Rainbows are starting to appear in our Colorado skies as the weather turns from snow (which we just had 4 days ago) and into rain. Colorado is one of the most "sunshiniest" states (we land in the top 10) and so chances are good that when we get rain the sun is also shining and creates rainbows. So as rainbows are showing up in our skies I find myself being grateful for their appearance. 1) I am always fascinated by them - especially the double ones and the really bright ones. 2) As cheesy or as "Christianese" as it may sound they do remind me of promises made and kept by the One who made me and keeps me. Scoff if you want but I know what I know. Specifically in my 30's God made a lot of promises to me and he has kept every single one. And he promised in Genesis 9 God sets a rainbow in the skies as a sign that he will stay true to the promise he made to never flood the entire earth again. So the rainbow is specifically a reminder of God's covenant promise to never flood the whole earth again but when I see it I also know it serves as a reminder that every promise he makes he keeps. He can't not keep them! Sometimes I forget that and when I see a rainbow I am reminded. I'm so grateful for God's reminders.
There are two probable origins for this idiom and I think both are equally plausible. The first one is that when you spread butter on bread you are buttering it up like one would do when trying to flatter someone. The second is in ancient India there was a practice of throwing balls of butter at statues to ask for favor, i.e. buttering them up. ( source ) When we use the phrase today we generally mean that extreme flattery is used to gain information or favor. It's not always necessarily a compliment.
Comments
Post a Comment