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.

Advice (and Consent)

I am convinced that most people want to do well, be well, and be thought well of.  Unless they feel powerless by past experience of personal failure(s) and have become inured (dictionary definition: ‘to accustom to accept something undesirable’), hope does spring eternal.  It is fostered by encouragement and given life by example of those who seem to know what they are talking about.  Heroes, celebrities or highly accomplished individuals seem to be walking testimonials that motivate one so lacking to action. 

 

Hence, people seem to be drawn to advice columns in newspapers, are persuaded by ‘testimonials’ in advertisements—especially by famous people, and listen to those who otherwise seem credible.  This is why ‘quote books’ perpetually seem to sell, as do birthday cards, and medicinal remedies, and why people attend lectures.  And it is why this author gives as much advice through weblog posting as he does. 

 

Advice is sought and consent to follow the advice is sometimes followed. 

 

Interestingly the term ‘advice and consent’ is found in The United States Constitution regarding the Senate’s role in ratifying treaties and appointments.  The assumption is that those giving ‘advice’ are also better qualified to ‘consent’ to an action that is proposed—or at least that a body of democratically elected representatives of the people should be heard and have at least as much power as the executive proposing the matter. 

  

I find it interesting that in the British Parliament bills are given the following heading: “BE IT ENACTED by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:”

I don’t think it would hurt if our political leaders considered the ‘advice’ of the equivalent of ‘Lord’s spiritual’ in the weighty challenges facing our nation.

I find it revealing that the sitting President of the United States (as witnessed by the ‘State of the Union’ address earlier this week) showed precious little consideration for the principles of the construction of our government—its checks and balances--by his assertive stance on taking unilateral ‘executive action’ on any number of issues he feels are not going his way.  He certainly does not seem to want ‘advice’ by Congress or the American people or our nation’s ‘spiritual leaders’ (check his current polling ratings).  Not all of our former presidents were so cavalier.

I seem to remember our founding documents expressing the notion of “we the people” instead of “I the President.”  A word count in the President’s addresses of “I” and “my” as contrasted to “we and our” would also be revealing. 

 

No, I believe that if this nation is to survive and deal appropriately with the unending challenges it faces, it needs to be ‘of the people’ and ‘one nation under God,’ and not just under a sitting president.

Aphorisms

Early in my weblogging avocation I posted a list of maxims I try to live by and persuade others to consider.  Recently I came upon an interesting blog site, theartofmanliness.com. which had in one of its postings an article titled “20 Aphorisms That I Thought Were Dumb as a Boy But Now Appreciate as a Grown Man.”The authors of the site are Brett and Kate McKay. Some are common; others more obscure; but most are thought-provoking and I believe there is truth in them all. 
  

Since I don’t think aphorisms, by nature, have copywrite restrictions (or if they do they shouldn’t have) I take the liberty to share some of those from the McKay blog with you. Some of this list also came from readers who made comments; and some are from my own collection.  Surely you’ve heard at least a few of them if your mom or dad were doing their job right. If you are a mom or dad, or grandparent, you might consider picking one a day that resonates with you for a mealtime discussion with your child.

 

If you need further persuasion that you should read/share/apply some of them consider this comment attributed to philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge: “The largest and worthiest portion of our knowledge consists of aphorisms.”

 

A caveat: “The only way to read a [list]of aphorisms without being bored is to open it at random and, having found something that interests you, close the book and meditate.”    Prince Charles-Josef de Ligne (1735 – 1814), Austrian field marshal and writer

•         Be kind, for every man is fighting a hard battle.

•        Measure twice, cut once.

•         A place for everything and everything in its place

•        An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

•        If you lie down with dogs you wake up with fleas.

•         A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

•         You don’t rise to the occasion; you sink to your level of training.

•         Hunger is the best sauce.

•        If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got.

•         The way to be nothing is to do nothing.

•       Do what you’re doing [pay attention to what you’re supposed to be about instead of getting distracted].

•        Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.

•         A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.

•        A change is as good as a rest

•       A stitch in time saves nine.  [A variation is: Pay me now or pay me later--  meaning, do the maintenance now so you don’t have to replace the object before its time].

•        Strong wind doesn’t last for long.

•        If you chase two rabbits both will escape.

•         Hope for the best; be prepared for the worst.

•         The good Lord provides for every little bird, but he does not drop it into the nest.

•        The future is bought with the present.

•        Only the spoon knows what’s in the pot.

•         A ship in the harbor is safe; but that’s not what ships are built for.

•         A poor craftsman blames his tools.

•        Never point a gun at anything you don’t intend to shoot.

•        Time heals all wounds.   [or, time wounds all heels.]

•        From tiny acorns do mighty oak trees grow.

•       Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.

•         Onward ever; backward never.

•         If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. 

•        No matter how much the wind may howl, the mountain doesn’t move.

•        Enough is as good as a feast.

•         Love: The condition in which another's well being is essential to your own.

•        The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.

•         There’s no right way to do wrong.

Two More Poems

 Awakening  by Ron Miller

Some live in a coma

Where they hover through the years

Between birth and death

Without dreams even, but often in tears

For the Life they never lived

But in a coma observed.

Blinded by darkness,

Beguiled, finally benumbed by walls and caves

Built or dug by themselves—but sometimes by fate

Held captive by things not needed but served.

Until a friend interrupts this sleep, breaks the wall

And the light that will enter at even the smallest crack

Is admitted and illuminates a path that was just outside

         all along.

A hand is extended and invites

That first step back into the light and to that less-traveled track.

And there occurs an awakening.

So why did it take so long?

Your Presence   by Ron Miller

Your presence passes through my life

And through my dreams while we are apart.

Remembering when you stepped across

The threshold into my world

And brought your song when you arrived.

And sang to me without words.

And awakened my heart. 

And rescued a life from the lost and found.