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Essay by Robert J. Tinsky, Oblong, Illinois
Guest Essayist
About 3000 years ago King Solomon wrote: "Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body." (Eccl. 12:12) The prophet wrote of the time when "many will go here and there to increase knowledge." (Daniel 12:4) I wonder what King Solomon would think if he could come back and see the vast multitude of books being published every year in our country. I am not given to predictions of end-times events in our world but I can not help but wonder if Daniel could be referring to the time in which we live.
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In 2006 there were 290,000 books published in the United States. Each year about 10 million books are written, most of which are never accepted for publication. Every week I read in the newspaper articles about some of the new books that have been printed along with a list of the ten best selling fiction and the ten best selling non-fiction books. Some of the magazines I receive have pages trying to entice me to join their book club so I can receive the latest books each month. In the pages of their monthly magazine and in letters I receive in the mail I am invited to sign up so I can receive monthly the Reader's Digest Condensed Books. (I don't subscribe but I do like to get my hands on used copies of them.)
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I turn on my computer and go to Google or Yahoo and I am immediately invited to read the latest headlines.  At my finger tips are sites that will instantly tell me everything I want to know about any possible subject. (Sometimes, much more than I really want to know).  I have bookmarked several sites where I can get the latest news from both a liberal or conservative viewpoint and where I can get articles by those of the same political persuasion.  Â
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I have a library of at least 1000 books in my home with all kinds of information. I know I can get much of this same information via the internet but I am of the old generation and still like to have a book in hand. We have a small library in our little town that can get almost any book I want to read or study by going to their inter-library loan program. I can order the book and have it often in two days. My mind is reeling from even thinking of all this knowledge instantly at my command. With all this information at hand you would think I was the smartest person on the earth. Problem is, when do I find time to read all this? And, just reading is not enough. Some of these things take time to study thoroughly to be sure I really comprehend and to get the information imbedded into my own God given memory system.
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Enough on this subject. Time to get back to reading the latest book I borrowed from the library just three days ago.
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Not sure Bob convinced me, I think he's going back for more
if he's going to read another book! THANKS BOB,
THE WORDWRIGHT
By T. J. Ray, Oxford, Mississippi
Note from THE WORDWRIGHT - This is a heavy subject and more than cursory thoughts are necessary. Public School Boards of Education nationwide would do well to make this essay a "must read" for every teacher in training. The application of principles and precepts needed, as suggested by T. J. Ray, might well require a new qualification for teachers (and School Board members): "Not for the timid." I consider it a privilege to publish T. J. Ray's essay on this website and am grateful to him for granting us permission to use it. Professor Ray even sent along the photo below of the teacher and her students at the Wilson Elementary School in Clay County, Mississippi, which is near Columbus in the eastern edge of the state (year unknown).
"Teaching, what about it? Students, do you like the teachers?" Old and worn questions maybe, but I was asked them recently and was bothered by my answers. Almost any teacher will tell you instantly that he likes students. That's what I did. Later, when the moment was past, I began to consider what I might have or should have said.
Why does a person seek to become a teacher? There are many with the title who are counterfeits. Immediately, George Bernard Shaw's quote springs to mind: "He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches." Perhaps there is more than a germ of truth. Are there accounting profs who teeter on the edge of financial insolvency? Drama coaches who never act? Literature teachers who are content with verbal debris for their leisure reading?
Students may have a piece of the truth when they accuse teachers of hiding from the "real" world. It's true that the world of the campus is artificial. Any system that gives teachers practical autonomy in the midst of a democratic society is artificial. Here, though, I level no charge. If the classroom is to orient the student so that he succeeds in the "real" world, then good for it. And, too, there are teachers whose world ends with the class period. They take no stands, front no issues, and applaud when they believe their students have mastered the course. These people are human zombies. They are conveyor belts of data, details, facts, trivia. A teachers must do more than a good computer or audiovisual device can do. He must help students relate his course content to the real world.
Relevance is a charged word today. For teachers it is generally negatively charged, nd they are repelled by it. Do they resent being shown that their professional function has been neutralized, that they are ineffective? Why didn't my fellow students and I not bomb buildings and have eyeball confrontations with our teachers in the 1950's? Were they and their programs more relevant, more pragmatic? Or were we naive and timid?
May it be that we were raised in an era when longevity seemed the rule, when systems went on and on, some changing and surviving while others declined and vanished? Today's students don't have any sense of permanence or longevity. The Anglo-Saxon motif "Life is laene" sums up their world: Life is brief. Though they may be wrong, thought the world may go on for centuries, thought God may be in his heaven and all's well with the world, our students think it is falling apart. And even if they are dead wrong, as long as they believe this terror, it is one function of teachers to respond, to make knowledge relevant.
Indeed, why not? What is so evil about making human behavior in all its forms meaningful? Is it better to subject the young to Shakespeare than to an Indian guru or a hypo? Is it worthy subjecting him to the discipline of physics lab when he may never experiment again? Is there any point in teaching the writings of the Vikings in a world of CBW, CIA, and DDT? Emphatically, yes! But sensibly, purposefully, and oh so patiently.
We must let our students know there is a reason for our professional existence. First, we must know ourselves that such a reason exists. If we cannot find one and verbalize our motive for teaching what we teach, then we must nod silently when the young shout "Irrelevant" because then we are.
There is no more significant profession in the world than teaching. It is perhaps the oldest in that people have probably always transmitted knowledge one to another, usually from adults to younger people. Gradually it developed that a few would have primary responsibility in this area. And slowly teachers became respected and finally trusted with the minds of the young. Plato conceived of men studying most of their lives to become teachers, and to become philosophers in the bargain.
Now the greenest, most immature individual is turned loose with a few years of college. And there is no valid probationary period as exists in medicine and other arts. Are there people who come privately to the conclusion that teaching is not their proper calling? Do they ever quit, walk away, and leave the students to more capable hands? I suspect that voluntary withdrawal is the exception rather than the rule. Hence, one of the burdens the profession ought to assume is that of improving and weeding its own ranks.
We are probably guilty of harboring incompetents, mantling them with tenure and select committee appointments that assure them of unchecked license in the execution of their nefarious art. For that's just what bad teaching is, a misguiding, a corrupting of the innocence of young minds and characters. To the degree that poor teachers stifle the urge to learn and frustrate students in pursuing knowledge, to that degree they are of the same cloth as the witch doctor who holds his people back from modern medicine or the chanting monk who frightens his flock away from a more enlightened view of their creator and world.
No other professional group has the opportunity teachers have. Physicians may be able to men bodies. Ministers may well prepare souls for the next life. And engineers and scientists may shelter, clothe and feed us better than we have been pampered in the past. But only teachers are in a position that allows them to shape the intellects and personalities of the young. They have the chance of molding human beings, creating humane beings.
Teachers have the highest calling because they deal with the world's most precious commodity: the human mind. If they were handling delicate china or expensive electronic materials, we would expect great care. How much more valuable and delicate is the mind?
If students are the teacher's reason for being, then there is an obligation to examine the relationships with them and improve matters that need improving. And God knows something has broken down in the teacher-student relationship in recent years. No longer can a professor expect respect as a right for his position.
No longer is his authority sacrosanct. No longer are his activities immune to public scrutiny and review. If he wants respect, he must earn it--by his fairness, genuine competency, and relevance. He must admit, however quietly and privately, that many of his shibboleths and prescriptions are only gossamer laws. And he must recognize that he is answerable to three courts.
First, he must satisfy his peers. The other side of that coin is that his peers must demand satisfaction. They must collectively seek to improve the profession. They must set standards by which acceptable performance may be distinguished from the ephemeral. And they must weed their own ranks. As teachers move more and more toward professional organization for mutual job protection, they must also assume a self regulating duty. Secure teachers are not per se effective teachers.
Second, the professional must submit to examination by the public. The AAUP notwithstanding, a form of employer-employee relationship does exist between the teacher and the institution that employs him. School patrons have a right to get a desirable return on their investment. In the case of the fireman, truck drivers, or even military personnel, teachers would probably approve public review of their performance and agree to dismissal or censure for incompetency. But does the school not have a right to expect that teachers, involved in commonly taught courses, accomplish something in common?
Finally, teachers must answer to their students. Here, a kind of merchant-customer relationship exists. The student, or someone on his behalf, pays a price for his education. The very least return for that investment is the right to anticipate a valuable experience, and perhaps the right to criticize what is received. Not that I want student reviews of syllabi. Not that I want students on curriculum committees. Not that there is any exclusive virtue in using student course evaluations as prima facie evidence of a teacher's competence. But -- who knows a teacher so well as his students do? Is there anyone more intimately concerned with their getting high quality training than students themselves? Who suffers more when we send them out of courses with passing marks but without the intellectual talent to function successfully in their next course or their first job?
If there is no learning by conscientious, well motivated students, there probably has been no teaching. When students of average mentality are not conscientious or display no enthusiasm, it is the responsibility of the system--not the individual teacher-- to structure its program to stimulate the student to learn as much as he can. Lest this be misunderstood so that no teacher will argue that his job is not to be guidance counselor or cheerleader, let me say: Schools and the general public must get over the notion that everyone is college material. We must direct our best efforts at those applicants with the highest potential of contributing significantly to the human race. Do what you will with the rest. Send them to trade schools, as is done in many Europeans countries. Or send them to the military or the Peace Corps. But admit that they shouldn't be in higher education and get rid of them. If one can argue for weeding the teacher population, can one not also advocate weeding the student body?
Teachers are very important people. Not because they have degrees, appointments and publications lists. Not even because they know more about their subjects than their students do. Their lives are significant because they are trusted with the sacred duty of helping others, usually younger and less experienced, to prepare for a complex adult world.
Teachers are variously cantankerous, snobbish, erudite, obtuse, cynical, Socratic, or superfluous. Students are often rebellious, dense, naive, eager, and innocent. And jointly and separately they fail each other. But the primary hope for mankind rests with teachers--not with family, church, or government--with the teacher and his students. There can be no more precious moment in human existence than when a teacher leads a student to know a truth.
The following note was written by Professor T. J. Ray, September, 2006
The words above were written in 1975 and first printed in a publication of the Mississippi Department of Education, The Mississippi Educational Advance. That was after my first 15 years in teaching and before my last 25. Knowing what has occurred in education since 1975 and reflecting on the essay, I feel strongly that it is still by and large a proper comment on the subject.
Some aspects of education have gotten worse. Standardized tests have almost eliminated the need of teacher evaluation of students, and teachers spend far too much time under the shadow of those tests. Dropout rates are higher, and strange experiments are being trotted out in an effort to keep kids in school.
While the above essay was more about public education, its essence was and is applicable to the college level, where things are as bleak as in lower grade levels. In a craze to have large and larger student bodies in order to get more and more money from the State, colleges have very steadily and readily admitted people who would have been turned away not many decades ago. Now a major state university has gone so far as to admit a student who cannot read or write. That might be surprising were it not so patently clear that the tail (athletics) has come to wag the dog (academics).
Yes, teachers are still important. They should not and cannot be replaced by exotic online courses or distant learning experience in which the teacher never faces the student.
Yes, we have a problem that might be posed thusly: As education standards diminish, the quality of life in our world diminishes.
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"THANK YOU TJ, for some challenging concepts!" THE WORDWRIGHT
Copyrighted 2008
Robert J. Tinsky, Guest Essayist
Edith Clark was the grandmother of our daughter's husband. She died earlier this year at the ripe old age of 99. Edith lived alone in her house for several years following the death of her husband, Charlie.
On the front porch of her house there is a flower planter. Every spring her daughter-in-law would plant some flowers in it and put a bucket of water on the porch so Edith could regularly water these plants. About two years before Edith passed away her daughter-in-law, thinking it was getting to be too difficult for Edith to water these plants, suggested that she put some artificial flowers in the planter. Edith immediately gave her a disgusted look and said, "I ain't dead yet." Talk about spunk!
Too many times those of us who are senior citizens get the idea we can't do anything anymore because we are too old. Can't do anything anymore? Balderdash! (That word means "nonsense, foolishness, trash). It is nonsense to think that just because we have had a lot of birthdays there is nothing left for us to do.
I can give you many examples of people who were still productive in their latter years. John Wesley, at age 88 still preached every day (not just on Sunday but every day). Tennyson published the poem "Crossing the Bar" when he was only 82. Benjamin Franklin went to France in the service of our country when he was 78. Michaelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, lying almost on his back on a scaffold at age 90. We have all read of people who, in their 70's and 80's, earned a college degree.
There is something every one of us senior citizens can do. I turned 82 this year. Last year I served as president of the board of directors of our Mobile Home Park in Florida. I am chaplain in our park and lead in a Vespers service twice a month. I am also in charge of the Senior Citizen program in our church when I am in Florida. Last fall I had an interim ministry for four months and preached every Sunday morning and evening and led a Bible study every Wednesday. Currently I am writing my second book. I just finished putting together a pictorial biography of my father who lived to be 97. I say all this not to brag but to illustrate that there are still things that can be done even when we have become senior citizens.
I don't know what your "thing" is but I do know there is something you can do even though you may be advanced in age and may have some physical handicaps. It may be something as simply as sending cards of encouragement or talking on the phone to help relieve not only your own loneliness but that of others who live alone.
Years ago former President, Herbert Hoover, offered this advice to senior citizens: "There is no joy to be had from retirement except some kind of productive work. Otherwise you will degenerate into talking to everybody about your pains and income tax. The other oldsters will want to talk about their own pains and pills and income tax."
So, let me give a little bit of advice to you old "duffers." Next time you say, "I am too old to do anything, say to yourself what Edith said to her daughter-in-law, 'I ain't dead yet."
THANKS BOB, you give us a little more time when you say it like that.
THE WORDWRIGHT
"Sour Grapes" - Attribution to Aesop's fables for the expression. Meaning: A scorning or belittling of something only because it can't be had or done. I might be broadening the definition somewhat but I hope you get the idea--sometimes we "make our own sour grapes" from situations or circumstances.
I am going to be bold and say "I don't think anyone ever escapes the feeling of 'sour grapes' if he-she is honest with themselves." Yeah I know as Christians (or godly individuals) we are never supposed to be resentful of someone or something that just didn't work out for us.
I know from personal experience that planning a life-career is something most of us would like to think we might have done it differently. Maybe not. I know very few men whose life career was simple to work out and they in turn tried different things until, often they "found something" by accident or nearly so, that they could sink their teeth into and they applied themselves and the rest is history--they made a real go at it!
Jimmy Buffett, the popular singer-songwriter, in a Reader's Digest article in 1998, said, "The stage is not a place for the faint of heart." Jimmy, I got news for you - neither is LIFE a place for the faint of heart. Another popular singer-songwriter wrote masterful wisdom when he said, "Life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans." I must confess that I do not have any records of either of these great musical artists but I can't get one of the lines of Buffett's 1977 hit (Margarita ville) out of my mind because it is true of most mistakes in life, "It's my own damn fault..." (Excuse the four-letter explicitness but its a direct quote.) And John Lennon's thoughts on life is equally thought-provoking - we are busy making "other plans" when LIFE seems to interrupt us!
Once, when visiting a college campus, Buffett was asked how he started out. He replied, "In front of the bathroom mirror." Wouldn't it be nice if we could be smart enough to say or practice everything we wanted to do in front of the bathroom mirror. Candidly I must say only during the past few short years did I install a tall mirror on the door of our basement bathroom. If I had had the sense to put it there ten or fifteen years ago I would not have had to lose those extra pounds that I finally tossed aside during the past four months. A daily check-up in the mirror would have shown too many "sacks of sugar" have changed my physique.
Sour grapes might be distasteful because we're unhappy with our job. No job is worth messing up your mind so you are not happy - change the job and find something you enjoy doing. It will be worth it even to make a few less dollars and you won't have to buy any tranquilizers.
LIFE has its own "bathroom mirror" in the way others treat us. Now I've gotten back to the thought behind the heading of this essay. "Sour grapes" is one of those phrases or sayings that has come down through the centuries. I would like to expand the meaning a bit more to be inclusive of "hurt feelings". Every once in a while we find ourselves confronted with hurt feelings because of what people have done or said to us--or maybe something they didn't even say! The old joke comes to mind of two psychiatrists passing each other in the hall and the one saying, "Hello there," caused the other to think, "Wonder what he meant by that?" Does every word have to mean something when someone speaks to us? Can't we loosen up a bit and give someone else a break when they have gone "brain dead" for 45 seconds and said the dumbest thing that ever came from their mouths? Once I paused while passing through a set of doors and held it for a woman and she was nearly insulted at my gesture. Wow! Her feelings sure fit her coat sleeve rather well, I thought. Of course she was of the more then current group of "liberated" women and she could well do things for herself and did not need a man to hold any door for her.
I am glad I once treated an older lady with some uncharacteristic respect when I greeted her with, "That's a nice outfit you have on..." She beamed immediately and returned my compliment with a smile worth a $1,000 and two words, "Thank you!". She had not been wearing a smile when she approached me and I confess I don't really know why I plied what little psychology I know by greeting her that way but I am glad I did. There was a little ugly old lady in our town years ago whose little garden was a near marvel in itself since it was awkwardly placed on a steep bank of her property. I usually saw this lady as I drove by her house since she lived close to my father's house. On a sudden impulse, once while driving by, I stopped the car and walked over toward her as she worked in her garden. "That sure is a great garden you have there," I said as she looked up at me. Her heretofore not-too-pretty face, with a wart on her nose, changed immediately! That casual compliment didn't cost me a dime and I would not have been greeted more heartily had I offered her a bouquet of red roses. Her eyes lit up her now smiling face and we had a nice chat - neither of us knew the other before that moment but I am satisfied I helped her through the day, and I also felt good about myself.
Fred Bauer, another contributor to the Reader's Digest, wrote "THANKS for Everything" and those packrats who stashed their November 1994 RD, can find his story on Page 171. Mr. Bauer shared facets from his life to help his readers cherish moments otherwise forgotten in their lives. Some of us could look back in our years of school and remember a teacher that went "one step further" than required in their curriculum schedule to help a 3nd grader who had not "caught on" to some small thing like knowing how to put letters together to make words. I remember one teacher who kindly warned me, "Billy, if you ask me one more question, I will take you by the hand and walk you around the room with me." You know what happened - I walked around the room with MY teacher! I am sure she was one teacher who gave me goose bumps when she bent over my shoulder to help me learn to read. Miss Grove was her name and I am glad, as an adult, I told her more than once she was appreciated.
Fred Bauer was a freshman, more sports minded than schoolwork and falling behind in his Latin when Violet Bible, a neighbor who was a schoolteacher, found out about his problem. Mrs. Bible invited him to her house to show Fred "Latin's great fun," and for several weeks she tutored him until, as he said, "I could conjugate with the best of them--well, almost." Anyway, Fred Bauer passed Latin and as a young, inexperienced and immature boy he saw nothing extraordinary that a working wife and mother had nothing better to do after a hard day at school than tutor him in Latin. Years later when Fred was "back home" visiting, he realized what an uncommon sacrifice Mrs. Bible's help had been. When he told her "Thank you," he was rewarded with a surprised smile and a sparkle in her eyes. Every person who draws a breath yearns for kind words of appreciation.
People are not all alike, or haven't you noticed? Some are givers and some are takers -- and the way we are wired by our Creator, it takes all kinds to make up this world. So, the next time you feel like you've been offended, used or even "dumped on" get a fresh drink of the water of life and remind yourself that others are human too. How we are treated might just be the way we seem to others. When you are in a crowd of unfriendly people, be friendly, even if it makes you a little nervous.
Here are some quotes that might be of some assistance when you find yourself in a place where the are some "sour grapes":
"May we never let the things we can't have or
don't have or shouldn't have, spoil our enjoyment
of the things we do have and can have."
Country Magazine, Oct/Nov 2007
"If your ship doesn't come in, swim out to it." -- Andy Tant
"Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."
Abraham Lincoln said it, and he had sufficient experiences to test this philosophy.
"Resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die." -- Malachy McCourt, as quoted by Alex Witchel in the New York Times.
"Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are."
-- Malcolm Forbes
If any of the above thoughts have offended anyone, forgive me; if any of the above thoughts have helped anyone, Thank God!
THE WORDWRIGHT
Written by Robert J. Tinsky, Oblong, Illinois - Copyrighted 2008
   This past month my wife and I visited with two different friends who have moved from their homes into a retirement facility. This has resulted in a rather drastic change in their lives. They have had to give up their home, much of their furniture and be separated from friends that they have known for many years. In one case the couple has also given up their automobile and the privilege of coming and going at will.Â
    Both of these friends have dealt with this period of transition in their life style with mixed emotions. They expressed regret mostly about being apart from so many dear friends. In spite of the changes they have had to make they all realized that the change was for the best and have come to accept their new living facilities with grace and dignity.
    Let's face it, as we grow older we can all expect some changes in our life style. Some of these changes come on rather unexpectedly as the result of an accident or a serious illness. The fact that our income may decrease at the same time that the cost of living continues to go up and up causes us to make some serious changes. The loss of a mate leads to some of the most dreaded and necessary changes in our manner of living.
     When we are faced with any of these changes we have two choices--we will either resent the changes and become bitter and crotchety old persons or we will accept what we can not change and resolve to be happy in our circumstances. I don't relish the thought of being limited by some infirmity of the flesh. I don't look forward to the time when I have to relinquish my driving privileges. I, like most people I know, would prefer to remain in my own home until it comes time for me to "check out" and make my way to the home Jesus has prepared for me.
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    Acceptance is the attitude that makes all the difference in how we deal with the changes that are going to come as we grow old. Someone has said: "Our attitude toward life determines life's attitude toward us." I have an article in my file about a man who is always in a good mood and who always has something positive to say. When he was asked how he could be such a positive person all of the time he gave this answer: "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood."
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    Henry Albright, a painter and lithographer who lived from 1876 to 1944, once wrote this about our attitude toward life: "A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort." I am sure that was what we call a "tongue-in-the cheek" statement. I am not interested in annoying people by having a positive attitude but he is right. Some people are so determined to not enjoy or appreciate or accept their circumstances in life that they resent those who face the changes that old age brings with grace and dignity.
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    There is a sign over the Phoenix Suns' locker room that says this: "The game is scheduled, we have to play it--we might as well win." We are all in the game of life. We have to play it until the game is over. We might as well win.Â
THANKS, BOB - I hope these comments will aid others in our age bracket.
THE WORDWRIGHT
As a young preacher and teacher I often used a two-word key phrase "Everlasting Principles" to say something in as few words as possible. Then, and now, I still believe that within those two words is woven the key principle for life. To the pioneers that probed through the trees here in Ohio and sought a place to raise their families a principle was as clear as the ringing of bell towers scattered across our land. Not a gong, or a thud but a clear sound to guide the wanderer lost in the forest. Somehow those pioneers figured out if they cut a log a certain way, chiseling unique joints on each end and in other sections of the log house framework (for windows and doors) they could expect them to stay put for centuries, no less than many decades for sure. Once my father-in-law thought he would make quick work of an old chicken-coop that was apparently in his way. After hooking a logchain at specific places he got on his tractor and engaged the power believing one good jerk would pull the building apart. What happened was that old chicken coop flipped up on its end like a contrary child refusing to mind its parent; it was built to stay together.
Everlasting principles are thoughts that our Creator wired into our minds to keep us from going hungry or getting cold. Being hungry is one thing but obeying thoughts in the mind to grub for food and store for the winter is what it took. The ability to hunt certainly is an acquired skill but thought processes are a necessity that cannot be ignored. "Tricks of the trade" abound in every endeavor man has entered. That extra "kick" or jerk in cranking a Model T, and having the good sense to let go at the right moment, was necessary to keep from getting a broken arm. A broom maker has to hold a broom just right and insert a double-pointed needle just right to put it through the broom and not the hand. Of course, such an accident would serve as sufficient mental input to be careful how that needle should be used, like the data one picks up at a blacksmith shop when picking up a still-hot horse shoe -- "it doesn't take me long to look at a horseshoe..." (said the naive onlooker as he threw it on the ground).
In the Bible we find much wisdom but the Book of Proverbs (and also the Book of Ecclesiastes) provide mines of data and workable information that could be life-saving if only obeyed. The saddest story is realized when the person espousing some of that wisdom became perhaps the biggest fool of all. Solomon had the unique privilege of asking from God "whatever he wanted" and this wise man, even as a young man, asked for WISDOM. Not power, might or wealth. And he received from God what he asked for, and more! Yet, as he became engrossed in his life of power and wealth, his choices were not always wise. He married outside the Jewish family - more specifically into a nation whose god was not Jehovah and being human he thus began to allow pagan dogmas to influence him and in a matter of time all his wisdom proved that even the most wise man can become as a fool. But profoundly, the name SOLOMON still rings out clear as a bell, the message: "...whoever listens to me (WISDOM) will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm..." (Proverbs 1:33) You will have to read the entire first chapter to glean the complete concept of "wisdom" as personified by King Solomon. It seems even this wise man did not know what he did not know - he was only human. And he was capable of making mistakes and even sin against the God who gave him the gift of wisdom. That principle needs repeated: "If you don't know what you don't know, you are in big trouble."
HAPPINESS to a young married couple can be a fleeting thing if either party forgets everlasting principles that have shone like beacons at the top of light houses. The fog of life, as in the fog of the sea, can serve to blinding us from seeing danger whether it be the rocks and shoals or an improper desire or decision. That kind of wisdom too can be found in the book of Proverbs; specifically, read the first six verses of chapter five but kindred wisdom is on every page of the book. Another word from the book of Proverbs 6:20-26 for those concerned about principles with everlasting values.
IN DEBT TO FOREIGN NATIONS --- a strange, to some, principle lies within the pages of the Scripture too, where no nation should allow itself to be strapped or indebted to another nation at the cost of its continued existence. Specifically God commanded his children, the Hebrews, never to allow this to happen. By the way, that is where Solomon began to have problems, when one of his wives was the princess of Egypt. How do you say "no" to a beautiful, rich, powerful woman? Well, as I read somewhere, "No" is a complete sentence (believe it or not). But, Solomon, and a host of other wise males are quick to learn how to avoid a hot tongue and a cold shoulder. Again, however, who we allow to guide our lives is a part of those everlasting principles I write.
THE WORDWRIGHT encourages you to make the book of Proverbs a daily devotional - there are 31 chapters too, one for each day (of the long months that is).
It is almost impossible to watch TV any day without being reminded we might not be strong enough, or in "good shape" and have perfect abs or that we might need to "talk to our doctor" (yeah) and ask him if a certain pill would be good for us, but have you considered that the shape we are in (well, at least some of us) is based on something, unfortunately, that our government seems to have had some involvement and keeping trim or really healthy is not one of them.
CORN FED, LIKE IT OR NOT!
"A little bit of sugar makes the medicine go down, tra la tra la..." Are we left to wonder if the American Medical Association and the agricultural groups are part of a conspiracy to push high fructose corn syrup and corn syrup down our throats whether we like it or not. And the government itself messes with the minds of the farmers enticing them NOT to grow certain crops (they've done this for years in various fields--excuse the pun) and it's getting to be so much I simply have to say something about this.
Has the jury come out yet on this one? What about diabetic people - WHERE can they go to get sugar-free without becoming detectives of the highest degree? TRY TO FIND a product without high fructose corn syrup!!! Why can't there be chocolate milk with just milk and chocolate? (Well, maybe a little corn syrup.) Do we really need all that sugar and is this really the way to cure more ills by doctoring products so the farmers can sell more corn and we know that crops are force fed by who-knows-what fertilizers and herbicides to produce bigger crops, but is bigger always better?
TODAY, go to your pantry or your kitchen cupboard and check all your boxed and bottled products. Be ready to be surprised --- cereals, breads, cakes, so-called "fruit cocktails". There is the unnecessary additive or combined ingredients: High Fructose Corn Syrup AND corn syrup!!! Don't know about your but I feel like I am sweet enough!
IS THE FOX guarding the chickens?
FARM SUBSIDIES, interest groups, lobbyists and big companies like Archer Daniels (not Jack by the way - they don't pull any punches, every one knows their hard liquor will melt your mind but Archer and his boys play it cool and do their job behind the scenes lobbying and lolling the government-paid workers to do their special deeds and unfortunately "the golden rule" works well - you know, "those with the gold, rule..." Unfortunately the true biblical GOLDEN RULE has been prostituted so "listen" carefully between the lines when we hear the words "golden rule".
These subjects are bigger than a bread box, yeah and then some. Have you ever looked at the Congressional Record and found exactly what you thought you wanted to find? It used to take a determined effort and it was possible to get the Congressional Record mailed to you regularly, however now you get to view it easily on the internet. For starters, try:
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/crecord/index.html
It may be discouraging at first because you will find so many minute details and some unseemingly "important" items becoming a part of the Congressional Record that you wonder which is important, "knowing who makes the most wash boards in Ohio or who sells the most suits? -- believe me, I am not exaggerating - the Congressional Record gets full quickly! But you can start your brain working and it will not be easy.
GASOLINE PRICES AT THE PUMP and related issues are so involved the average person could hardly have enough knowledge to know absolutely why or what is going on. Oil reserves are in the trillions of barrels we are told, and is it therefore (?) that we ought not need to allow drilling in remote areas of Alaska? Or is it the teeming herds of caribou and polar bears that roam the land which the animal lovers and protectors feel if we let go of a few hundred sections we will endanger a species of animals which in 200 years will be non existent? What is the answer? And who can we ask that we can trust to give us a truthful unbiased answer? And while we are waiting for the answer the speculators continue to make millions from the frustrated consumers because the pertinent leaders do not seem to care how much higher the price of gasoline will go or be concerned about increased prices for commodities transported by trucks fueled by gasoline. And, most are unaware, it would seem that gasoline is not the only product produced from crude oil. Crude oil is not just used to produce gasoline. It is also used as raw materials for a whole range of chemical products, including pharmaceuticals, solvents, fertilizers, pesticides, and yes, the ubiquitous plastics. What do we want to give up first -- gasoline, drugs, cleaning aids or plastic? The line of products is not singular.
When I started on this essay gasoline was peaking at over $4.00 a gallon and for some reason, can we credit our concerned congress -- that would be great, the price of a gallon here in Lancaster, Ohio, was $3.62 a gallon but within hours it was back up to $3.69. But the gasoline issue still needs addressed. Sometimes we are able to see part of our congress obviously concerned and we need to give credit to some stalwarts who are sensitive to their constituents however, there is a small percentage of American drivers who are simply not driving as much either. This even small lack of petroleum sales is speaking to the industry, however our speaking needs to become shouting!
Well, still we can ponder the original questions: "Are we sweet enough?" and "Who is guarding the chicken house? The "fox" I would hope not! Do your part and keep your senators and congressional people informed about your feelings. We do have a VOICE and that word voice is just two letters less than "our voice" -- which is our V O T E. Votes, believe it or not are still what puts the majority of our congress in office. Sometimes I wish there was a specific term limit - two years to try your stuff, then, its OUT and back to your career at home. But experience in every field is a real asset, and boy does that make term limits a sticky wicket! Unfortunately, or so it seems, the professionals become slicker and slicker at becoming top recipients and they are not about to kill the goose that lays the golden egg. And lets not forget who "make the laws", them--not us!
One of the readers of THE WORDWRIGHT wrote recently and what he says might be the "mix" of leavening and other ingredients essential to our national issues:
"Democracies are as irrational and imperfect as the people who run
them. ... If you are a politician--say, you've been elected as a county commissioner, or Congressman, or to the Presidency--you have to lead and generally satisfy many people who don't like each other much. And so you work out compromises that will probably dissatisfy each group but will keep society going along. It's no way to make friends, and I
am personally quite impressed with the people who are able to do it."
This reader's comment causes a twinge of envy in me to see someone else be a little more patient with a system that is flawed mainly by critics who seem to enjoy making obfuscation the rule instead of enlightenment and encouragement. Perhaps we can begin to see senators and congressional representatives become cognizant that they can be replaced but it will take more than just a few speaking out - let's make that few become blocks of voters across the land.
THE WORDWRIGHT
Just to keep the record straight, this is the same guy who wrote, "SIX ALARMING WORDS", the words that my wife said, "I think I had a stroke." And this is the same guy who set out to find "good things" to write about. Well, ever since my wife, Jean, had her stroke April 22 (three months ago as this is being written), neither of us have forgotten those six alarming words nor have we allowed dismay to ruin our days with bad news. Jean has even adopted a motto of life in three words within a quote she found in "Our Daily Bread" July 2, 2000: "When bad things happen to you, ACKNOWLEDGE, ACCEPT and ADJUST." So, consider this a report to bring our readers up to date and confess to our being members of the Pack Rats of America.
You see, in 1994, my father, Gourley Venrick, passed on about two months short of his 93rd birthday. Dad had had several scrapes with old age and parts wearing out on his body and while I cared for him we bought the usual collection of paraphernalia: walkers, four-pronged cane, wheel chair and a potty chair. There may have been other items but this short list is sufficient for my story today. Did I tell you we are pack rats?
Well, when Jean had her stroke it was immediately realized we better find "that walker of Dad's." We had also dug back through "the stuff" in an outbuilding on the back of our city lot to get his wheelchair. We had stashed those two items with a lot of our "stuff we might need someday". Today my wife said she would like to try getting away from her walker, you know, graduate from one level of dependency to a bit higher level--it's called improving. So, I put that information in my "RAM apparatus" (between my ears) and tried to locate a quad cane my Dad had fourteen years ago. The second place I looked -- there it was: hanging from a floor joist in our garage (or what used to be our garage) over against the wall. Did I mention we are pack rats?
I have to admit our ways might drive some people nuts but in our brief life together of 57 years we have learned to appreciate and enjoy what we have, and we have what we want. Candidly I have to confess to having never been in the high income bracket and many times we have found ourselves content to enjoy the things we have and not yearn excessively for things we couldn't buy. My wife read a quote in Country Magazine, the 2007 October-November issue: "May we never let the things we can't have or don't have, or shouldn't have, spoil our enjoyment of the things we do have and can have." Well, this is no problem for pack rats.
Whenever we have had a need for something like a wheelchair, a walker, a portable potty, you name it, if we didn't have it, we knew where to find one! We call that a blessing, and "A good thing", like Martha Stewart says.
Being married to a voracious reader, a great joy is experienced when we trade quotes like the following:
"Happiness is beneficial for the body,
but it is grief that develops the powers of the mind." Marcel Proust
"Nobody, as long as he moves about among the chaotic currents of life,
is without trouble." Carl Jung
"Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live." Also - "Life is an adventure in forgiveness." Norman Cousins
"It is a tree of life to all who cling to it."
A Jewish saying (proverb) in regard to Scripture
"We do not choose the day of our birth nor may we choose
the day of our death, yet choice is the sovereign faculty of the mind."
Thornton Wilder
"Count your blessings instead of your crosses
Count your gains instead of your losses."
From "Count Your Blessings" by Frances Doran
"The happiest people don't have the best of everything.
They just make the best of everything." Anonymous
"We go to church to keep our lives in balance." Bill & Jean Venrick
"God will not look you over for medals,
degrees or diplomas, but for scars."
Elbert Hubbard
It is hoped this short treatise can be properly closed as we acknowledge some good things we enjoy in life in spite of the bad things that come our way. Our prayer is that we will never ask, "Why us?" but honestly ask, "Why not us?"
THE WORDWRIGHT & Jean
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