Friday Lite - "Give and Take"

   Paul tells us in the Book of Acts that “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” I believe that, but there are exceptions.  My father’s annual acceptance of a gift of chocolate that he didn’t like was a case of receiving as more blessed than giving, but what of the natural ebb and flow of life.  Is it more blessed give than to take?  Do we expect ourselves to be givers not takers? 

   Our language often is an indicator; idioms and common phrases can point to our leaning. I ran a comparison of the two and found virtual equal numbers of each.  While my preference runs to both, you will have to decide on which side of the ledger you find yourself. 

  Note: This is not a test. If you want to keep score, go for it but it won’t help. 

Give	Or	Take
Give a hoot	Or	Take it or leave it
Give a Little Bit	Or	Take it all
Give a man a fish…	Or	Take fish oil before bed
Give advice	Or	Take heed
Give an inch	Or	Take a mile
Give back	Or	Take
Give birth	Or	Take life
Give blood	Or	Take two aspirin, get plenty of…
Give credit where credit is due	Or	Take a bow
Give directions	Or	Take me home, country roads…
Give ‘em a break	Or	Take it to the rim
Give ‘em a hard time	Or	Take things in stride
Give ‘em hell, Harry	Or	Take it to the limit
Give ‘em the boot	Or	Take a hike
Give God the glory, glory	Or	Take life in your own hands
Give him a fighting chance	Or	Take him down
Give in, give up	Or	Take charge, America
Give it one more day	Or	Take tomorrow off
Give it to me one more time	Or	Take It All Away
Give it your all	Or	Take it easy
Give love a chance	Or	Take a risk
Give me a job	Or	Take This Job and Shove It
Give me lovin’ baby, one more time	Or	Take a Chance on Me
Give me One Reason	Or	Take it all in
Give me your tired, your poor…	Or	Take my wife … please
Give notice	Or	Take flight
Give Peace a Chance	Or	Take it in pieces
Give thanks	Or	Take pleasure
Give the devil his due	Or	Take It to the Lord in Prayer
Give the dog a bone	Or	Take a doggy bag home
Give the gift that keeps on giving	Or	Take antibiotics
Give them something to talk about	Or	Take counsel
Give up the ghost	Or	Take it one day at a time
Give us this day our daily bread	Or	Take it to the bank
Give way	Or	Take offense
Give In to the Night	Or	Take it to another level
Give zombies the vote	Or	Take his head off

   I hope I was able to give you some Friday-Lite reading, and you didn’t take me too seriously. You certainly shouldn’t take me more seriously than I take myself.

   A last thought, “Give the future its moment to arrive and take nothing for granted in the present.” ~ Michael Francis Lee, (Muse, 1943 - ) 

   Now that is serious.