos somewhat regularly. I'm not a photographer, but I enjoy taking everyday photos of things I find interesting or want to remember later, and I find that I notice interesting things when I'm intentionally watching for them. Having some prompts that are open to interpretation has helped me pay a little more attention to what's around me. Every two weeks I have a few words and phrases that I'm focusing on, and I try to find opportunities to take pictures of these things each week. These were the prompts I assigned myself for the past couple weeks:

August Prompts - Everyday Images #43

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stairs

doorway (quarterly)

nature

family

arrow

stone

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stairs

doorway (quarterly)

nature

family

arrow

stone

I'm also participating in the Summer Photography Scavenger Hunt hosted by This West London Life, so here are my finds for Summer Photography Scavenger Hunt 2024 | Link-up #2

4. What's on your feet

8. Something colourful in your garden/neighborhood

9. Moving water

11. A kitchen utensil you hardly ever use

12. A place of worship

13. Mark the passage of time

Alternate A: something misspelt or grammatically incorrect

A few more bonus photos:

I'll have extra bonus photos this time, since we spent several days at a vacation house in Hocking Hills with our whole family.

We played games, enjoyed meals together, celebrated birthdays, sat on the porch and talked, and relaxed in the hot tub.

And of course we did some exploring in the area.

We also visited the zoo one day.

Oh yeah, and we had to get some family photos while we were all together . . .

I am sharing my photos every other Tuesday, along with my prompts for the next two weeks. You can use all or some of the prompts for your own photo posts, or none of the prompts and just link up a post featuring your photos. Simple rules: Your posts must be family-friendly; the photos must be your own; and the post must be mostly photos. If you do share I'd appreciate a mention and link to A Fresh Cup of Coffee on your post.

Everyday Images continues in 2024, every other Tuesday. And on the alternate Tuesdays, I'm hosting the Twenty-Six Lists link-up. I'd love to have you join me for that too!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

August/September Prompts - Everyday Images #44

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at home (monthly)

selfie (quarterly)

warning

sunrise and/or sunset

clean

grow

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Don't miss a coffee break! Subscribe to A Fresh Cup of Coffee by email. 

©2006-2024 HS Coffee Break/Just A Second/A Fresh Cup of Coffee. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. https://morecoffeebreaks.blogspot.com/ 

This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Fresh Cup of Coffee helps continue the coffee breaks and conversation.

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.