When I was a freshman at Free Will Baptist Bible College (now Welch College), Dr. Judy Simpson, my English professor, taught us far more than the rules of grammar and essay structure. She had a favorite saying: “A messy mind means a messy person, and a messy person means someone who will sweep the dirt in a room under a rug rather than into a dustpan.”
At first, it seemed like just a sharp little warning about grammar and organization, but in time I realized she was teaching something much deeper. She meant that how we think shapes who we are. A sloppy mind produces sloppy work, just as a careless person hides problems rather than facing them. To write clearly, you must think clearly. To live honestly, you must deal with the dust and dirt of life directly, not hide it away where no one can see.
Dr. Simpson showed us that grammar was not just about commas and sentence structure—it was about character. Her words remain with me to this day: to be organized in mind and spirit is to live with integrity, responsibility, and truth.
The Curious Pilgrims 