IS THE JUICE WORTH THE SQUEEZE?

 

What is the meaning of "Is the Juice Worth the Squeeze?" It means, "Is the end result worth the process to achieve it?" The idea behind this expression is that to make juice you must squeeze the fruit. This is especially common for orange juice. However, because making fresh orange juice is somewhat labor intensive, the person must decide if the delicious juice is worth all the work.

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

Luke 6:38

I still remember being attacked at an ordination reception after I had spent twelve years in the seminary! I would have tried to answer her if she had simply asked, "Is the juice worth the squeeze?" However, she really didn't want an answer. She was angry, not at me personally, but at the Church I represented. She was there to rain on my parade!  "With all that education, you could have been something!" Since I had only been ordained a few hours, I just stood there speechless! I couldn't answer then, but I can certainly now! After 53 years of priesthood, I can say today with confidence that "the juice has certainly been worth the squeeze" - so much so that I can sum it up in four words. "Simply Amazed! Forever Grateful!"   

Your adornment should not be an external one: braiding the hair, wearing gold jewelry, or dressing in fine clothes, but rather the hidden character of the heart, expressed in the imperishable beauty of a gentle and calm disposition, which is precious in the sight of God.

I Peter 3:3-4

Most of it is juvenile experimentation that only lasts a few years, but will surely be thrown aside in favor of something more lasting and beneficial in time. When you are young, not-so-well-thought-out choices are understandable, but as you get older they become more pathetic. So why bother with trendy things like nose rings, lip rings, fake eye-lashes, glue-on nails, multiple tacky tattoos, brand-named gym shoes, hair extensions, ear and tongue piercings, fancy hubcaps, loud mufflers, earlobe stretching, tight leggings, gaming hardware and the very latest cell phone? "Was that juice really worth the squeeze?" After investing all that money, have any of those trendy and expensive external ornaments and technologies made you a better person, a more attractive person, a happier person, a more capable, respected or loved person? I am pretty sure it hasn't! 

To age gracefully, we need to trade those external searches for an internal search - a search for that "hidden character of the heart that is expressed in the imperishable beauty of a gentle and calm disposition." In that search, we soon learn that "the juice is well worth the squeeze." 

Besides, in the nursing home old nose-rings and multiple wrinkled tattoos will probably only end up being glaring and embarrassing reminders of just how naive, immature and gullible we were in our youth!  The great thing about trends from our pasts like "bell-bottom trousers," "leisure suits," "mullets" and "tie-dyed shirts" of the 1960s is the fact that they were not "permanent," but easily "removed." Because "that juice was also not worth the squeeze," all we have to do to save face is to hide all our old photos and no one will even know just how gullible and tasteless we were back then!