Pearls Before Swine

is the name of a comic strip that Linda and I like to read when we read the Sunday paper. Actually, Linda likes to read the Sunday paper... I like to read the Sunday comics. Some will say there is a difference.

Nevertheless, "Pearls before Swine" is a cute comic strip...




Something else I like to read is the "dictionary of cultural literacy". I find the tome absurd, but it is an excellent tome of bite-sized trivia helping me to be a little more culturally literate. The chapter I just finished reading was all of the cutural references we get from The Bible. Things such as "do unto others", "go the extra mile", and "don't cast pearls before swine".

I never knew the phrase "cast not pearls before swine" was from the New Testament. Moreso, I felt a little confused by its implication (as intepreted, thankfully, by the Dictionary of Cultural Literacy):

do not share with/give to people things that they cannot appreciate.

Does this maxim allow room for personal growth? Evolution? Since this comes from The Bible, how is it intepretted in the religious sense? Would Jesus be "casting pearls before swine" in trying to convert humanity?

Who needs pearls the most? I'd argue it's the swine! Everyone should have the opportunity to share in anothers experience, to be able to grow from it, learn from it, use it for self-reflection, or just file it away in one's memory banks until a later time when they can better access it. Believe me, we are all swine at some point and in some areas of our lives. The next time I am on one of my tunnel-visioned, mud-rolling truffle hunts, I certainly hope that someone will have the charity to cast a few pearls my way.

Of course, this is through the dictionary of cultural literacy, and based on some of their other definitions, I wouldn't say it is the be-all-and-end-all on the subject. The Old and New Testament are filled with advice for being practical. Tossing out "emotional pearls", or "pearls of wisdom" has no cost associated with it. Perhaps the pearls we should refrain from casting are the pearls of our time and the pearls of our tangible resources. That's an advertised restraint I can live with.

And I think that's a significant distinction. Far too many people are frugal with both time *and* support, resources *and* insights. Remember, the swine in our lives need a pearl just like the rest of us.

I like typing swine.

swine swine swine