Thanksgiving in Gold
“All that glitters is not gold.”
Do you know where this term originated? For our Thanksgiving post, I’d like to share with you a bit of history…and say that this is a most true statement. We think of solid gold that has great value, as in jewelry or other ornaments. Sometimes we even speak of people as being “worth their weight in gold.” Gold is a precious commodity. Nations have fought over it. Great gold pieces have been stolen from one land to another. Gold miners hoped to strike it rich and bet everything in their lives to seek its source. Yet, there are some things that are even more wonderful than gold.
“The original form of this phrase was ‘all that glisters is not gold’. The ‘glitters’ version long ago superseded the original and is now almost universally used.
“Shakespeare is the best-known writer to have expressed the idea that shiny things aren’t necessarily precious things. The original editions of The Merchant of Venice, 1596, have the line as ‘all that glisters is not gold’. ‘Glister’ is usually replaced by ‘glitter’ in modern renditions of the play…
Various different ways of expressing the idea that ‘all that glitters/glisters is not gold’ were in general circulation well before Shakespeare’s day and it was a common enough notion to have been called proverbial by the 16th century. The 12th-century French theologian Alain de Lille wrote:
“Do not hold everything gold that shines like gold”.
Geoffrey Chaucer also expressed the same idea in Middle English in the poem The House of Fame, 1380 –
“Hit is not al gold, that glareth”.
Nevertheless, it is Shakespeare who gave us the version we now use.” (The Phrase Finder)
.
So often the color, yellow, is associated with gold. The sun shines a ray of golden light onto the earth to bring us the things that do not sparkle, as may real gold, but can be enjoyed by both rich and poor. It is God’s gift to share with us the beautiful golden colors of Fall and throughout the universe with the golden twinkle of a star. A stripe of gold may adorn a small bird, a little flower, a sunset and many other things on earth. Even the color on my “golden” retriever, Gracie, is a special beauty…and she did not glitter…but oh, was so precious. We have “golden” anniversaries and friendship that we would not trade for even a tiny speck of gold. We are blessed beyond the price of gold with God’s love to us through His Son, Jesus Christ. Yes, not all gold glitters..or in Shakespearean days, “glisters.”
Boyer Writes brings you one of the most beautiful works of photography in this video entitled: “Sun Paints us Gold” by Tim Janis
Happy Thanksgiving!
