Divisive Forces and Elements

Something as massive and strong as a rock can be split by seemingly negligible forces and elements. It takes only one small fissure, one small crack, to provide an opening through which these divisive forces and elements may enter the rock and begin their destructive work. And once inside, if nothing is done to arrest that ruinous process, the rock, mighty as it may be, will ultimately split and break. In some ways a society is like a rock. It may be prodigious, strong and sound. But if one small crack develops within it, and nothing is done to repair the crack, forces and elements that once seemed insignificant and harmless can enter into it, and over time, destroy it. A society, however, differs from a rock in one important respect. A society is made up of living organisms, human beings, and is therefore itself a living organism. And as such, unlike a rock, it is capable of taking corrective action. It can fix itself--if it has a mind to.

The Science of Letting Things Go

In order to success-fully set a fine and useful structure upon the downhill road to dilapi-dation and ruin, one must possess a plan, a strategy, and a high level of single-mindedness and dedication. One can leave nothing to chance in such a virtuous and gratifying enterprise. He must render himself totally and utterly oblivious to even the most glaring signs of decay and deterioration, and be willing to resist and forsake any natural inclinations to patch or mend. But even so, he must retain a keen appreciation for the smallest details, for ignoring a loose shingle here and a broken hinge there can pay rich dividends over time, as illustrated in this photo. Obviously the man who has so painstakingly neglected this charming old barn and hay derrick knows a few things about the largely misunderstood and often maligned science of letting things go. Our hats go off to him for his farsightedness, adroitness and perserverance. His sterling example of what can be accomplished by setting ambition aside and exercising a little patience is an inspiration to all of us.

Rugged Mountains and Wild Horses

Over the course of a man's life he may pause from time to time to reflect upon what has changed and what has remained the same. In the summer of 1960, on a dusty, dry lake bed east of Dayton, Nevada, a sweaty and uncomfortable Hollywood film crew was filming scenes for a movie to be entitled "The Misfits." The actors involved in those scenes were Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Clift and Eli Wallach. The action in these sequences called for the male stars and their stuntmen counterparts to rope several wild horses from a moving flatbed truck and then wrestle them to the ground and secure their legs. In these scenes, in the immediate background, are bare foothills, and behind these hills are higher, more rugged peaks. Yesterday, out of a serendipitous sense of idle curiosity, I stopped at that dry lake bed to look around. Forty-eight years had come and gone since that notable group of talented actors and their equally famous director John Huston had worked there. Who can say how many whirling dust devils have swept dizzily across that flat and barren desert floor in that almost half a century? Or how many dark and ominous thunderstorms have hammered and pounded unrelentingly upon its bleak and forbidding surface? Yet, in all that long passage of time, little had changed. Everything that was important was still there. Only the flighty and insubstantial aura of Hollywood had fled away, like a tumbleweed driven by the fickle whims of the desert wind. Surprisingly, on the northern edge of the lake bed, in an area of dry grass and scrub brush, were seven wild horses; and they were not phantoms, they were real. And behind them were those majestic hills and peaks, exactly as they appeared in the movie, not looking one day older than they did forty-eight years ago. If they had a little white upon their heads, it was only because the winter's snow had not all melted away. I was but a backward and empty-headed boy, barely on the threshold of adolescence, when that transient film crew passed through our remote part of the world. But I well remember the excitement their brief visit caused and the fanfare that accompanied it. How consoling and comforting it was yesterday though, after all those many years, to pause where Hollywood royalty once had stood, and to reflect upon the fact that there still are some things a man can count on, even if they come down to a few ordinary things like rugged mountains and wild horses.

DOOLITTLE'S RAIDERS

Sixty-six years ago today, far off in the lonely reaches of the northwest Pacific, and in a state of war, eighty intrepid airmen in sixteen B-25 bombers were launched from the pitching deck of the aircraft carrier Hornet on an audacious mission. Their task: Strike a vengeful and retaliatory blow deep into the enemy's well guarded heart. Obviously the men chosen to carry out this bold plan were required to be both courageous and competent, for they were being called upon to fly purposefully and deliberately into the ugly face of death and hell. Yet their superiors expected success. When it was over, their brave deed did much more than send a wave of shock throughout Japan and her rapidly expanding empire, it provided the American people, who were still reeling with fear and uncertainty over the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor, with a much needed sense of hope. Today, fewer than a dozen of these dauntless aviators remain. We salute them on this special day for their unparalleled gallantry, and pray that they and their fallen brothers may never be forgotten.

OPTIMISM IN THE FACE OF HARD TIMES

Some are saying we are teetering on the brink of an economic recession. Others claim we are already in one. In any case, it would appear that we may be in for a period of hard times, a challenging period of unknown duration. And what should our attitude be as we enter this potentially difficult cycle? Why, what else? We should be optimistic, of course. Every spring in the deserts of the west and southwest wildflowers face a less than promising future. For them, hard times always loom on the horizon. But do they let these disappointing prospects discourage them? Do they allow them to dampen their indomitable spirits? Oh, hell no! Discouragement is nowhere to be found in their radiant and majestic natures. If God endows within these stunningly beautiful and delicate organisms such a powerful will to survive, such a powerful will to blossom forth in all their glory, even in the face of hard times and overwhelming odds, should not we, as the very children of that same benevolent God, emulate their simple and elegant confidence?

THE UNDERSTANDING OF A PIG

When I was a kid, my mother, Mrs. Underwood, would sometimes say of people who exhibited no readily discernible signs of culture or refinement, "He knows about as much as a pig knows about Sunday." Today, in addition to those who know little or nothing about Sunday, and perhaps this is no coincidence, there is an ever-growing and alarming number of people who know little or nothing about the founding principles upon which our nation and government rests. They mistakenly see the government, federal, state and local, as something outside themselves. They feel the government, like a rich benefactor, owes them a magical, fairy tale life in which there is never-ending prosperity and happiness. And when they hit a bump in the road, they squeal to the government for help and make loud accusations about everyone's part in the catastrophe but their own. Our government, in case anyone has forgotten, is a "government of the people, by the people, for the people." It is not the president's government. It is not the congress' government. It is not the U.S. Supreme Court's government. It is our government. And because it belongs to us, we are the ones obligated, above all others, to take care of it. Don't be deceived. No man-made institution remains in a fixed state. Dynamic influences, sinister, benevolent or otherwise, are continually altering it. Be assured that if we continue to take ourselves out of the process of government, we will soon find that we have lost our place in it.

"The only sure bulwark of continuing liberty is a government strong enough to protect the interests of the people, and a people strong enough and well enough informed to maintain its soverign control over its government."

--Franklin Roosevelt

"No government has ever been beneficent when the attitude of government was that it was taking care of the people. The only freedom consists in the people taking care of the government."

--Woodrow Wilson

KNOWING WHEN TO TURN

A fundamental principle of geometry states that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. That is why high-tension powerlines, highways and fences are almost always constructed that way. Putting in the slightest zig or the smallest zag would add an unnecessary expense to the building process. The only time an exception is made to this rule is when it ultimately would cost less to make a turn than it would to continue stubbornly on in a straight line, such as when a formidable obstacle is encountered. And so it is with the way we live our lives. We are granted but a finite amount of time in which to fulfill our dreams and destinies. To zig or zag would add needless delays and costs to the journey. Yet we must always be willing to face the inescapable reality that in order to reach our chosen destination it may become necessary at times to negotiate a prudent turn.