A QUESTION IN THE SAND

I am fortunate to live near the Chesapeake Bay and Ocean. One beach I love to hike is rarely crowded. This stretch of sand provides a little exercise and a few hours of the natural sounds of lapping wavelets and chattering sea birds. This setting also allows my imagination a good work out. Today was a glorious day to breath the sea air and ponder that great "final lap" we're all traversing.

Consider the tiny shards of sea glass which I love to collect.

These colored pieces were born as a molten mix of sand and oxides. Shaped by the ancient trade of glass blowing or in modern kilns, glass vessels of various colors and shapes were fabricated. These were used to hold beverages, medicines, foods, chemicals, and other commodities. After use these containers were discarded into the sea. Smashing and tumbling along the sea's bottom the bottles and jars shattered. The sharp pieces of glass spent years, decades, possibly centuries, rolling along the oceans floor. In the tidal ebb and flow the sharp edges were gently smoothed by the sand. Finally, these small relics were washed ashore. Left alone these pieces of glass, buffeted by winds, slowly dissolved again to sand granules.

I wonder if these inert bits of flotsam so neatly sent back to their place of origin mean anything beyond the obvious. Dust to dust - sand to sand.

Is it possible that a Supreme Force, beyond our comprehension, designed this wonderful recycling of sand grains ? Could this God of the Universe have another existence for us beyond our mortality ? However, since we have the unique thinking ability to wander, beyond the course of everything else in nature, do we get another time beyond our " final lap" ?

"WANTS & NEEDS"

Today I sifted through 3 pounds, one and one half ounces of Thanksgiving Day ads in The Daily Press. A glorious mass of colored paper designed to excite me into buying things. Advertising that might even tempt me into queuing into shopping lines at ungodly hours of the late night or early morning.

Sadly or happily, I'm not sure which, I found nothing of interest in all the creative commercials.

I'm reminded of a sales idea about gaining a sale by appealing to a customers personal agenda of " Wants and Needs ". All of us want certain things and all of us need certain things. Curiously, I found nothing in the pile of ads I really wanted or needed. Have I failed at being a consumer ?

It's easy for me to discount most of the newest electronic gizmos since I have barely mastered use of the older gadgets. Having a tiny device capable of many "applications" is also frightening. I'm beyond the time of needing fashionable clothing. I've discovered if you live long enough yesterdays fashions eventually recycle to the present. As to modern tools, I have old ones that remind me of my total mechanical ineptness, thank you very much !

It's just hard to get excited about compiling a wish list for Santa of new stuff when I've got old stuff which is overflowing every closet and storage space.

I suppose as one gets older the "wants and needs" of material things decreases. But, I still enjoy giving to others and I'll find pleasure in any gifts I receive. So, please don't take me off your gift list !

Finally, to be completely honest, I did clip one coupon from the pages and pages of flyers. It was a nifty three dollar coupon for rechargeable batteries. Enough said.

National Debt is Not ...

Seems the only solution politicians have for our growing national debt is to cut the guns or butter from our national budget and raise our taxes. In other words, the out of control spending approved by both democrats and republicans, with alarming frequency, must be paid for by direct cuts to citizen benefits. Is this the fair or correct thing to do ?

Has anyone noticed that the most prosperous and growing part of our economy is the federal government ? Pay, job & retirement benefits in government service now outclass most civilian occupations. Instead of reducing our military or the entitlement schemes, people were forced to pay into , shouldn't we look inward at the waste and fraud within the infrastructure of the federal government.

A tour around Washington D.C. is always an impressive experience. But what product or service is being produced in those massive great, grey buildings ? How do all Americans benefit from the policies & activities brewing in those huge buildings ? The correct answer is mostly none. The great scheme of the federal government is to collect taxes and use the money to fund agencies. First, these agencies must take a hefty cut for their salaries, offices, and perks. Then, these agencies find some arcane mission which either interferes with capitalism, promotes the nanny state, or seeks to influence voter blocks. Most of these agency goals are wrapped in volumes of gobble gook, legal, and government speak which have no constitutional justification. Since the FDR Administration the growth of the federal government has been practically unchecked. It seems every cockeyed idea to insure an "everyman" social and economic equality has resulted in some alphabet government bureau.

Beginning with American Indians, Americans of African descent, the poor, and illegal aliens, officials in Washington D.C. have somehow developed the myth that government can provide equality, human dignity, and correct the wrongs of history if they just spend enough money and fart out a few more laws. Despite trillions of wasted taxpayer dollars this concept has been proven wrong time after time. The idea of people helping people through family, social, charitable, and church has been displaced by the heavy hand of government interference. Actually, the intrusion of government has destroyed the basic family unit, sucked the initiative out of generations of Americans, and colored capitalism as an evil force.

How do we stem the uncontrolled spending and begin to cure the national debt ? As voters and citizens we demand an outright defunding and eventual closure of many useless federal agencies and activities. These would include; Dept. of Agriculture, Dept. of Commerce, Dept. of Education, Dept. of Energy, Dept. of Health & Human Services, Dept. of Housing & Urban Development, Dept. of Labor, Dept. of Transportation, Environmental Protection Agency, (Most) Foreign Aid, The Federal Reserve Bank, Federal Trade Commission, Fannie Mae, Fannie Mac, National Science Foundation, Small Business Administration, Corporation for National & Community Service and others. What these agencies do is either downright useless or can be better handled at the state or local level of government. Very few democrat or republican federal politicos will agree to these cuts because they derive their power and prestige from these bloated bureaucracies.

The only solution politicians seem to have for the deficit is to punish citizens. They want to raise our taxes, reduce federal benefits we spent our working lifetimes to pay for, and lower the quality and extent of our national defense.

The National Debt is not the fault of it's citizens. It is the fault of politicians and a their corrupt culture more interested in the pursuit of their personal power then a responsible accounting of their misuse of the national treasure.

I would like to someday tour our nations capital and enjoy the view of museums and monuments and see fewer and fewer giant grey buildings full of bureaucrats wasting our tax dollars. The most acceptable way to effect meaningful change is the vote. Do your vote and your collective voices to seek an end to the national debt and it's root causes. The national debt is only our fault if we continue the insanity of electing and reelecting the same flavor of politicians who created the financial nightmare we are presently enduring.

DREAM CONVERSATION WITH LEMUEL LAMB

A vividly remembered dream conversation experienced 11/2/11 !



ME - Well grandfather tell me about your good old days.

LL - Son, we got more electrified in my time. Electric for heat, lights, cooking, and all manner of other gizmos. All wired directly into the houses. And, we got radio with voices and sounds crossing hundreds or maybe thousands of miles on tiny wires. And, the movies went from speechless stories to colorized talkies. I suppose things may have been a little better then my boyhood days. But honestly, we still had war and your grandmother died from some foreign flu before she reached thirty. Maybe, we think they're good old days because in those past times we were younger, stronger, faster, and had bright dreams.

ME - Any things you wish you could redo in your eighty four years ?

LL - Yes, I'd do all of it different.

ME - What do you mean ?

LL - First, I'd tell you to forget about those "good old days". You know,
thinking too much on yesterdays is not healthy, especially for the living. However, the biggest change I'd make came from a routine experience on the Seaboard. I remember leaving the rail shops in Portsmouth many times on runs to Roanoke. As we got out of town and beyond Suffolk that old Seaboard locomotive would begin to speed along quite smartly. Since I didn't have any chores, I'd relax and stare out the window at the passing scenery. Sometimes, despite the clacking of the rails, I would even catch a few minutes, maybe hours, of shuteye. Well son, on one of those runs it dawned on me that life was just a long series of Kodak snapshots like the ever changing view out my speeding rail car window. With each new second a new picture would appear out the window and I begun to think that life was maybe the same way.

ME - Whatever do you mean ?

LL - You see when I was a boy I was taught to plan for the future. Do well in school, get a good job, go to church, listen to your doctor, obey the boss, and all that stuff. Well I tried to live that way for a long time. But, after I got beat so bad by those thugs, Annie died, and her family sent all our kids to orphanages I began to think different. I thought a lot about watching the scenery flash by like a slow moving picture show and everything became very clear.

ME - I'm confused. How did you begin thinking differently and what became clear ?

LL - Simple. I made a deal with the Lord that I would live minute to minute and not get too worried about all the planning and worrying part of living. Because you see, I realized that life was like a long series of photographs reflecting every second you live as a separate picture in time. Since I had no control over what I might see speeding along on that train how could I control the good and bad things that would happen in my life. So, I decided to put on a smile, trust the Lord and know that whatever else was going to happen in my life would just happen. I'd just do my best and find the happy side of whatever happened.

ME - Is this why you lived with many different people, went to different churches practically every Sunday, and barely recognized your son, my father, or me ?

LL - Maybe. You know, a lot of folks say that after my beating and Annie died, I got a little touched in the noggin. Began to forget things and people. Maybe that's what happened. But, honestly I think I got smarter getting off the regular way most folks live their lives. After awhile I figured all I could offer anyone was myself, my smiles, and my love. Maybe that's why so many folks in Deep Creek took care of me for so long. They began calling me Lamb and Lambie Pie even though my middle initial was really for Lafayette. I did my best to be gentle and peaceful with everyone and I was blessed with kindness from everyone I encountered. Nobody ever bothered or hurt me on purpose or out of meanness over those last forty some years. I was happy and so enjoyed all the good folks, their churches, and the wonderful singing.

ME - Are you in heaven Grandfather ?

LL - I'm not sure. But, I know everyone here is calm, bright, and happy. I see my beloved Annie Mae, my beautiful children, The Culpepper's, and my old friends and neighbors all the time. It's wonderful and it gets better all the time.

ME - What advice can you give me ?

LL - First, if you're a church person it's OK. If you're not a church person don't worry. All those churches on earth have little to do with the Almighty One. The churches don't know that and most of the folks mean well. Getting past life is a place and time too complex for anyone to understand so just relax about all that. Always trust on a better world on the other side of your life. Finally, forget about planning so much and thinking about the past. Live each day as a gift and keep in motion. Make friends everyday, smile a lot, and always remember that each day is a snapshot of your short time on earth. Just as that old locomotive got faster and the scenes clipped by faster and faster as you get older each of those days will speed by quicker and quicker. Be peaceful my grandson and I'll see you soon.