The Smiths and the Joneses lived next door to each other on Maple Avenue in the small town of Anywhere. These two families had been neighbors for many years and their lives seemed very similar. They each had three children, two dogs and one hamster. If the truth be known, their hamsters were related, the Smiths having purchased one fat hamster that suddenly got thinner and had a baby to raise. After the celebration was over and Junior was deemed old enough to go it on his own, the Joneses did their part and took him. So, to all appearances, the houses of Smith and Jones were like mirror images on Maple Avenue.
But then something odd began to happen. It was so subtle at first, no one else on Maple Avenue really noticed. But one day, Mrs. Peterson from across the street said to her husband, “Bud, take a look at the Smith and Jones houses. Do you see anything different?” Bud, a newly retired man in his 60’s, stood at the window looking carefully as directed. Mrs. P. was known to be very observant and discerning, so he took it seriously when she picked up a nuance missed by others. After some reflection, he ventured to say, “Well, it kind of looks like the Smiths are starting to add something onto their home -can’t really tell what at this point, but there’s something there. The only thing different about the Jones house seems to be a couple pieces of siding missing. I wonder what happened?” They stood together in silence pondering this mystery, but it seemed too inconsequential to waste much of the gray matter on it.
A week later, Bud was out mowing the lawn, always a happy labor for him. He stopped for a moment to wipe the sweat off of his brow and as he stood there, both Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Jones came out of their houses. They greeted one another and then Mrs. Smith began working industriously on some sort of brick construction in the front of the house. He was curious enough to walk over and ask her what she was doing. “I had this idea of building a small enclosed front porch area for our house,” she told him enthusiastically. “Mr. Smith is busy with work and the kids are in school, so this seemed like a perfect time to do it.” As they were chatting, they heard some loud wrenching sounds and looked over to see Mrs. Jones tearing siding pieces away from their house with her own hands. “What’s with that?” Bud enquired, seeing now that in a week’s time, many more pieces of siding had come down. “I’m not sure,” Mrs. Smith answered, “but it makes me sad to see it.”
Over time, the difference between the two houses became more and more stark. Mrs. Smith continued to build until one day the front porch on the Smith house was completed, a graceful and beautiful addition not only to their home, but an adornment to the neighborhood as well. Mr. Smith was bursting with pride at the accomplishments of his good and wise wife.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Jones had continued the odd work of demolition that she’d begun. By now, she had finished taking the siding off of their house and had knocked out the front windows for good measure, making their house an awful eyesore. And if that weren’t enough, the foolish woman had figured out how to start removing the foundation stones of their house. Mr. Jones came home one day to find his house toppled to the ground, and great was his grief.
Proverbs 14:1 A wise woman builds her house, but the foolish pulls it down with her hands.
Ah, now ‘tis time for the proverb about the one who contemplates deleting her own post.
Lynniebeemuseoday 