Cliches

Cliches are awfully common.  I guess that is why they are cliches.  I hear many of them in my line of work.

"How are you doing?" I will ask a miserable individual, sneezing into an overused handkerchief.

"Oh, Doc," will come the reply.  "I'm just not feeling up to par."

Now, I understand that it is just an expression, but whoever coined it was either an awesome golfer or, they didn't understand the game of golf very well.  You see, in golf, a lower score is better and most golfers struggle to get down to par.  If you are significantly under-par, you are in a very good place indeed.

Another expression that gets trotted out frequently is that a situation is "coming to a head."  Maybe I'm the only one, but whenever someone uses this expression, I immediately get a mental picture of a large abscess ready to blow.  Not a pretty image and certainly not one that I want to bring out, except for very special occasions.

The problem with cliches, is that they have been repeated so often that they have lost most of their meaning.  People repeat them without ever thinking of what they signify.

It seems to me that it is awfully easy for my prayers to God to follow this same pattern.  If I say the same things to God every morning, or before each meal, it is easy for me to mouth the words without really thinking Who I am talking to and what I am saying to Him.

I want my prayers to be more than that -- I want them to come from my heart and have real meaning.  While I wouldn't want to beat a dead horse, I do think it is time to let cliches -- and thoughtless prayers -- bite the dust for good.