Once again this
morning I caught myself playing the part of the silly, ol’ man. It's one of the few things I continue to get better at. I was perched precariously
on the rear tractor fender, on tiptoe, clinging desperately to a handful of leaves
on a hickory branch with one hand, while working feverishly to wrap a thirty pound
choker chain around the limb with the other.
This was not done simply as recreation.
The limb posed a threat to tractor cabs during the haying process, and I
was absolutely determined to pull it down. At the time, this seemed a remarkably
good idea. It was at this point in the festivities that I recalled countless
incidents of other silly, ol’ men found pinned in the wreckage of what seemed
at the time a remarkably good idea.
Invariably, those retaining some degree of mental clarity will ask, what
in the world were they thinking! I’ll
tell you. Those of us, who are blessed
to spend much of our lives on the farm, rely on an indispensable and time-honored
recipe: three parts exertion, two parts stamina, one part ingenuity, seventeen
parts luck, and 30 parts absolute insanity!
It’s how we’ve always done things. It’s the only way things get done. After
sixty plus years of this, there comes a day when one or more of these
ingredients just simply peters out. So here’s the thing; if you know any silly,
ol’ men, count your blessings and enjoy ‘em while they last. Even if they’ve
been insured, it’s hard to find parts. ;)
SC
Thursday, June 30, 2016
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Pathological Haters
Most of us are familiar with the term pathological,
as in pathological liar. The term
pathological, simply means extreme in a way that is abnormal or that indicates
an illness or mental problem of some kind. It seems obvious to me, not as an expert,
but simply a longtime observer of life and human behavior, that there are those
among us who are pathological haters. If so, while these people should not be
subject to ridicule or derision as a result of their illness, it seems fair and
reasonable to question their judgment and motives. As human beings, each of us
is susceptible to being drawn into the behavior of those around us. When those around us are happy, we’re
inclined to be happy. When they’re sad,
our inclination is to accept that there is reason for sadness. When those around us react to others with hostility,
disgust and hatred, we can’t help but be influenced. My dad and mom always encouraged
me to use my own head, and never give unwarranted credibility to the
intolerance, bigotry and unfounded bias of others. That advice has always served
me well. I believe that’s what Christ would do.
I suggest you do likewise. SC
Our youth are watching, and our behavior today will largely determine their future.
How in the world, one may well
ask, has it come to this? I’ll tell you. The term “civilized”
is defined as: “marked by well-organized laws and rules about how people behave
with each other. The expectation of a civilized people or society is that their
behavior and their interaction with others be polite, reasonable, and respectful.”
Throughout the history of mankind these traits have been encouraged and
expected. If people wished to be accepted, well received and successful, they understood
they were required to behave as though they were civilized. Young people
observed these characteristics in all successful people. They were taught from
an early age that there were consequences for bad or uncivilized behavior, and everything
they observed in their church, their immediate family, the media, the
professional world, and even politics for the most part, proved this to be true.
Today, much of our society believes the opposite to be true. Today civil, respectful behavior is placed in
the same category as political correctness and actually discouraged and disparaged
by much of society. Our youth today see coarse, crude, vulgar, disrespectful,
foulmouthed behavior rewarded and encouraged in a way which would have been entirely
unimaginable and abhorrent by all past generations. They hear this behavior applauded and
encouraged from the media, much of society, political candidates, elected
leaders, and even the pulpit. And then
we ask how is this possible. How we’ve
degenerated to this point is no mystery. Whether
we care enough to reverse it by our own efforts and behavior is the question.
One thing remains true: bad, irresponsible, uncivilized, disrespectful behavior
has consequences. It has brought down entire civilizations in the past. It
requires little imagination to envision that happening again. Correcting this sad state of affairs relies
on each one of us doing better ourselves and expecting better from others. Our
youth are watching, and our behavior today will largely determine their future.
SC
Sunday, June 26, 2016
We hear a good deal of talk today about taking America back and making this country great again.
We hear a good deal of talk today
about taking America back and making this country great again. Let’s assume this
rhetoric implies a rededication to the ideals for which America is best known
and respected at home and around the world. What then is the source of that
greatness? What then are those ideals? One
of the most emblematic symbols of America and her greatness is the Statue of
Liberty and the iconic words engraven within her pedestal: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses
yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send
these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me; I lift my lamp beside the golden
door!" The American ideals of equality, liberty and inclusiveness are at
the very heart of America’s true identity and greatness. They are why America
became and continues to be a beacon of freedom and justice around the world. We
are a country of immigrants. Regardless
of whether our families arrived in this country during colonial times or more recently,
our ancestors were immigrants. The United States of America is the result of
people from all around the world who risked everything in pursuit of a dream
summed up quite well in America’s Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths
to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and
the pursuit of happiness.” From 1776 until today, American ideals of freedom
and opportunity have been personified by our elected leaders, but America’s
greatness today and throughout the ages is not the result of elected leaders,
but our citizens, common men and women who cherish America’s time-honored principles
and dedicate their efforts and their lives to the preservation and advancement
of those ideals. Our challenge today is not a belligerent taking back of those
ideals, but a rededication to the sharing, promotion and advancement of those
ideals for all our citizens. Our challenge today is in many ways identical to
that which confronted our country when President Lincoln closed his second
inaugural address with the following words: “With malice toward none, with
charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right,
let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds;
to care for him who shall have born the battle, and for his widow, and his
orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among
ourselves and with all nations.” America’s greatness is now and has always been
the result of our citizens and the principles of Liberty, Equality and Justice
as contained in America’s time-honored historical documents and the speeches of
our most celebrated statesmen. In November of 1863, President Lincoln addressed
those assembled for the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery. According
to the President, those whose souls had hallowed that ground had given their
lives that the nation itself might life.
And he entreated the people to dedicate themselves to the great task
before them, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom,
and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not
perish from the earth. That’s a compelling idea: a democratic government, of,
by and for a people, unified by their faith and their mutual pursuit of liberty
and justice for all. That’s a proposition worth dying for. That’s why America
is great. SC
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