“Bèl antèman pa di paradi.”
Translation: “A beautiful funeral doesn’t mean paradise.”
The English equivalent to this proverb might be, “You can’t judge a book by it’s cover.” What you see on the outside, doesn’t mean that it is the way things are. Though people go through a lot to keep their appearances up, you really have to get to know the heart of a person to understand them.
For the Christian, this proverb reminds us that someone’s spirituality can’t always be determined by the way they looks or dress. Though it is definitely true that God calls us to leave our sinful actions in repentance, we must be careful not to write people off when we see that they don’t do things just like us.
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Unless otherwise noted, the Haitian Proverb of the Week was found in “Hidden Meanings. Truth and Secret in Haiti’s Creole Proverbs” by Wally R. Turnbull, Copyright 2005 by Light Messages. The comments on the proverb are my own.
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