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Red Tape

Red Tape

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Red Tape--desk piled with paperwork and a red ribbon around the top document. Hand raised above and behind it.I was a social worker for almost thirty years. The work was stressful and the hours horrible. I was on-call twenty-four hours a day seven days a week. Yet I loved it.

I did not love the red tape. We had to jump through hoops of:

  • Endless paperwork
  • Frequent bureaucratic changes
  • Fluctuating budgets that reversed progress

Red tape refers to complicated, time-wasting official procedures.

Such requirements are:

  • Strict
  • Difficult
  • Tiresome

They focus on details and rules rather than efficiency and outcomes. Correct forms overrule positive results.

Red tape results in service delays.

Forms and rules should lead to speedier outcomes rather than needless obstacles. Likewise, successful procedures should remain regardless of leadership changes.

According to The Free Dictionary, this expression refers to “the former British custom of tying up official documents with red ribbon.”

Red ribbons make a document look good. However, appearance matters little. Contents determine the difference, good or bad.

A certain amount of red tape must remain.

  • Rules offer guidelines.
  • Paperwork gathers needed information.

Yet, a fine line exists between:

  • Efficient or ineffective
  • Helpful or hurtful

“Every official is under orders from higher up, and the higher officials look up to their superiors. And so the matter is lost in red tape and bureaucracy” (Ecclesiastes 5:8 TLB).

Thanks to Regina Graham for the suggestion and to Karen Atwood for the photo.

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Milktoast

Milktoast

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Milktoast--milktoast on a plate on a table with flowers in the middleI don’t want milktoast for breakfast or any other meal. Although I like milk and toast, I prefer them separate. I also want more flavor. Even with sugar, cinnamon, or other spices added, it remains a bland dish. Give me eggs or cereal with fruit and nuts.

Neither do I want to be a milktoast person or give milktoast responses. However, I have been guilty of both.

Milktoast means weak or ineffective.

It can be a noun or an adjective. The person or response is:

Milquetoast mean the same.

According to The Free Dictionary, the character description refers to H. T. Webster’s comic strip character, Caspar Milquetoast. Like edible milktoast (or milk toast), Caspar had a bland personality.

Milktoast is easy to digest.

With so little flavor, it does not upset the body’s system. Neither do weak people upset their social systems of:

  • Business
  • Government
  • Religion
  • Families

They value the status quo above truth or progress.

God seeks boldness in service.

Certainly, quietness and meekness are often appropriate. Yet, God expects and provides courage when the time comes to speak up and stand tall.

“Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness” (Acts 4:29 NIV).

Thanks to Gail Johnson for the suggestion and to Jeri Gumm Stone for the photo.

The Early Bird Gets the Worm Matin Wiles book
Version 1.0.0

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