Saturday, December 24, 2005
L.O.L. It is not a good thing for man, woman or child to have in heart or soul any special cares on the eve which marks the birth of our Savior. Certainly, in time of war we are a people beset with unusual concerns for our lives but for those of thousands upon thousands of people all around the world. Not only does such physical strife cause us worry and doubts, but we also have all-too-near memories of tsunami waves, hurricanes, floods and kindred mishaps with Nature. All of these haunt us in many ways. Certainly there has never been such a Christmas tide for recent decades; such a crushing time marked by the lack of love flowing among us. We need to be reminded, however, that love remains constant. It is still there; it remains steadfastly in place, but it is very much obscured by such lrcoomvwar, and other maladies which harm the very fabric of our being in special profusion at this moment in our history. The wars at hand, mishaps, disease, poverty, ignorance, famine, illness of many kinds and – above all - tragic oversights in care and maintenance of people and principles. h Oddly enough it is only if we do not think about the problem and do something about it that real damage is done. It can be good if we think about our problems, and pray about them during these glory-fortified times of the year. Now is when the reflection of the reality of his birth and of his presence in our daily lives if we so will it to be. That's a sapecailxtimeinoujr life sequence when we are most closely tuned to His precense with us.
Thursday, December 22, 2005
FOREST FIRE Among the many stories which will come from the current, continuing and costly wildfires in Arizona and California, is one from which we can all learn a much needed and valuable lesson. It would certainly pay us to give more attention to keeping our forests in proper condition. By "proper", I mean keep them useful to man as he harvests their treasures and does so under conditions which encourage and maintain Nature's dominance. One California resident in the fire stricken area has been clearing his property regularly for years, he has eliminated exessive undergrowth and cut those trees which were close enough to torch his home if they chanced to burn. He kept the trees trimmed as much as possible and even planted some new, varied ones set sufficently apart from his home to add variety and make it all more beautiful. For doing all this, he has been scorned by his neighbors; even sued in the courts for "destroying the natural habitat" of several specified wilflife critters found throughout the entire area. After the fire, which burned homes all around, but did not touch his, he became the only resident of the area who has living specimens of the various threatened biolocial and zological species on his property. They sought, and some of them actually found, sanctuary from the steadily approaching walls of flame. When, one might ask, are we going to come to understand the importance of foresty care and maintenance. It is not a matter of simply refusing to use the forests at all and to allow them, even force them, to fall back into a chaotic state we call "wilderness." That is the foolish way out of the predicament in which we have placed ourselves and one which does not solve any problems at all. Rather, it increases other dangers we must confront in years to come.. Living in the wilderness is a harsh setting for Man. It has always been so, and wild life as well. Our artists and poets describe a totally different paradise than the wilderness dweller usually found he had to conquer or die. The dominent form of life takes over in any specific area and the rest have a rough time of merely staying alive - much less prospering. We have been victims of excessive and often hollow-headed enthiusiasms related to the serious subject of envionmental control. It has been warped into a social values thing far removed form the actual needs of a constantly changing state of being one in which Nature thrives at its best, for the moment. To think of the environment as being a packagable, bounded, concrete, pre-determined set of perfectly constant little compartments is sheer idiocy. It is time for us to begin to learn how wrong our attempts to rein Nature into our idea of what we think she ought to be. We must learn to us our natural resorces and not allow ourselves to be blinded by emotional considerations which are, at best, ever costly to both man and beast. We need to use our forests rather than to push them to disuse and ruin. A.L.M. December 5, 2005 [c531wds]
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
HELPING HAND The heavy hurricane season, and the exceptionally amount of damage done along our Gulf Coast have brought to the forefront an American trait we should use more often, sustain, strengthen and nourish as something proper in our way of living. It is called “charity” by some but there are those who seem to feel that term to be demeaning, so we call it “lending a hand in time of needs,“ some other less disturbing term. We have, in 2005, seen examples of how well the concept does work and also some examples of incidents where it did not work – certainly not as well as we felt it might function. We have, it appears, allowed it all to become rusty with disuse over the years in which years we have ventured from the concept of individual charity beginning at home into government assistance as a part of the welfare state. He best of such giving is done rather quietly. I remember watching a young child taking its first steps with family gathered around and watching his every move. He stood by a straight-backed holding it in a firm grasp. The projected trip was a three or four foot space from the chair to a sofa. He plainly had some doubts about the adventure; loosed his his hold on the chair; balanced a bit, then tightened his grasp once again on the chair. I was seated closest to him and, reading the doubt in his eyes, I held my cane out in front of him. He grasped the end of the cane and followed it across the chasm and ,without realizing his support was gone threw himself in the welcoming arms for Grandma hugs. That's my idea of the manner in which we give in times of need. We help the individual express himself in doing for his self whenever possible. You ,too, could not help but notice in recent weeks how there as been a general upsurge in the rate of giving and from many segments of our society. Children have been given through their school and church groups. Adults have joined in fund raising activities of every imaginable type so more money could be sent to the stricken areas. Money with which to buy food, provision of all types; money with which people can rebuild a life which- in a sense of “belongings” has been totally destroyed. We all know that such tangibles cannot be replaced; that they will never be the same but in helping as best we can be come to realize a wholesome and worthy bond has been established between the haves and the have-nots of the moment. During the holiday times in which we are reveling, make it a special point to reflect upon the continuing plight of thousands of victims who are homeless, as well as those who have returned to the often desolate homes in Gulf coast villages and cities. Make sure your Happy New Year is a sharing one as well. A.L.M. December 22, 2005 [c511wds]
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
BACK TO . . . .
Occasionally, we come across a city or mid-sized town which is attempting to bring about a return to a bygone era of supposed prosperity and of a vague and, perhaps, will full nostalgic sense of blissful well-being for all. In some cases the olden era to which planner are working to resuscitate is a strong, practical memory of an elite group of citizen with property and professional and either commercial, or industrial holdings which were in demand at that time and upon which their present-day prosperity is founded.. In-depth reading of the local newspaper's morgue files will show a student how people lived and what was of real importance to their way of life. I think you know of cities which fit this pattern. It is unwise for any outsider to suggest that what was right for crowded, little colonial town of Williamsburg, Virginia is not, automatically proper for other villages in our time. Every citizen has or her idea of just what the "old town" may have been like at one time or another; some idea, perhaps, of the ethical concepts of the social groups which enabled the community to grow in physical size and prosper in many other ways as well. Seldom do we find such images which could be matched. It is not difficult to see why some whole-city restoration plans go astray or simply get lost in a welter of modernization and replacements. The people who are now trying to re-establish the fine, old and very unique city as anything else other than what it has always been will find their plan will flounder and fade. The physical needs of the complex City of New Orleans after the ravages of hurricane and food damages, provide a particularly difficult task because they are beset with a myriad group of idea as to what so many different people seem to think a restored city might mean to them and to future residents and visitors. They are going to have to remember that New Orleans has - and must ever be - a special type of city. If it is made to be anything other than what it has been...is...and will be again....such plans will falter and fail. It has long been one of the nation's favorite entertainment centers. It has been that, if you so desired, one could find in New Orleans the kind of entertainment you considered best for you. One could find gambling of various kinds, one could seek out avenues of a sexual nature, others could enjoy fine dining in a large selection of restaurants of many types including Creole-oriented cookery with its gumbo magic. There is a backlog of history studies and discovery. Nature studies abound. Then, there's music - the roots of was correctly called "jazz" during its early days - and it is here we must part because this would go on endlessly once we get started on that phase of the enduring values of a city to which we are - all of us - obligated in more ways than we might realize. A..L.M. December 19, 2005 [c529wds]
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