My religious friends - and my friends were almost all Catholics or Protestants or occasionally something more exotic like Jewish or Greek Orthodox - were convinced that God had a "plan" for us, and since God was good, it was a good plan, which we were required to endorse even without having any idea what it was. Just sign the paperwork; in other words, don't overintellectualize.

Meaning: The saying joins devotion to one God with room for many friendships. It values a wide circle of companions without making friendship a competition in numbers or requiring every reader to share its religious premise.

Meaning: The saying combines individual self-interest with a shared appeal to God. It can express a tense situation in which people look after themselves, but it does not justify abandoning others or suggest that shared needs can be left entirely to divine care.

Meaning: A household may need to address problems rather than avoid every difficult conversation. The saying’s praise of chiding needs limits on how disagreement is expressed.

Meaning: The mutual scratching image presents an exchange of favours: help me and I will help you. It may describe ordinary cooperation or self-serving reciprocity, depending on the situation, so the fairness of the exchange must be examined rather than assumed.