Looking Back

I have lauded, over several hundred postings, the virtue and value of the ‘giants’ in my life but I have said little about the lives of failures, fools and sinners.  Yet everyone whom we take cognizance of makes a contribution to our welfare.  The scoundrel or wastrel can serve our success quite as well as the hero.  One shows us the experiences to be avoided while the other is setting up the examples for us to follow. 

The scriptures, for the discerning reader, provide examples not only of the finest in human response to the challenges or opportunities of life, but also the tragedies experienced by those who chose to take the ‘low road’ when the better choice was ignored, disregarded, or fought against.  There are probably at least as many villains as saints in the holy writ and it is intended that we learn from both. 

 

Take Lot’s wife, for example.  Lot was the nephew of the great Old Testament prophet Abraham.  When Lot’s family chose the verdant Jordan River valley as their place of residence it so happened that two very wicked cities occupied the southern part of the valley.  (The Lord always provides for or allows an “opposition in all things,” even good things, so that man can make moral choices.) When the sin and depravity of the inhabitants of these two cities became more than the Lord could tolerate from these unrepentant children He warned them that they would be destroyed.  He gave a last chance for any righteous to quickly leave the area before He “rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire.”  Lot got his family out before the conflagration occurred but his wife, not being strong enough to carry out the commandment of the angels against looking back, looked or turned back.  Because she disobeyed she ‘became a pillar of salt” (Genesis 19:26).  She became the negative example for us to learn from. 

New Testament writer Luke suggested that looking back on sin would also be a part of our own problem.  While he was making a comparison between the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the destruction that will attend our own society at the Second Coming of Christ he said, “Remember Lot’s wife” (Luke 17:32).  To ‘remember Lot’s wife” may keep us from making her mistake.  

One of the leaders of my Church (Sterling W. Sill) many years ago made these observations:  

We may not always look where we are going, but we can be pretty sure that we will usually go where we are looking.  

Back in the old days on the farm, the horses’ bridles were equipped with blinders to give their attention a forward focus.  When the horses were without blinders, the distractions from right and left caused them to step on too many plans or to make a crooked furrow. 

When we listen to the voices enticing us from behind, the power of our forward purpose is usually lost.

We cannot even afford to look back on our successes for longer than it takes to confirm their lessons.  For as someone has said, ‘You can’t win this year’s ball games by reading last year’s press notices.’ 

And George Washington, without quite as much verve as Sterling Sill, remarked:

            “Never look back except to derive useful lessons from past errors and profit from our dearly bought experience.” 

So to take Washington’s advice we should look back and ‘Remember Lot’s wife,’ but only to learn from her error; not to look back at what she found so fascinating. 

Jesus provides even better advice and this warning:  

            “No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62).   

Unless looking back gives us the power to move forward.   

Olympian!

Who can watch the Olympic Games (winter or summer) without marveling at the focus, determination, and demonstrated performance of these dedicated athletes?  

The same, of course, could be said of great musicians or explorers or scholars or reformers.  But could not—using my criteria—honor also be made of great mothers or the ‘Mother Teresa’s,’ or of the stoic sufferers of this world—those who are out of the spotlight or even of the notice of any other human being but who are enduring the vicissitudes with the fortitude of an Olympian? And how about the brave ones—the firefighters, police, and military defenders?  Yes, they too. 

My point is that we who have not paid the price of self-sacrifice, of time—in fact often endless hours of deprivation—of humiliation, bodily pain, surrender of comfort, and the agony of what has been called ‘defeat’ have not experienced one of the truly important dimensions of life.  With all the glory of the Games that the world sees every four years, there is also the endless hours of ‘blood, sweat, and tears’ that every serious competitor knows.  I think that those who never get off the couch and onto the floor of the arena truly do not know what has gone into the ‘good fight.’

But there are some who know.  There is a fellowship of those who have paid the price.

And so I commend those who have practiced, and practiced, and practiced and who then submit themselves to the scrutiny of those less practiced for their evaluation. 

Whether the performer or parent, paramedic or patient ‘wins,’ ‘places,’ or just finishes—but has given all to try to finish and make a good showing—I  commend them and place them on my pedestal of approbation. 

They are the Olympians in deed!

Accoutrements and Necessities (or being ‘squared away’)

My children will (might) remember Dad as often telling them as they got ready to go someplace, “don’t forget your accoutrements.” What this meant, ‘in the day,’ was to stop for a moment to review what they might need in the coming hours that would be necessary or helpful to them to carry with them or to be readily accessible should the need arise. 

What this usually meant was that if they were going to church or school meetings (or anywhere) to always carry with them a pencil or pen and something to write upon and a dime for a phone call.  I often told them – and others—that ‘a wise man always carries two books: one to read from and one to write upon.’ 

If they were going for a hike it was to take some toilet paper, a band-aid and an alcohol towelette, a whistle, a pocket knife, some water and snack and a jacket or bright-colored windbreaker.  If going in a car to be sure to have safety or emergency supplies: flashlight, flare, cone, a rag or towel, water, first-aid kit, blanket or extra coat and a little food. 

In our day some of the specific items might change a little bit because of technology (cell phones with camera and recorder, etc.—only helpful if they are kept charged) but many of the items are still germane.  A ‘squared away’ person will take the time to stop and think about the possibilities that they might encounter (bad or good) and ‘be prepared’ (the great scout motto that all would do well to internalize). 

Think about the wisdom of having some of these items available should you be taking an airline flight, or going on a date, or meeting people for the first time at a meeting or a party, or going on a hike or traveling in a strange city, or going with a work crew or to help somebody, or anticipating inclement weather, etc.:

·        Some money; your identification document(s); personal medications; emergency contact information including physician and phone numbers

·        Dark glasses (and extra prescription glasses including a paper copy of your lens prescription) /sunscreen/ gloves/water bottle/ watch or timepiece/a small light on a keychain/rugged clothes and shoes

·        List of phone numbers/addresses/map

·        An extra set of keys (house and car). 

·        A properly maintained car (tire pressures; good hoses and belts under the hood; battery and wiper blades, oil checked, and always maintaining at least a quarter of a tank of gasoline).

·        A plan: for an immediate house/business evacuation in case of fire or weather disaster.  A meeting place for family members and contact/communication plans.

·         A supply of provisions—72 hour kit (at least) with food/water/meds/ equipment such as fire extinguishers/shovels/basic tools

·        And for the long-term: insurance; secure documents/passwords/directive for physicians, and some easily accessible emergency funds.

·        Finally, a clear conscience and an honorable life—being ‘square’ with God.

  

“If ye are prepared ye shall not fear.”  (Doctrine and Covenants 38:30)

Time—Into the Black Hole

There is a lyric to a popular song of about 40 years ago (Kodachrome) by Simon and Garfunkel that has been very offensive to me for decades. It’s interesting (and sometimes unfortunate) how some things get written on the tablet of one’s mind and they never go away; it just reminds you of the care that should be taken of what one chooses to hear or chooses to see, for some things seem to be indelible.  I repeat it now only because I think there may be a reader or two of my little missives who could benefit from my viewpoint. The lyric goes:

 “When I think back on all the crap I’ve learned in high school

   It’s a wonder I can think at all….”

I suppose that considering all the obscenity and vulgarity that was subsequently sold or listened to as ‘music’ in the following decades this could be considered by many as rather innocuous.  But I think otherwise. 

Here is the issue that I take with this lyric:  What about the person who initially bought into this notion—until it was too late to make up for the time they lost?

Consider the state of the dropout—intellectual or in person—who really believed that the subject matter—the curriculum, the skills of critical analysis and communication and living, or the lessons of history and art and literature taught in school were a waste of time and of no value.  Then consider the comparative state of those who at the same time took these things seriously.  Where, as a group, are they today?  Who, as a group, fill the prisons or the slums of our society?  Who, as a group, became the productive citizens and visionaries of our future?

We all, in school or in the larger arena of life, have the same amount of time and many of the same resources to use wisely or to squander. 

Another song—a simple song, a counterpoint—has these lyrics: 

“There are chances for work all around just now, opportunities right in our    way.  Do not let them pass by, saying ‘Sometime I’ll try,’ but go and do something today.  ‘Tis noble of man to work and to give; Love’s labor has merit alone.  Only he who does something helps others to live.  To God each good work will be known.”  (Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 1985, p. 223)

Though most readers of this opinion piece are no longer in high school, and surely can think, most would acknowledge that many hours of every week go down the black hole of time-squandered. 

My plea for all of us is to take stock and use the time allotted to us to best advantage.   

•          “Doth thou love life? Then do not squander time; for that is the stuff life is made of."    (Benjamin Franklin)

•        “This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

•        “This is life—and it is passing!  What are we waiting for?”  (Richard L. Evans)

•        Time and tide wait for no man. (English proverb)

•       “Make use of time, let not advantage slip.” (Shakespeare—Venus and Adonis)

•        “Nothing is more unworthy of a wise man, or ought to trouble him more, than to have allowed more time for trifling and useless things than they deserved.” (Plato)

•        “As if you could kill time without injuring eternity!” (Henry David Thoreau) 

The Tyranny of the ‘Normal’

I recently had one of ‘those’ landmark birthdays.  You know, one of those numbers I had previously thought was way out in the future and couldn’t possibly happen to me.  Well, it happened.

And so (I should have known better: the same sort of thing happened following the death of my first wife) I let it affect me for about two weeks—hence the gap in my Omnium-Gatherum output.  But now I’m over it. 

If you were ‘normal’–and I always thought I was in many respects—you  probably had a stereotype of the age you thought—unless you were in complete denial and wouldn’t allow yourself to think of it at all—would forever categorize you and define you and thereby in reality dictate what you could and could not do. And it was what you could not do (so you thought) that gave you the heartburn. 

  

Well, if you go by the normal—meaning the mean or the statistical average of others in your age category you may be right.

But I have learned that you don’t have to buy in to the definition—the old definition.  You do not have to be tyrannized by the ‘normal.’

What I have learned is that at whatever age you are in you can be an ‘outlier’ at the right side of the bell-shaped curve—at least in things that really matter.

    

What I have learned is that you can redefine the term.  You do not have to let a number be your limitation.  ‘Their’ performance does not have to be your performance.

Since the essence of life is overcoming the challenges of life, I say with Joshua following the time of Moses, 

“And now, behold, the Lord hath kept me alive. . . these __ years. . . as yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now. . . both to go out, and to come in.  Now therefore give me this mountain” (Joshua 14:10-12).

Whereas this great man, now old, had deserts to contend with before, he now had a mountain and he said, ‘Bring it on!’ I like that attitude. 

How did Joshua come to that attitude?  The same way I have come to that attitude—the way I indicated over three years ago when I started this writing project—by recognizing that I did not get to this point alone and I will not be alone in the future—I will continue to stand on the ‘shoulders of giants.’ A giant can carry you a long way. 

  

 “Have not I commanded thee?  Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed; for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest” and for however long He calls you to go (Joshua 1:9). 

I may not be ‘Forever Young,’ but I can be ‘forever strong.’ 

 

So, thank you.  I did have a happy birthday. 

May you have one too—the next time it comes around; it won’t be long.