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Over 1500 years have gone by since the first Vandals ravaged Gaul, Spain, North Africa and sacked Rome. This member of an East Germanic tribe lives on - our newspapers report their existence every day. Our neighborhoods show evidence of their existence. Our cities post warnings to be heeded by this family but their shameless disregard, said to be borne out of malice or ignorance, seems to have thrived instead of diminish. Whatever the cause the Vandals continue to destroy and spoil public and private properties - anything that is beautiful and artistic.
And what is our reaction? Now, as then, 1500 years ago, many often cower in fear, grit their teeth in gut determination that even the Vandals will not dissuade their dreams and mists of attempts to "just have something" that they can call their own. Ah, that could the be the KEY - something "that they can call their own". Ancient Vandals, as in today's society, didn't have anything (they thought) so why should anyone else?
We have heard of the Hatfields and the McCoys. I even know a lady who is an heir of that family squabble. We read and know of the "fighting Irish" and the Missourians who persist at least in slogan, "Show me" what is what. So, why do we act surprised to learn another dysfunctional family exists?
We like to assign titles or tags to our problems and that is not all bad, but we ought to simply stop and consider what and where Vandals "came from". All things have an origin--even if it is a nondescript cobweb indiscreetly lurking in an occasional spot of the home. It is there, the cobweb, because "something is at work". Something is "at work" even when Vandals are the subject.
Could this be a test? Admittedly it is a shame, at least it would be to me, to be a part of a family whose name has been Anglicized to describe some crappy people who get their thrills out of toppling cemetery stones or trash mail boxes along country roads. And it is the same family instinct that is the cause of discarded cigarette butts being thrown wherever they please. It is the same family trait that drives owners of vehicles to drive however they please. And it is the very nature of all of us to sometime, someway, somehow disregard another's feelings, property or existence.
Undoubtedly this family still exists and determines to live on by some odd quirk of providence or purpose to demonstrate unfailingly that some still don't care but the real test is what we do with such information. A bit of caution is in order. In our litigious society ("crazy world" would be another way to say it) you have to be careful. Building a mail box out of ½ thick sheet steel would probably cause such vibrations for a ball bat-wielding vandal that they could sue you - check your rights before you spend money or time unwisely.
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THE WORDWRIGHT
In the Book of Jeremiah we read: "O Lord, do not your eyes look for truth?" (Jeremiah 5:3). The Apostle Paul wrote: "Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body." (Ephesians 4:25).
Most of us want to be truthful in everything we say. While we sometimes condone what we call "little white lies" we still want to be known as people of integrity who speak only words that are true.
If we are truly people of integrity we are very careful in our daily conversation about passing on information about our friends or relatives or neighbors that may not be accurate. To be sure we are not saying something that may be fallacious we go to the original source to determine if what we have been told is 100% true. When we conduct any business we want to be completely transparent and honest.
In spite of the fact that there was a movie a few years ago that attempted to show how difficult it is to always be completely truthful, we realize that not only does God expect us to speak the truth but our society as a whole still expects us to be honest in what we say.
We hold in contempt the sales persons who deliberately misrepresent their products so that they can make a sale. Years ago I tried to sell some books door-to-door. (I will not identity them since they were very honest books). The person who trained me tried to teach me that if a person asked a question about something in the books and I did not know the answer it was OK to just make up an answer. It did not take me long to realize that I could not and would not make sales calls in that manner.
In spite of the fact that we pride ourselves on being honorable persons whose words can be trusted, we have become guilty of using the Internet to pass on information that is not true. Almost every day I get an E-mail that contains information about something that is totally or, at least, partially erroneous. This was especially so during the past (2008) election. Both parties were guilty of disseminating false information about the candidates of the opposite party.
Today we call these fallacious E-mails "urban legends." Some have been floating around in cyberspace for many years. I would like to appeal to all who use the Internet to please do some checking before you pass on any E-mails. Some can sound so authentic but be partially or completely false. A short list of resources follows - use them to become a sleuth for truth yourself. Perhaps the classic wisdom, "If it sounds or claims to be too good to be true, it is probably not true" is the best guide or advice. Unfortunately, in our rush to judgment or communicate, especially if the subject is a pet of ours, we just can't wait to forward this story or that great bit of information (or gossip). Gossip never had such speedy resources before the Internet and e-mail. An older, and wise friend of mine in Arizona once told me, "Bill, 95% of the 'stories' you get via e-mail are simply lies." My friend might be accused of exaggerating but I would rather bet on his advice than become a liar because of passing on false or incorrect information.
Here is a partial list of resources to become a Sleuth for Truth:
http://www.truthorfiction.com/
http://www.snopes.com/
http://www.scientificamerican.com/section.cfm?id=fact-or-fiction
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyond_Belief_(television)
If you want to be known as a person of integrity in your personal dealings with others, then please be such a person when you use the Internet.
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THANKS TO my friend Robert J. Tinsky, in Oblong, Illinois, for the majority of thoughts expressed above; some suggestions of my own have been added to Bob's thoughts. THANKS BOB! THE WORDWRIGHT
Subtitle: The importance of personal responsibility
COMMON SENSE is getting pretty uncommon in our world today. If you doubt that, try reading the HOT warnings on a cup of coffee at your favorite drive-thru or quick-food restaurant. It is common sense that dictates a standard operating procedure for a good friend of mine who happens to like guns. This friend is not a rocket scientist, nor a holder of a Ph.D. degree and I would almost bet he doesn't even have a Bachelor Degree in anything past human nature. You know how he handles the problem, if it really is a problem, of having guns in his house? WHENEVER (emphasis intentional) a child comes in his house, the first thing he does is disarm EVERY GUN in his house! He actually keeps ammunition in some of his firearms and those guns automatically are checked and my friend, after having checked to see if there is a cartridge in the barrel, he simply removes the magazine clip and puts it in his pocket!
No child will EVER be able to find a gun to "pretend like he's a cop or a robber" in my friend's house. And that is the simple modus operandi in my friend's house and in my unscientific and non-politically correctness philosophy I maintain that this simple rule of safety is all that is needed, so Mr. Politician, get busy with some real problems in our country!
How could I be so naïve to think such a low tech solution could solve at least one of our nation's problems? Oh, I guess I forgot to remind you that there are STILL shootings of children going on--the latest being a child 6 years old shooting another child of the same age. Well, the answer is simple but my answer is not a placebo--it has to do with brains and using them.
Neil Postman, deceased 2003, was a University Professor, Paulette Goddard Chair of Media Ecology, and Chair of the Department of Culture and Communication at New York University. Among his twenty books are Amusing Ourselves to Death and The Disappearance of Childhood. Mr. Postman doesn't say much or anything about gun control in his books--rather he gets down to the nitty-gritty and talks about PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY.
In his most recent book, "Building a Bridge to the 18th Century", Postman addresses this problem in Chapter Seven (pages 116-135). Postman was one stalwart individual who happened to believe technology is not God's answer (or even man's answer) to our problem, and so writes: "There is some ironic comfort in our remembering that we are still suffering from the shock of twentieth-century technology, which has numbed our brains so that it is difficult for us to note some of the spiritual and social debris that our technology has strewn about us."
To facilitate the reader I will give the "punch line" (from Postman's writing) first; in writing about monitoring or knowing and applying principles and precepts about which parents and our society should be aware and practicing, Postman concludes: "...[such] are very difficult to do and require a level of attention that most parents are not prepared to give to child-rearing." Remember my friend and the control he exercises with his guns? Now, if you have the inclination, interest or downright sincerity required to really show concern about your children and your neighbor's children, read on.
Again, quoting from Postman's latest book, "If parents wish to preserve childhood for their own children, they must conceive of parenting as an act of rebellion against culture. This is especially the case in America. For example, for parents merely to remain married is itself an act of disobedience and an insult to the spirit of a throwaway culture in which continuity has little value. It is also almost un-American to remain in close proximity to one's extended family so that children can experience, DAILY [my emphasis, bv], the meaning of kinship, and the value of deference and responsibility to elders. Similarly, to insist that one's children learn the discipline of delayed gratification, or modesty in their sexuality, or self-restraint in manners, language, and style is to place oneself in opposition to almost every social trend. But most rebellious of all is the attempt to control the media's access to one's children." This is not all, obviously or we would have to reprint Postman's entire book so if you want to find a very simplistic approach to life and child-rearing then at least a few pages in Postman's book will be worth a trip to the public library to get your hands on his book.
This book cannot be read while watching TV by the way, and in fact it might be a good idea to prepare yourself by having a good dictionary at your side, and a willingness to evaluate related resources because Neil Postman's rhetoric includes massive usage of "big words" and more than often references to sages of generations past. One other side excursion in expressions worth mentioning, but not from Postman, is one Karl Kraus. Postman quotes Kraus on the subject of cultivating taste or "how to nourish the souls of students" in which Kraus thus nourishes students, "so that...they might know the difference between an urn and a chamber pot." Yep, that difference would be neat to know if the call of nature is profoundly present.
Remember, this book is not for the weak of heart or will, but if you honestly want to find another view, other than Uncle Sam helping you do something you alone are responsible for doing, then shut off the TV and the computer and pick up this book at our library.
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This essay was written in March 2000 - before "The Wordwright" days. While sorting through these old files, I discovered what many of us in the Senior Set learn early - the issues (we used to call them problems) of life do not really change; we simply adopt new buzz words and pretend we have solved the "old problems". If you care to upgrade your RAM (in the "computer" of your brain) you might use Micah 6:8 and I John 2:15-17. These biblical memory chips, although they do not address the above subject directly, once you allow them to be assimilated into your concepts and principles of life they will enable you to come to this conclusion sooner: "LIFE is not all that complicated."
Bill Venrick
CHANGE is the only constant - on this we have to agree; however, only for those who have lived through seven decades is it easier to review where we have been or what we are leaving behind. Admittedly all changes or adaptations to the times and culture swings are not all bad nor can we honestly slough off things brought on by the younger generations; times do change and we must change or we might even miss some good while pondering the past.
"Where is he going with this?" you might be asking. Well, I will explain. In an attempt to keep my spiritual bearings in line with the magnetic forces that surge through my two-fold body (the body and the soul concepts) I often pick up a hymnal and find an old hymn that is no longer in the Top Twenty, or even Top Hundred Favorites and read what words challenged Christians a few short decades ago. The hymn below is one that used a Welsh hymn melody putting music to words written by James Russell Lowell, a poet who lived slightly more than seven decades in the 19th Century (1819-1891).
If you can, cease the busy-ness of your day's schedule and read the following hymn. Some of it will undoubtedly be strange because the vocabulary is much different than the short repetitious choruses common in most "worship assemblies" today. It needs to be said that in years past, theology was taught through hymnody and after studying the Bible in Bible classes worshippers "sang about their faith" through the years and wove a complete garment of faith from what they were taught and what they caught through hymns.
ONCE TO EVERY MAN AND NATION
Written by James Russell Lowell
Once to every man and nation
Comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of truth with falsehood,
For the good or evil side;
Some great cause,
God's new Messiah,
Offering each the bloom or blight,
And the choice goes by forever
'Twixt that darkness and that light.
Then to side with truth is noble,
When we share her wretched crust,
Ere her cause bring fame and profit,
And 'tis prosperous to be just;
Then it is the brave man chooses
While the coward stands aside,
Till the multitude make virtue
Of the faith they had denied.
By the light of burning martyrs,
Christ, They bleeding feet we track,
Toiling up new Calvaries ever
With the cross that turns not back;
New occasions teach new duties,
Time makes ancient good uncouth;
They must upward still and onward,
Who would keep abreast of truth.
Though the cause of evil prosper,
Yet 'tis truth alone is strong;
Though her portion be the scaffold,
And upon the throne be wrong;
Yet that scaffold sways the future,
And, behind the dim unknown,
Standeth God within the shadow
Keeping watch above His own..
AMEN
Yes, some of you may remember those old hymns and perhaps were even bored when the song leader said, "We will be singing all verses," but after years of singing those wordy hymns we finally might have gotten the drift - those hymns taught our fathers faith. And "new" wasn't bad then either - did you catch the words in the third verse, "New occasions teach new duties - Time makes ancient good uncouth"?
As for me, I still appreciate those hymns of decades past compared to the hip or rhythmical repetitious songs and will prefer to sing "Tell me the old, old story..."
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Historical Collections of Ohio
By Henry Howe LL.D.
An interesting anecdote, illustrating the peculiar characteristics of the Indians as our first settlers of Columbus found them, is related of Keziah, the youngest daughter of John and Mary Hamlin.
In 1804 Mr. Hamlin built the first cabin east of the Scioto River, on the spot where Hosters Brewery now stands, and here, Oct 16, 1804, his daughter Keziah, the first white child in Columbus, was born.
At this time a tribe of Wyandot Indians were located near a bend in the river just below the present Harrisburgh bridge. They were very friendly to the Hamlins, and were specially fond of Mrs. Hamlin's freshly baked bread. On bread baking days they would come to the cabin, and lifting aside the curtain which served for a door, enter, and help themselves to the content of the larder without asking permission or saying a word to the occupants. Upon leaving they would throw a hunk of venison or whatever game they had upon the floor as compensation, and then silently take their departure.
One day when Mrs. Hamlin was attending to her household duties with nobody present save her infant daughter, who was calmly sleeping in her crib, several of the Indians entered the cabin, and without saying a word deliberately took up the sleeping infant and carried her away with them to their village, leaving Mrs. Hamlin trembling with fear and anxiety for the safety of her child. As the hours passed by, and the child was not returned, she suffered the greatest mental anguish and suspense, until, toward the close of day, her sufferings were relieved by the reappearance of the Indians bringing with them the child, which wore a beautiful pair of beaded moccasins upon her little feet, and which the Indians had been working industriously upon all day, and had felt the necessity of having the child with them so as to insure a perfect fit. This token of the appreciation of a savage race for the kindness and hospitality shown them by early pioneers was preserved until a few years ago, when the scion of a younger generation of the same house unfortunately destroyed them when too young to appreciate their value.
Miss Keziah Hamlin, the heroine of this pleasing anecdote, married Dec 19, 1822, David Brooks, of Princeton, Mass., and died Feb. 4, 1875, leaving a family of three sons and two daughters, one of whom, Mr. David W. Brooks, of the banking firm of Brooks, Butler & Co., kindly furnished us with the facts given herein.
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I read this story on the Internet a number of years ago and need to reiterate the authorship of the above, giving full attribution to Henry Howe, LL. D. and the Historical Collections of Ohio. The American Indians were often written off as mean savages; it is heartening to read accounts like this to dispel such generalizations. Bill Venrick, THE WORDWRIGHT.
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