DEAD Things

No Busy Signal

While driving along a road near my home that abuts a state park, my wife mentioned that she still had not observed any trees budding new spring growth.  At her remark, I also looked out the window at the park on either side of the road and saw no new spring growth, no trees budding that distinctive spring green.  What I did see was barren foliage — trees stripped down to the bark with a few tawny brown leaves (ignoring last fall’s eviction notice) still hanging onto naked branches.

My heart just sank a little, because I am so ready for a seasonal change from that long, dull, dark, overcast-gray sky.  That oh-so-cold Ohio winter can just go, now-now-now!  But that is not the way of an Ohio winter.  It fights, it resists and it lingers on — like the tawny brown leaves still hanging long past their season, on…

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A Lie

  I attended St.Bernard’s Catholic Elementary School as a child. We were required to take catechism classes through all the various grade levels. Now that I’m in my middle 60’s, much of what was taught in those catechism classes has been forgotten. One thing that does remain with me though, was the day Sister Mary taught the class how we would know we were living in the “end times.” It was a very simple identifier she presented to us on that day.

She told us that in the last days people would no longer be able to clearly distinguish the difference between right and wrong, or what was truth and what was a lie. The lines of demarcation would become so muddled that what was once as plain as “black or white” would at best be situationally grey.

As a member of the aging Baby Boomers, I recall that a pregnant woman was understood to be carrying a baby.  Today, the Pro-Choice voice has identified it as a non-viable fetus. As a child of that era, it was clearly understood that marriage was only between a man and a woman; today, not so much.

On the southeastern side of the state of Ohio is the state of West Virginia.  You’ll  know when you attempt to cross from one state to the other, because your feet will get wet.  The Ohio River is the point of separation  between the two.  However, at the western boundary between Ohio and Indiana, there is simply a man-made line separating the two and one can literally stand having one foot in each state and not know it.

It is the “not knowing” part that draws my attention.  I have stood in a field with one foot in Ohio and one foot in Indiana.  How did I know this?  The owner of the property told me.  I relied on his word (circa 1986, before we had gps gadgets).   He could have lied to me and I would not have known it.

A lie can take the form of misinformation stemming from the speaker honestly not knowing the fact of the matter, or the more dastardly form where the speaker intentionally misinforms. It is also true that one can conveniently withhold some parts of the truth to suit certain agendas, or situations. Remember, a half truth is a whole lie.

As I observe our hotbed political situations here in America, I see a lot of misinformation flooding the landscape.  It leaves so many unsure, ready to throw up their hands and walk away.  It is the “not knowing”  that burdens the heart.  What is the truth?  Who is telling the truth? Oh, how I long for the lines and borders of life that made your feet wet and left no doubt!

Have A Great Day!

May The Rest Of Your Life Be The Best Of Your Life

image source: privacysurgon.org

Not So Dumb After All!

An English lawyer and an Scotsman are sitting next to each other on a long
train journey. The lawyer is thinking that Scotsmen are so dumb that he could
put something over on them easily. So the lawyer asks if the Scotsman
would like to play a fun game.

The Scotsman is tired and just wants to take a nap, so he politely
declines and tries to catch a few winks. The English lawyer persists, and
says that the game is a lot of fun. I ask you a question, and if you don’t
know the answer, you pay me only £5; you ask me one, and if I don’t know
the answer, I will pay you £500, he says. This catches the Scotsman’s
attention and to keep the lawyer quiet, he agrees to play the game.

The lawyer asks the first question. ‘What’s the distance from The Earth
to the Moon?’ The Scotsman doesn’t say a word, reaches in his pocket
pulls out a five-pound note, and hands it to the lawyer.

Now, it’s the Scotsman’s turn. He asks the lawyer, ‘What goes up a hill
with three legs, and comes down with four?’ The lawyer uses his laptop
and searches all references he could find on the Net. He sends e-mails to
all the smart friends he knows, all to no avail. After one hour of
searching he finally gives up. He wakes up the Scotsman and hands him
£500. The Scotsman pockets the £500 and goes right back to sleep..

The lawyer is going nuts not knowing the answer. He wakes the Scotsman up
and asks, ‘Well, so what goes up a hill with three legs and comes down
with four?’ The Scotsman reaches in his pocket, hands the lawyer £5 and
goes back to sleep.

Have A Great Day