My late mother-in-law was an angel on Earth. She could be feisty and fiery, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve never met anyone kinder or more courageous.

Every Sunday, as many of her children, their spouses, and their children would meet at her house for lunch and visiting. She always had masses of food and generally two or three pies she had made that morning. I’ve thought of those days often, in the years since she sickened and passed, but more so in these days of social isolation. This would have hurt her deeply.

What I’m thinking about today is what Mrs. Allen would say, if you said you had to go home after Sunday lunch and, say, do the laundry or mow the lawn. She would say:

Is your ox in the ditch?

She was a thoroughly Bible-read woman, and said no one was to work on Sunday, but Jesus said anyone whose ox was in the ditch on the Sabbath would pull him out. Now, any time I work on Sunday, I can hear her asking me if my ox is in the ditch.

With everyone making face masks against COVID-19, I think of her saying:

Every stitch you sew on Sunday, you have to take out in hell with your nose.

So let that be a lesson to you. If you have to make a mask on Sunday, do it in the ditch with the ox.

This post is part of Linda G. Hill’s weekly blog hop, One-Liner Wednesday. If you have a one-liner or just like them, follow the link.

A WRITING PROMPT FROM ME TO YOU: Write about someone in a ditch.

MA