When I was a little girl, I overheard a very disturbing statement.  Someone said to my Dad, “Well Paul, the Devil is in the details.”

“WHAT?”  What could this mean, I wondered.  The Devil is in the details???  I thought the fork-tailed dude lived in the Pits of Hell.  And now…..  now….. of all places….. he is in the DETAILS?

I was on edge.  In fact, I was down right fearful.  I began looking inside pencil sharpeners, and coin returns.  I started overturning rocks, and unwinding spools & spools of my Mom’s thread.  No thimble went unnoticed.  No penny went unturned.

Finally, I went in to see our Parish Priest….. Fr. Schneider.
“Father.” I said.  “I heard that the Devil is in the details.  What does this mean?  And IF the Devil is in the details, does that mean God is a slob?”

“Oh NO, my child!” he extolled.  “Heaven’s NO!  God is not a slob.  He is tidy, and neat, and perfect in every way.  Cleanliness is next to Godliness!  Now you go right home and say ten Hail Mary’s for suggesting such a thing.”

“Ahhhhh.  Sweet Mary Mother of Jesus, Father…..  ten Hail Mary’s?”

“Make it 20 young lady.  Now leave me… before I make it 30!”

And that is how it went.  You see, I never did get a straight  answer from that priest.  And to this very day, the statement has bothered me. The Devil is in the Details.

Since the whole “cleanliness is next to godliness” idea was dropped in to my formidable brain, it seems that I have picked up some obsessive compulsive tendencies along the way.  And…. in addition to all of that …. I am still looking at everything small with unrelenting scrutiny.

I was driven to purchase a macro lens for my camera, and a magnifying glass for every day viewing of life. The search has been tenacious and unflagging.  And so it goes.

So.  I better wrap this up.  This evening at the grocery, I bought a bag of jelly beans, a box of rice,  and a dozen eggs.  I have a LOT of looking under to do.

“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” – Robert Brault