Every day of our lives we are confronted with things that have been around so long that we rarely think of them let alone their goodness or value in our lives. Salt is probably the first item to be considered, and in fact it is often called "common table salt". Before saying anything about any of these common items, a list of other things would include: soda, starch, flax, grains (of all descriptions), plants, animals, trees, water, woods (of all descriptions), just to name a starting list. A simple item such as "dirt" or good old Mother Earth ought to be included so let's consider this a part of our long list as well.

Tantamount to the importance of any or all of the items in the short list above is the fact that every one of these "has been around as long as man can remember" -- hence the oft used expression, "you're as old as dirt". This might not be very complimentary and neither is it accurate -- do we really know how old "dirt" is? I will leave this up to the so-called scientific mind and the theological giants who seem to think they have all the answers. In all honesty I think the safest position I have chosen to hold is that this old earth is OLD. How old is up for grabs. Religious scholars like to argue they know exactly how old the earth is (and all its products), if it sounds fudging a bit or perhaps even ambiguous I am just not ready to say the world is 237,000,009 days old nor am I so arrogant to think the world is only 6,786 years old.

Further, as a believer, or to be specific, as a Christian believer, it is a matter of faith to me to accept that God created "all this stuff" for our use. You could even call all these resources a huge pantry provided mankind by the goodness of the Creator. It is almost like God had a huge sense of humor by factoring in the growth of this body of dirt being flung around in the Universe in a specific orbital pattern in a way no different than a cook gathering ingredients in the kitchen. A tsp of this and a tblsp of this and a dash of this; perhaps 1-1/2 cups of that over there and 3 ozs. of this ingredient and a half-pound of butter (only real item of ingredients in my faux list if you please). The cook is smart enough to know exactly what it takes to make a tasty cake or cookies or a great loaf of bread and just how long it will take to "cook anything". I like to think only God is capable of knowing "how long it would take" to "cook" all the salt mankind would ever need in an assortment of copper, silver, magnesium and ores of all descriptions. Oh, I assumed you would already know these items just listed are among the common things of this place we call home in the "sky" in the Via Lactea (the Milky Way) portion of the universe's immense residential area for humanoids. (Those who might choose to take exception to my "scholarship" of astronomy need not write as I understand there could be other opinions.) But back to seeing the goodness around us.

I am glad it wasn't left up to a committee of humans who decided they would "make up a resource (or a pantry)" of things we would need. Think of the times a simple situation like "How much salt should we order for this winter's icy blast? Thirty tons or forty tons?" Nationally speaking, 20.5 million tons of salt were used in 2005 to keep winter roads safe and passable. Revenues for highway salt sales were $585.7 million. The food salt and water softening salt are additional to these stats. Now who was it that wants to take over God's job of providing enough salt in the far reaches of the depths of this earth to provide sufficient mines or resources of salt for humans to use up? Or, how many zillion tons of pressure with "sea clamps" would it take to form salt in "x" amount of years for a given period of time?

CORN --- Let's take another "look around" in our consideration of the goodness of common things. Flour, meal and starch are the first items that come to my mind. Corn starch has been used for a long time. The person who buys talcum powder ought to look at the ingredients list -- corn starch, number one ingredient and then comes the extended list of chemicals the chemists have decided upon to complete the product we call "talcum powder". Corn, or Maize, is the largest crop in all of the Americas (270 million metric tons annually in the US alone). Varieties of this plant abound, depending on the varied useages. Corn starch is used as an anti-caking agent in powdered sugar (confectioner's sugar) and cooks need to know "how long" to cook (or bake) in order to remove the raw cornstarch taste. Surf WIKIPEDIA to learn how they make this starch. Housewives of years past would reach for that blue box of Argo Starch for their laundry use week. Isn't it good to have some starch around the house? And isn't it great that farmers grow corn? And it would take more than two hands to count the kinds of corn or maize grown in the world. And then there are assorted kinds of starch processed for use in food preparation not mentioned above. So you could say, "the list goes on and on."

To the homeowner who has some critters that need to be exterminated, try mixing equal parts of corn starch and plaster of Paris; then sprinkle this mixture in cracks and crevices and the cockroaches will eat the mixture and become petrified.

Aren't you glad you read THE WORDWRIGHT?