Fire talk, God and Other Things.

Reflections September 19, 2011

2011-09-19T23:01:00.001-03:00

Reflections

Over the last while, I have given much thought to a lot of different things. Perhaps one could say that I have had time on my hands, given the fact that someone had to be on fire standby, and that someone has been me. Fortunately, we have had a very slow fire season. An abundance of rain has led to yet another very quiet season. This is a very good thing. Even though the fire hazard has been low, someone still had to be at the ready in the event a fire report came in.

This lull in fire activity has provided me the time to think and ponder on life. Some of the things I have thought about are as follows, in no set order.


The law and how society decides how to make law.

Education

Religion

Morals

What things are just simply right and wrong

Politics

Justice

What rights do I have

Science

Evolution

Getting Older

Gay Marriage

Firearm Registration

Bullying

Animals

Are we still living in a democracy or is it more of a plutocracy

Stem Cell Research

Abortion

War

Peace

Prejudice
These are just a few of the things that I have thought about. Whether or not people will admit it, these things are the some of the ones we all have feelings about. Some would say that some these I have mentioned can be touchy subjects. Indeed, I will not argue this point. However, I still think a person should be able to speak their mind and share, if they so wish, their thoughts.

I have no intention of hurting anyone in any way, these are just my thoughts. To say I have an answer, for any or all of these subjects, would be a complete oversight on my part. Are my views the end all be all? Far from it, they are just my thoughts that I want to share.

As some of you may know, I was a game warden for a long time. In that time there were many nights, many long nights, setting in the dark, waiting for someone to come along and make an attempt to hunt game in the night, which many of you may know, is an illegal activity in New Brunswick.

During these many long nights, there was one partner that I had for a long time, who I was able to discuss a lot of these subjects listed above with. Many of you will know what I mean when I say that I am going to write a dialogue. This is nothing new; Plato used this style many years ago to make his points clear. I am certainly not in the same league as Plato, but I thought that it might be fun to write in dialogue, as if it were myself and my partner, who I will call Jed, that were having the conversations.

I hope this will be fun, and also thought provoking. So over the next while, I will tackle each of these listed subjects in a way that old buddy Jed and I would have talked about each. Again I must stress, there is no intent on my part to be mean spirited in any way. In these dialogues, you will come to know what I think about each of these subjects. For this I will make no apology, for they are my thoughts. It will be up to you, as to whether you agree with me or not. If it turns out that you disagree, hopefully you will not think less of me, for I certainly will not think less of you.

On the subject of Jed, often I will put him on the opposite side of the issue. I do this in order to make a point. In real life, this was very often the way it was, however, we did agree on one or two things. I have often said if someone was to have crept up on us and listened in without our knowing, they would have called the both of us certifiably insane.

In closing I will say that these will be written over time, as I have the chance. I do hope that in the end, I will have caused some of you to give some serious thought to these writings.

RL Tex Smith
September 19, 2011

Al Gore's new thinking on the climate crisis | Video on TED.com

2011-08-16T22:49:00.000-03:00

Al Gore's new thinking on the climate crisis | Video on TED.com

Old Will

2010-08-04T22:41:00.004-03:00

Like an eternal fixture the old man sat on the bench, attentive as always, to life as it passed by. By and by he would speak to me about something of a trivial nature. Yet, in his eyes he was saying something else; few ever knew him well enough to know the truth that lay behind the look. The real thoughts that haunted his mind, the things he had seen, the things he had done, the places left far behind only to be found now in the caverns of his mind. A lifetime of memories like so many treasures revealed to only a chosen few.

Oh if only I were a smarter man, if only I had had the sense to write things down as they happened. However, as the old saying goes, hind sight is twenty twenty; I can not claim to be other than normal, for it is the same for the huge majority of us. Life should not be about the “what if’s” or the “if only’s” it must be about the now and what we decide to do with it.

One of life’s hard lessons is the fact that before we sometimes realize what treasures are right before our eyes, they’re gone never to return. Then and only then we learn that we have taken this great and subtle gift for granted. This old man, this dear sweet old friend, old Will, which was short for William, was for me a gift that I took for granted, insomuch as I thought he would live for ever; one day he was simply gone.

As I think back I can remember him, as clearly as though he were still here. It’s the strangest thing, even now after all these years, as I walk through the breezeway of our towns business section, and turn to the right, towards the bank, I expect to see him setting on the bench. His absence brings me back to the reality of the void. A shot of emptiness stabs my heart, and then it is quickly replaced with the warmth of his smile and the look in his friendly eyes. This repeatedly brings on a fond memory, a treasure of the grandest kind.

For me to say I knew him well would be wide of the mark. Yet, I can say that I knew him better than many. Perhaps it was that I looked beyond the constant smile seen by all, maybe I listened more intently to the things unheard by most. For within this most humble of men was a man of great knowledge, a man filled with pride for his country, a man filled with a great love for family and friends, and mankind in general. He was above all else, a man worth knowing; one that I am honoured say was one of my dearest friends.

Oh so rare are his kind, for I never once heard him say an unkind word of another. Even when someone had done a wrong, he would find a positive thing to say. Possibly it was because of the hell he had witnessed in his time. It could have been to him anything he saw after the hell paled by comparison. Hell on earth comes in many forms; perhaps we can only know hell on earth if we live within in it. Which hell on earth is the worst? I think we would know it if we saw it; Will knew it because he lived it. Once released from it’s grip, he had only then to deal with the horrifying memories that hell had left with him.

It was always there, under the surface, behind the smile, haunting and nagging at his soul. Many never seen it or knew it existed. But the look deep in his eyes betrayed his well disguised demeanour. Yet, with all of the ugliness there was also a sense of pride that he possessed knowing that he had played his part and had given his best to his comrades and country. The fulfilment of knowing that he belonged to a magnificent group of the many just like him who had faced evil in the eye and conquered it’s would be domination. Every time I watched him carry the flag in a parade or other function, I saw that pride, that look of a life that had true meaning.

Then there was the pain of the present. The hurt when those few mindless scoundrels would ignore him, scoff at him; look down on him as less than human. Thankless Ignoramuses the lot of them and I am proud to say so. But not old Will, no…he would just smile and treat them far better than they deserved. Not once did a harsh word for them ever cross his lips. For he viewed all people the same, none better, none worse. He had see the worst that man can do, and these mindless Asses fell far short of that type of evil.

His eyes though, they were not filled with hate, no…it was more in line with extreme sadness. Sad because of the sacrifice so many made. Sad because there were, even a few, that did not appreciate in any way shape or form what he and so many others did for them. At the same time thankful for the many more that did appreciate their sacrifices.

So many emotions racing up and down back and forth in his mind, combining to cause that look in his eyes. There was another thing that he possessed that betrayed his outward appearance, his voice. Steady slow and deep were the words that came from within him. Their tones to my ear rang with sadness even when he laughed I heard it. For on those rare occasions when it was just him and I, he would tell me portions of his past. The little shake of his head and the look down at the ground when in his mind he was taken back to that time as if it were only yesterday. The hurt and the pain was clear.

Then there were the other stories, the ones that filled the air with laughter. Like when he and Uncle Fred would go fishing, or the story of the twelve point buck. I heard these stories over and over and they never lost their appeal. Yet even then, the sadness was there, behind the laugh, given away by the look in his eyes.
In this world there are thousands of people that have achieved greatness. Greatness is defined in as many ways as there are people. For me, I have my great hero’s, but none are greater than Will.

What is it like to want nothing more than to be accepted? For many of us, we will never know because we have never known a time when we were not accepted. But Will knew what it felt like, because acceptance was all he ever wanted. Sadly, he never always got it. I am not sure how to ever change this in our society, I think it has always been there and always will be; this feeling that some people get that leads them to think they are better than everyone else. I am sure of one thing, old Will never had these feelings and I learned a lot about acceptance from him. I especially learned what I didn’t want to be, because I never wanted to cause that kind of feeling in another person, that hurtful feeling of non acceptance.

As I remember Will and my other old friends, I wonder where we are headed. This leads me to fear, and then I reel myself back to the now. Here today, this is what is vital for all of us. We can’t change something once it has happened. Tomorrow is important, yet today is the most important. I say this because what we decide to do today will affect what happens tomorrow. We can choose to ignore flames of destruction or we can try and extinguish them. It is our choice to make. We can choose to set back in our own little worlds and ignore wrong, saying it is not our problem. If our Grandparents had done this, today’s world would be very different.
Today does make a difference. We make a difference if we are a mind too. When thousands of British troops were trapped in a place called Dunkirk, it was the people they were fighting for that made the difference. What would have happened if those people did not make the difference? What difference does it make if my son and his son never hear of the difference these people made? What difference will it make if my son and his son never get to know people like old Will and the difference that he and those like him made? I think that we need to do more, much more, to ensure that doesn’t ever happen.

If I was able to give one piece of advice to the next generation it would be for them to start today getting to know more about the past. History from the internet, books, movies, and people, this will then reveal more of how we should live today, thus charting our course and the next generation’s course into the future, and there is no better form of history than from someone who has lived it and in many cases made it.

Folks seem to talk a lot about the “this and that” of how bad things are getting. It’s like Mark Twain said though “people always talk about the weather but no ones does anything about it”; I think we need to do something about the “this and that” of today. Take the time to get to know the old Will’s out there. Each of them has a host of lessons to share, treasures if only we could just see them as such.
Take advantage of every opportunity to get to know these people who have lived and listen to what they have to say. Do not take for granted that they will always be there. Take the time starting today to spend time with these living breathing books of history. You won’t be sorry that you did.
Have you ever once looked into the eyes of a veteran and listened, really listened? Have you ever done it with any older person that has lived? If you haven’t, its time you did. Trust me, as Will would say “I’m honest”, it will change you inside if you let it.

There are some that would say I wasted my time setting and talking to people like old Will. I feel sorry for those that think this. My times were many and never once wasted. I learned a lot and had the time of my life doing it.
One day, we will all get old. At that time I am sure we will all have lots we can share with those that will listen. It will be nice if we have the ears of some young interested folks to talk too. Besides learning valuable lessons, you will get the chance to make some of the best friends you could ever have. The joy you will feel when you know the person you are talking with is truly glad to be with you can not be described.

I will never forget all those wonderful times when I would meet up with old Will, how his face would light up knowing that I was one that really cared about what he had to say. He knew that I was one that wanted to truly spend time with him. He knew that I accepted him. Many were the times when I would walk into the Legion and he was always among the first to shout my name and ask me to set down with him “gee….come set down…I’ll getcha a Blue”. How I long for those times to return, but I know that can never be, not with old Will or the rest. Yet, those times can be had for me again and they can be had for you too. It is what we choose to do today that will make a memory for all the tomorrows to come.

RL Tex Smith
Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Frederick and Josephine

2010-07-29T18:54:00.001-03:00

Frederick and Josephine

In the hustle bustle of this everyday fast paced life, we are inundated with a need for more. Nothing ever seems to be good enough. I contend that we have too much; yet it’s not enough. It has been drilled into us from the time we learned how to talk and comprehend what we are hearing. Be the best at everything, do not settle for second best, you are able to be whatever you want; it is only yourself that holds you back. It does not matter who you have to trample to get the things you want. You and your goals are the only thing that matter. No matter what level of greatness you achieve, you are taught to keep going and keep gaining more.

So I ask; when is enough, enough? To which I answer myself by saying there is no answer. Example: The banks made so many Billion last year in profits, they are always expecting to make more the next year; how many billion is needed?
I hear people saying I am going to work like a dog, do whatever I have to do so that when I hit fifty five I can retire and just set back and relax and do nothing, all the while missing out on family life, and a host of other simple ordinary things that really make life worth while.

Now I know that it isn’t this way for everybody, however, it would appear that the large majority of people live this way.
It is also further apparent that if we did not have some people to think this way, we would have become a static race long ago. The need for new medicines along with many other things that help us to live longer and more enriched lives demands that we have people that have the never good enough attitude.

So it isn’t always a bad thing to have the attitude of always wanting more, not if it is used in the correct context. But alas, we are a fickle bunch of beings for what is hot today is ice tomorrow. For example, if we look at a famous sports personality, when they are on top and pulling off one miracle after another, we love them and we support them. But let them go into a slump, or level off, which always happens at some point and soon they become a first class bum. Thus we see that public pressure demands that we have the best from everyone. Never mind the fact that they are human. We want our miracles. It has gone on in one form or another for as long as there have been people. We are never satisfied. Consider Eve, and Adam too, they had everything except a single tree. But they just had to have it. We always want what we can’t have. It’s fruit no matter what form it takes seems to be the sweetest. Then a few days months and
years go by and we discover there is always something to take it’s place. It never ends.

As I set and think about myself and my wants I come to these conclusions. I want my family and friends to love me as I love them back. I want to be able to eat the things I want. I want to have a modest comfortable home. I would like to have good health for my family, friends, and myself. There is the new car, the one that works well with no monthly bills to fix it, which keeps me in the poor house. Some good clean newer clothes would be nice. I can’t forget eating out once a week and maybe twice. Then there are the toys….TV, four wheeler, fishing rods, shotguns, computers, computer games, and well…you get the picture, it never ends. If I had money, then my toys would be bigger that’s all. Here we find why people are all poor, or so to speak, we all live to the amount of money we make. Little is left over for the rainy day. Thus we have to make more.

That banker I spoke of, the only difference between him and I are like for example our vacations. I am content to perhaps save up and go for a week to a big city to take in a ball game or some such thing. Where he goes for several weeks to a Villa in some far away exotic place, he spends scads of money on a host of things. I spend scads of money on a host of things. My things are hotdogs and beer. His things are caviar and fine wine. My car is a fuel efficient SUV. His car is a top of the line luxury car. My motel is that of the modest kind. His motel is of the extravagant order.

The fact is we all eat and drink. Our vehicles get us to where we are going. We sleep and rest the same number of hours. And we both come home and work very hard so we can do it again.
Who said it had to be this way? Who made it law that we have to live in a dog eat dog world? Why can’t we just slow down and relax, and take life easy? When we do, we come to learn that the simple everyday things are the most important in the life.
For as long as I can remember I knew Frederick and Josephine. To me they were Uncle Fred and Aunt Josie. This was quite strange in its own right because Fred was only my 4th cousin through marriage and Josie was my 4th cousin. Yet, they were a lot older than me and I loved them both dearly so they were just what I wanted them to be, my Aunt and Uncle.

I come from a very close family; we did, and still do, everything together. I remember Uncle Fred always had a Volkswagen when I was a kid. And when it came time for all of us to go to New Hampshire to see my Great Uncle Isaiah, I had to go with Uncle Fred and Aunt Josie. There would be three car loads of us all travelling
together, on what seemed like an endless journey to me. Oh the times we had. I can still smell the pipe tobacco from Uncle Fred’s pipe which was always a constant appendage protruding from his mouth. Aunt Josie loved to talk, always about happy things. And she would get so excited over the simplest of things. I know when we stopped at Six Gun City; the ride in the stage coach meant more than any amount of money to her.

Fred and Josie led very humble lives. A small car and neat well kept apartment was their only large, if you will, expenses. They both had good jobs where they worked very hard. I can remember going to buy potato chips, which you could do then, from the chip plant in our home town where they worked. When I seen them, and I always did, they were always the same, smiling and happy and always glad to see me.
Aunt Josie loved Budgie Birds and it was about the only extravagance I ever knew her to have. Uncle Fred liked his pipe, and walking up to the Legion to play some cards with friends, and have a beer or two.
As I got older, I was one of those friends and I was glad I was. I have many fond memories of Uncle Fred and how he would laugh at the simple everyday things, the things he loved the most.

The coldest day in January would find Uncle Fred walking along with the mail, in just a light jacket not even completely zipped up, bare hands, and no hat. But as always the pipe was there. Sometimes it wouldn’t be lit, but it was always there nonetheless.

Here they were, just two humble people with very humble wants. Enjoying the simple things in life the way it is meant to be. It strikes me; all the time that some people are too busy to enjoy the simple things, trying to get to a point where they can enjoy retirement and the simple things, so to speak, Fred and Josie were doing it every day.

They are both gone now, and I miss them both. Yet, I have a lifetime of memories from the simple life and how good it can be.

If Uncle Fred were here he would say “Yup…ya know…one feller is just the same as the next….the best a feller can hope for is to live life to the fullest…an hopefully leave behind some good memories fer those that are left behind…. it all ends the same….ya can’t taker with ya…we come in to this here world with nothin an that’s jus how were gonna leave it….so….I guess it makes us all the same…yes sir my boy….yes sir.”
Thursday, July 29, 2010
RL Tex Smith

Wilbur

2010-07-26T00:52:00.001-03:00

Wilbur
I was down on the river shore at the benches near the spring that trickled into the salmon pool. The pool was filled with fishermen as usual. I was very young and I was listening to several of the old fellers that were on the bench.
Among these men was old Wilbur. He was a world war two veteran and he was usually quiet, but on this day, he took particular interest in me. Well, not so much me as my new baseball glove. He said “what-cha got there young feller…lets have a look.” I passed him my glove and my baseball that was tucked in the pocket of the mitt.
I have since heard many times that Wilbur was a great ball player in his younger day. The gleam in his eye when he held my ball and glove was that of a much younger man. Yet at the same time, his eyes always looked sad. Even when he was smiling, which was rare. But he was smiling as he gave me instruction on how to break my new glove in. I listened carefully and did exactly as he told me. That was many years ago and I still have the glove.
My Grandmothers house, when I was kid, was among the first as you came into town. I spent more time there than I did at my own house. Her back porch overlooked the world famous salmon pool on the Saint John River at Hartland. I can remember watching the fishermen from her porch. As many as one hundred or more fishermen lined the pool by times. The rule was take a couple of casts and then a step or two down river. Thus the line was always moving as the fishermen rotated through the pool. I can remember seeing three or four people with fish on at the same time.
Wilbur loved to fish salmon. I can still see him walking up the railroad tracks to the mouth of the Becaguimac Stream; that was usually where you would get in line to fish down through the pool. He always wore the same outfit, red and black chequered wool coat; hip waders always up and never rolled down like some folks wore them. His hat was rimmed all the way around and it was tan in color. Just above the rim, also all the way around, there was various salmon flies struck in the wool fluff that was made to hold hooks.
Wilbur was tall and thin and he never seemed to be in a hurry, yet his long strides would carry him along quickly. He never usually spoke of the war, most of the veterans didn’t, but what they did do was talk about the other feller when he wasn’t there, what they had gone through, where they had been and so on. So I got to learn a lot about each of these men in an indirect way. The other fellers always talked about the hell that Wilbur had gone through. As I got older, I often thought that’s why he always looked so sad and smiled very seldom. But then I also got to thinking, it might well be the memories that caused him a lot of pain, but it might have a lot to do with the way some people treated him too.
Wilbur lived alone and he liked to drink. Now some people didn’t like that. But I don’t guess they understood either. See to me, we all handle things differently. One feller might drink and another feller might not. It might depend on the fact that the feller that drinks might have seen more hell than the other feller. But I think it is just that we all handle things different.
Anyway, a lot of the high falutin folks in our town didn’t have many good things to say about Wilbur. I know he knew what they were saying. There are some that would say he didn’t care. But I think he did. I think from listening to him talk to some other old veterans, he couldn’t understand how come folks were so quick to forget what he and many others had done and sacrificed for them that now were so quick to judge. I think the only thing that Wilbur and many like him wanted, was a little bit of respect and thankfulness. Unless they were around their own kind, they seldom got the respect they deserved.
It often strikes me that we are very good at remembering one day of the year. After Remembrance Day is over, it is often not thought of again until the next year. But I think these men and women deserve much more than one day a year.
Often I have tried to imagine what these brave men and women felt like. I know no matter what I imagine, it can never even scratch the surface as to the real thing. Yet, by trying to imagine, I feel as though I am closer to understanding. Watching so many of your young friends die. Seeing some others become handicapped. Hearing the constant sound of bombs and gun fire for hours at a time. Helping to carry dead bodies and wounded from the field. Freezing cold and being soaked to the hide with not only water but mud too, for days on end. Seeing the country side first hand and the people first hand after their homes had been blown to bits or burned.
What it must be like to walk among the dead and perhaps crawl among the bodies or lay there for hours. To see the children left on their own and some dead or maimed. Just one horror after another. All the time wondering if you are going to make it through or not, and if you do, why you and not some of your buddies. Being taught from day one to take lives and be very aggressive about it, then going out and doing it. Then when it is over, just stop.
The only thing I have for these folks is respect. And if they drink, well…to me…that means nothing. So many men and women gave their lives for people that soon forget. So many like Wilbur made it through to live with the horror the rest of their life for so many that took and take them for granted.
All one has to do is read a bit of the history and you soon learn that this world could have been much different today than it is. It was close, very close. I say that we owe these people a lot more and lot better than ridicule for having a drink.
So many that are so quick to label another a bum or a drunk; I wonder if they had to look into the eyes of another person as they died, knowing it was their bayonet that caused the person to die, would they then be so quick to judge?
Wilbur had heard all the comments and he knew what folks thought. And it hurt him, deeper than we will ever know.
I can tell you he was a proud man, as well he should have been. He once taped a nickel to the corner of a picture of the Queen; he said to pay for the person who set beneath her. When Wilbur set down to play cards he always set under the Queen, and he shuffled his feet the entire time he set there. In fact when I first started going to the Legion, Wilbur was gone by then. But where he sat the floor was wore thin from his feet shuffling back and forth.
I wonder how many people will remember him or know of him in the future? I wonder how many will remember or know of any of the veterans in the future?
I think it needs to be taught in the schools more than ever. I think we should never ever let their memories die and fade away.
There are so many folks out there that could write so much more about folks like Wilbur. Why I wonder, does no one ever do it? They have no trouble writing about some well to do veteran, some one they say is worth writing about. To me they are all worth writing about. Every single one of them has a story and it should be told and retold. Their sacrifice was for us and we need to pay better attention to their memory and to those that are still with us.
I think of an innocent young man one day playing baseball and having his entire life in front of him, and the next day his innocence is lost to the horror of war. What a sacrifice.
To so some Wilbur might have been an old bum and a drunk. To me he was a true hero, a man I will never forget. A man I will do my best to honour by remembering him.
Monday, July 26, 2010
RL Tex Smith

Ramblings 3

2010-07-25T14:42:00.001-03:00

Ramblings 3
They say that we are made up of a little piece of everyone we know. I would like to think that this is true. When we think about it, even the folks that we don’t agree with or ones that do stuff we wouldn’t do, we learn from.
I have always tended to really like the older folks. When I was kid, you could find me hanging out around the park benches where the old lads seem to congregate. Whether it was down by the theatre, the salmon pool, in front of the stores, or at the garage; wherever they hung out I would go just to listen to their stories.
This carried over into my adult life. I can remember playing thirty-ones for hour upon hour at the Legion with the old lads. I have many fond memories of my old friends. Sadly, a lot of them are gone now. I think of them often and wish they were still around. But that can never be, so I try and keep their memories alive.
In a way that helps them to live on, or at least that’s what I think. Maybe the old saying is true. Maybe we are a part of all those that we know and have known.
When we read a book, like true history for example, we learn. I think that especially with Biographies, it’s like a part of that particular person becomes part of us.
This is not to say that we are exactly like someone else, thank God we are not. What I mean is, if I read a book on Robert E. Lee I learn from the great military genius. When I read about Rudolph Giuliani I learn from him as well. Then I have in me parts of both of these fine men. Then I combine this with all the others I have learned from, and I become one of a kind.
I have often told students, in the fire world, that I am teaching; the one thing I know for certain is how little I know. I can remember some of the other instructors saying to me that I shouldn’t say that. Their argument was that I was supposed to know and I am sending the wrong message. To this I always answered, on the contrary, I am being honest, and I think that it is incumbent upon me to be just that, honest. The more I learn the more there is to learn, and it should never stop. I say the day it does, will be the day I take up the rocking chair.
To me the person that conveys an attitude of I know everything, or at least think they think they do, are most times the people that get others hurt and worse, sometimes killed.
Learning from the old lads around my town was a true adventure for me, it still is.
They were teaching me things without even knowing that they were doing so. I watched them and I listened as they talked to one and other.
Sometimes other kids would come around and make fun of them. They never said anything they just looked at them and the only thing different was their expressions and their eyes. One time, there were even some of these disrespectful kids that demanded money from the old fellers; when they refused to give them any money, one brat spat on one old lads leg. Now he just slowly took out his hanky and wiped it off. The only thing that was said was, “you young-ens bess git on yer way….an ya bess do er now”. It wasn’t said loud or in an angry way. But it was said in a way that was low and direct, a way that meant business, in a tone that made them believe that it was said with all seriousness. Combined with a look that was of kind I had never seen before. It was for me scary. It must have been for the brats too, for I can remember them staring at the old man silently, then for some reason, one of the brats said, “come guys…lets
leave these crazy old bastards alone….they ain’t gonna give us no money” and off they went, and quickly too.
As I think back on it, my learning curve took a huge leap that day. I learned that becoming anything that resembled those brats was something I never wanted to do. I would never disrespect my elders or anyone else, not on purpose anyway. I learned that after this episode, the old mans face and eyes showed something terrible; it showed pure hurt. I knew I never wanted to cause that kind of hurt for anyone, not on purpose. I got a chance to see what true cowardice was and what true grit was. I came away from that situation respecting that old man far more than any words could ever describe.
Everyone from the people we hold in high esteem to those we think less of, (and yes we all do that, it is wrong to do it, but we all do) deserve respect from us. If we don’t know all the story of a person’s life we have no right to judge them. We have no right to judge another person period. But again, we all do it in some form or another; to me its one of mankind’s ugliest features.
What makes us feel like we are better than others? Is it money? A nicer home? A nicer car? I think there are a host of combined reasons. We all have this ugliness within us. We are outright lying if we say other wise. We have known it all along too. We just don’t like to admit it. You know, I made a better mark on the test than he or she did…so I am smarter. I have a nicer bike, so I am better. I got more goals than the others so I am a better player. And then my favourite of all wrongs…I go to church and he doesn’t….so I am better. Ugly I say, that is what it is, pure ugliness.
Another time I was setting with one of my oldest and dearest friends in front of the grocery store on the bench. It was a great day, the sun was shinning and we were having a gereat talk. Then along came a so called wonder of goodness, a so called good living man, a so called good church going God fearing man, a so called outstanding citizen. My friend looked up and said a kind good day to this person. The person looked back at him and shook his head with disgust and a pure look of repulsiveness, turned his head back ahead, stuck his nose in the air and continued on with out speaking a word. My friend turned to me and said “some folks would as soon die as to speak to a feller”. I agreed but I also seen something; it was that look again, it was hurt.
I learned again on that day. It seems that the learning never stopped when I was around my older friends. I hope I can somehow convey to others, especially my children to be the same way when it comes to learning. I hope they always respect others.
In the next few writings I hope to talk about a few of my old friends. I would hope that all that read my writings know that these people were and are some of my dearest friends. I have nothing but the greatest admiration for each of them. And if I write something that somehow is taken in a way that makes them look small or less, it will surely not be my intent. It will be an accident if I do.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
RL Tex Smith

Timber Teegers

2010-07-21T16:39:00.000-03:00

Timber Teegers

I mind the time back in the summer of 2000, I found myself in the great state of Montana. I was there with a bunch a fellers ta try and help out with the fires what was reekin havoc all over that there state.We each got hooked up with a crew a military folks an we became their crew leaders. They was twenty a them there young folks in each crew, both men and women.My outfit came from the Montana Air National Guard; an they called us Prairie seven. Now they was some of the nicest youngens I ever did meet up with. They was used ta takin orders an they was no back talk er fellers with a case a the cutes among em. Gives me the willies now as I think on it, cause jus over a year later, a lot those youngens in that there outfit was in a place called Iraq, an that there was a horse of a different color as compared to them there fires.I stayed in touch with a few of them, but like always happens, the letters got fewer and fewer till all ta once, they stopped all ta gether. The one I stayed in touch with fer the longest was the crew medic. We called her Band-Aid, but even she quit writin, and so it jus leaves a body ta wonder. Are they all still ok? Where are they now an what kind a adventure are they into these here days?Well sir, they is this old movie on the late late show by times called “The Devil’s Brigade”. It’s a story based on true ta life happnins. See in world war two they was a bunch a Canadian soldiers and a bunch of American soldiers what joined up an trained ta gether. Them there fellers became the first Special Forces outfit that there ever was. Their base when they was a trainin was called Fort William Henry Harrison. It was located near the city of Helena. Now whad-ya spose, that there fort was just exactly where we all ended up ta give them there youngens some trainin in wildland fire, a for they went ta the real deal.Now I figured that there was quite a thing, here we was a bunch a Canadians an a bunch of Americans teamin up agin ta do battle. Only the enemy weren’t in far away places like the Aleutian Islands, Italy, er the South of France. No sir, this here time the enemy was right here on the home front.Fightin a big ol fire in a lot a ways is just the same as a war. They onliest thing is, the fire don’t shoot back, aw… it likes ta try an trap ya an eat ya every so often; but ya just don’t let it out think ya, an most times you’d be jus fine.Any way…oncest the trainin was done each crew was given an assignment and off we all went. Them youngens, as is always the way, was a chomppin at the bit ta git at er.Ar outfit got several light assignments and when Command and us crew leaders figured they was ready, we got assigned to the real deal. Prairie seven ended up on the Tauston Maudlow Fire and she was a big- en.We started out on the tail end a that there fire a buildin hand line. I watched them youngens close an as near as I could tell, they was doin a right fine job. We worked all day and then came back to git cleaned up an have some grub. Plan the next day, an then crawl in ar tents an hit the feathers.I was a layin there tryin ta hunker down fer some shut eye when of a sudden the wind commenced ta blow. An I mean blow. I got up an took my wind gauge out ta see just what was a happnin. Now whilst I was a measurin the wind, I looked over yonder an saw a half dozen small tents go a rollin by. The Guard had rigged us crew leaders up a big ol tent, we had cots an the works. I got a few a the lads up an toll em we bes tighten the riggin lines on ar tent a for she went the great routetoo. So Dad an Bozo, the Bear, an a few others came quick ta give a hand at doin jus that.Well sir, that there wind was a blowin a steady fifty miles per hour with gusts up ta seventy, an it kept it up all night. An jus as the sun was a comin up, she quit jus as bout as fast she started.At the morning briefing the Incident Commander (IC), who happened ta be a woman, and one I could tell what had no patience fer tom foolery, said “Well folks…as ya’all might a guessed by now….ar fire in the night, on account a that wind has decided ta git up an leave us.” And leave us it did, the head end a that there fire was now fifty miles beyond us.So it was decided we all would go to the line an work the day an whilst we was out workin, the Guard would move ar tents and riggin closer so as ta ketch up with that monster. That way we wouldn’t have so far ta travel ta git ta work in the days that follered.I don’ t know if a feller could rightly say that we made a whole lot a head way that day, but we dug an scratched the day away tryin at least. In this here area, they weren’t accustomed ta usin water ta fight the fire, cause the water was danged scarus. Bein as though there weren’t many waterin holes, we used dirt an made hand lines. An ya know by dingies a lot a the time it worked.So like I said, we dug an scratched an beat an thrashed the day away; an come the end, my outfit was plumb spent. It was a good thing that the IC had enough sense to look ahead an have the Guard set up ar riggin, cause I ain’t sure my folks coulda done it.They had set us up in a cow pasture an it was a big-en. That thing was full a cow pies. Now that there didn’t bother us none, but what I found out later bothered me in a big way.Everyone was mullin around and gittin ar new tent city up ta snuff. I noticed that there cow field was full a holes in the ground about two inches round. Now I never give it no thought, other than ta wonder what on earth made so many a the things.By an by I saw a bunch a Army Guard fellers from another outfit, they was all hunkered down around them holes. Me bein on the curious side a things, I walked up to em an said “what-cha doin fellers?” All at the same time I could see that they had their Leatherman pliers out an they was a proddin them there holes with em. Them lads not bein from my outfit jus kind a looked up at me, an this one big ol bald headed feller said “You’ll see”.Now where I’m from if some feller gives you an answer like that there, ya bes put yer guard up. An me not likin surprises a whole lot, I did jus that. As they went back ta proddin in them there holes, not payin me much mind, I said “what made all these holes in the ground anyway?” That same bald headed feller kind a grinned and said “Timber Teegers”. With a puzzled look I said “Is that a fact…well I don’t guess I ever did hear tell of a critter like that…whad-a them Timber Teegers look like?”Old Baldy looked half disgusted as he said “You know…ground Squirrels…er don’t ya’all have Squirrels up in Canada?” Now this here feller was actin a bit on the cute side, as some are bound ta do. But I never let it bother me none, cause I figured he was jus testing me out, ta see what kind a reaction I’d have ta him actin a bit snotty. “Oh heck yes…we got Squirrels…an lots of em…Onliest thing is, they stay in the trees where they is supposed ta be…we got us enough trees back home that they don’t have ta go digging in the dirt ta find a home….So…ifthem there holes is made by Timber Teegers…whad-a-ya fixin ta do with them there pliers….pull imm out by the whiskers?”Jus then old Baldy up an stuck them pliers right in my face. An stuck in them pliers was a big ol spider. Well sir, I don’t like spiders none. So I stepped back in a hurry. When I got my senses gathered, I lit in ta ol Baldy. As I stepped back closer agin I said “Now young feller….I know its likely that you bin trained ta kill a man with yer hands in more ways than I could care less about….I know yer jus tryin ta have you some fun…but I’m here ta tell ya what. Don’t ya’all ever stick no spider in my old phizog ever agin…cause ifn ya do…I’m gona have ta show ya’all what a good ol boy from Carleton County is a capable of!”Well heck, as soon as they seen I wasn’t gona cower and run they changed their tune. They all apologized all over them selves why even ol Baldy said he was sorry.See in everyone a them holes which was sure nough made by Timber Teegers, they was a funnel shaped web. An in every one a them there webs was a Black Widow spider. They toll me all about how the big-ens was the females and the little fellers the males. They showed me one hole where a body could see the little fellers all a clamberin over the big female. They said the females were lookin fer a mate. An as soon as the lucky feller got hisself picked, after he was done he got hisself a good reward…the cussed ol female would kill an eat imm.Funny…as I think on it….I guess I’ve known a woman er three jus like that. Aw but, them there are other stories.Anyway, I made my way back ta tell the lads about what I had learnt. When I toll the story we all looked at one an nother an we made it fer ar tent. Whad-ya spose…sure nough we counted us seven holes in the ground on the inside a ar tent. See, ar tent didn’t have no floor.Well sir, that there started a big ol fracas. We all kind a revolted, an ta make a long story short, I slept with ol Bear in one a them there Army Hum Vees, some a the other lads slept in the Army Duce an a halfs, while others slept on the back a them ol trucks. All I know is that none a us fellers slept in the tent that there night.See a Rattler he’ll let a body know when ya git too close. But them thereWid-ers…they’ll crawl right in bed with a body an jus bite-cha out pure meanness.We only had ta stay there in what we named Spiderville for the one night. Cause the fire up an took off that night too. So we ended up in the Canyon Lake Ferry District set up on the site of a fair grounds. There weren’t a sign of a hole no where there bouts. Never seen no more Wid-ers either.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

RL Tex Smith

Albert

2010-07-19T23:17:00.001-03:00

Albert

Every little town has their own special folks, Hartland is no different. When I was a kid there seemed to be even more than there is today. I never ever made fun of these folks; in fact I viewed them as my friends. That being said though, they were always getting themselves into some sort of fracas or another. And no matter how hard a body tried, you couldn’t help but laugh, many’s the time I would have to just walk away shaking my head.I have nothing but fond memories of these folks and I would never have condoned them being put in harms way, or seeing them in anyway hurt themselves.In this writing I will introduce you to Albert (not his real name).I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know Albert. He was always around town some where. Everyone thought the world of him, and none would have liked to see him get hurt or harmed in any way. Folks, for the most part, were good to him and most would go out of their way to help him keep out of trouble.He was a very polite man, better than most, and he was always smiling. That is unless he was upset over something, and usually his step Father had a lot to do with his foul moods.A very slender man; with hair only around the sides and back of his head, the top was bald. He very seldom went anywhere without a cigarette in hand or mouth. When he walked he stepped right along and he kind of bent forward ever so slightly, he even stood that way and it gave him the look of being bent.Now our little town is famous for a lot of things, none are more note worthy than our bridge; the longest covered bridge in the world. I used to work at my cousin’s garage which was located, at the time, right next to the bridge. Folks from all over the world would come, and they still do, to take pictures of the old wooden structure.One day we looked out and there was a huge crowd of them tourist all clamouring around the entrance of the bridge. They were taking pictures of something, and it wasn’t just the bridge.Curiosity got the better of us; we had to see what was causing such a back up in traffic. After all, it wasn’t every day that we would have a traffic jam right here in down town Hartland.The next town down river from us was Woodstock and every year they had what they called Old Home Week, they still do. It consists of a midway with rides and the like; all kinds’ of crafts and other such things. It is just what you would call a typical county fair. Anyway, Albert always made it a point to go to Old Home Week every year. But then most everybody did.This particular year there was a certain booth where you could win all sorts of things, and if I remember right, it had something to do with throwing darts. Well sir, one of the prizes was one of them Bobby hats like the London police wear, only it was plastic. From a distance it looked real. Somehow or another Albert wound up with one of them hats.A week or two before all this had happened; Albert had procured an old Salvation Army uniform for himself. He also had a small shinny plastic badge that he had pinned onto the chest of his uniform.Well what do you suppose it was that was causing such a commotion on the bridge? I looked up through the crowd and I saw him. There was Albert standing at perfect attention at the end of the bridge all duded up in his uniform and his new Bobby’s hat. And folks were taking pictures of him left right and centre. All the while Albert was looking right straight ahead not even blinking.Those folks thought he was supposed to be there, they actually took him to be the real thing.By and by Albert had himself enough of that project, and the next thing we knew, he was walking up Main Street, talking away to himself like he always did.

Now it just so happened that Albert worked for my Grandfather on the farm. The only thing I ever knew Albert to drive was a moped. He got so he was good with the thing and you would never know where you might run across him. He travelled all up and down the valley on the thing.One day up to the farm Albert gave me a scare the likes of which would turn your hair gray.We had been working up the hill at the upper potato house (commonly called the “tater house”), come noon time (commonly called “nose bag time”) my cousin, Marvin, and I were walking down the hill to the house so as to have dinner. I heard Albert start up his moped behind us. At the time I never thought anything of it.Then of a sudden we both looked behind us when we heard Albert a hollering. From that point things seem to almost go into slow motion. Marvin and I had just enough time to step out of the way as Albert went tearing between us on his moped. His legs were up and stretch out on either side of the front wheel and he looked right at me when he went by and said “no breaks Ranny (that was what Albert always called me).Marvin and I looked at one another with great concern and my heart sank right then and there. It was down hill all the way past the house and on down to the highway, with the river on the other side.With me and Marvin a running with all our strength down the hill after him I figured Albert for a dead man this time. All sorts of what ifs ran through my mind as I ran. But as luck would have it, Albert had enough presence of mind to steer to the right and off the road. It sure was a lot rougher ride but the tall grass and weeds helped to slow him down some just before he ran into the side of the lower tater house at the bottom of the hill.Marvin and I got to him just as he was picking himself up off the ground and lifting his moped back to the up right position. I checked him all over and he seemed to be fine. Thank the Lord.At the time it surely was no laughing matter. But after we seen that he was okay and that the bike was no worse for wear, well, like I said a body would just have to shake his head.Marvin and I being wily in the ways of keeping old bikes, cause we both had motor bikes, running, we fixed his breaks up right after dinner. And for Albert it was like nothing ever had happened.I know I will never forget the look on Albert’s face as he went by me and him calmly saying “no breaks Ranny”.Albert is gone now, but I remember him well and always will. And yes he was special…..very special to me.

Monday, July 19, 2010

RL Tex Smith

Harold and the Moose

2010-07-19T02:14:00.001-03:00

Harold and the Moose

Have you ever known someone that literally saps the life from your very self, even at the mere mention of their name? If you’re like me, then you have at least one. Some of us even have the privilege of knowing several of these wonderful people. Its not that these souls are evil or anything of the kind, it just seems like their spirit may have come straight from the Lord himself; especially designed to be our very own personal torment for some wrong we have committed.They come in all shapes and sizes and neither sex takes dominance over the other. Some are so smart they are dumb. Some have no sense of humour. There are others that are just plain arrogant. They will sometimes ask for your advice and then pay no mind whatsoever to what you say; some even ask and then turn away from you while you answer. They have been known to cause recurring nightmares. Others do not have to do anything; it may be that just the sight of the person makes you get the Willie Nillies. These are only but a few of the ways they irritate us.The worst thing about all this is that in most cases they do not even realize that they are causing you these discomforts.One of mine was a fellow by the name of Harold K. Abernathy (not his real name). During the years when I was an Atlantic salmon fishing guide on the Main Southwest Miramichi River was when I knew Harold.(In Carleton County, we have a special way of talking. It is my hope to try and emulate that form of speech as I write the rest of this story.)Now fer those a you folks that ain’t got a clue as to what a salmon guide’s day looks like, I’ m gonna try an enlighten ya. From the first a Ju-leye to the mid a September, that there is usually the length of the season. Now my Father, he was an outfitter, which meant he was one a them fellers what brings folks from away, mostly the States, to try their hand at ketchin a salmon. I’ve heard some folks say that a salmon guide, why, he’s gotter made, out on the river all the time, in the fresh air. An gittin paid ta do er ta boot. Well….them that go on with that there bunk…they ain’t never done er…an that’s a fact. Cause if they had….they’d know…she ain’t no picnic…an that there’s fer sure. But….I guess that there sayin bout how the grass is always greener on the other side…is likely more true than not.A body gits up an on the river at about 4:30 in the am. Let me tell ya, them there midgets, some calls em no see ums…is some kinda hot bout that time. So ya soak yer self in fly dope…and its off ya go. Now that there fly dope stuff….I don’t know if it helps any with them there little demons….but at least it makes a body feel better. Ya stay down fishin till bout 10:00 am and then ya make yer way back fer breakfast.Now Father being the type a feller he is…he’d ask ya in a way that only he could if ya wouldn’t mind taken yer fellers back down fishin a bit more through the heat of the day….now every one knows….ya ain’t apt ta have no luck a fishin through the heat of the day…unless it’s a rainin er at least a dark day…but…ya’d end up goin agin right after breakfast. Didn’t happen every day….but more days than not. So it was back down the river with you and yer feller, we called em sports, tillbout 3:00pm er so when it was time ta go back fer supper at 4:00pm. An as quick as ya got done eattin, it was back down the river agin till dark.Now through the heat of the day….why they was every kind a fly they was a goin…cept fer midgets…twern’t their time. They was always an ample supply a black flies, horse er moose flies, mosquitoes, dog flies, and deer flies. All a bombardin ya at the same time.So ya would end up a gittin back ta camp somewhere bout 10 er 10:30pm. At that there point….she’d bin a long day. But….ya had ta be sociable, so if yer feller asked ya ta come have a toddy with imm…ya couldn’t very well turn imm down. Some though weren’t the sociable type….an ya know…I never minded when they wasn’t.But when they was…well…a body would do well if he made er ta the sack by midnight. By then ya didn’t have no trouble fallin ta sleep when yer head hit the feathers. Then ya’d git a chance to doer all over again real soon, the next morning.Them there fellers…they’d only have ta do it fer a week….you had ta doer all season. Oh a body would git Saturday afternoon and night off…with a chance ta sleep in Sunday morning. But…by the time ya got yer self around…they’d be a brand new crew a fellers in right full a git up an go. So after supper on Sunday at 4:00pm she’d start all over agin.That there is kinda what she’s like…cept…I never did tell ya bout the bunk a body would have ta go through. Aw…some was better an others…heck…some was even down right good bout the whole affair. But…they was this one feller…an he’d always come back every year….an he would always ask fer me ta guide imm….his name was Harold…an he was from Massachusetts.I don’t suppose Harold ever listened ta one thing I ever said to imm. He’d ask…but turn right away from me when I would answer. He had zero sense a humour, why…I’d venture ta guess if he ever did smile…his face would crack. He was a small little feller….and let me tell ya he had him that there little feller syndrome in a big way. He’d see him a fish jump er roll an he would almost run if he was waddin ta git ta where that fish was. Then he’d flail the water as if he was some sorta wild man. I tried ta tell him other wise…but…I soon learnt…I’d a done jus as good if I was talk ta the wind…an maybe better. Harold kinda put me in mind of a fly that got hisself caught between the screen an window.Some times one of his friends would be a fishin the same pool with one a Dad’s other guides. An if a fish jumped in front a his friend…well…old Harold would go a splish splashin right down and horn in on that other fellers spot. I tell ya….the man had no scruples whatsoever. The week I had ta guide old Harold was always a week a pure misery. An the cussed rig would cause me ta have night mares even when he weren’t there.Come this time we had us a big rain; the river was up high on account of it too.Anyway, I was guidin old Harold; an we was at the forks pool. He could wade there, an I knew the fish would be a movin on that there high water so I figured it was as good a place ta be as any.Now ya git used ta knowin and ya can tell…old Harold…he had him a barrel a money. Why he had the very best of every kinda equipment they was a goin. His camera was always a danglin from his neck and it was a good one too.Harold, never did much talkin, an that sorta suited me jus fine. Me…I was settin in the canoe chair up next ta the bushes. All ta once I could hear what sounded like a couple a fellers a waddin down river from up above. Now I tought…who in the world would be a waddin down that there river with the water as high as it was? I knew it was deep up there so it didn’t make no sense. See…the river makes so many turns id almos comes back ta meet itself, so I couldn’t see who was a comin. But comin they was, an they was a gittin closer.Well sir…all ta once, out from behind the bushes…there in the river stood a good big bull moose. Had him a real nice rack a horns too. They was all in velvet an the water was drippin from em. Sure was a pretty sight.I kinda chuckled ta myself…when I realized it was a moose I had heard a waddin an not a couple a fellers.Like I said, I knew old Harold had him a real good camera, an bein this close to a moose, especially a big bull in velvet wasn’t an every day occurrence. So I kinda blew air through my lips ta git Harold’s attention. After about the fifth time…he caught on, er at least he heard me. When he looked at me, I pointed ta the moose.Now I figured Harold would turn and look and real slow like take some good pictures. But….No….What’d Harold do? He tucked his rod up under his arm pit an took off a runnin right at that there moose as fast as he could. They was water a splashin like some sorta paddle boat would make an he was a clicking off pictures all at the same time.I looked at the moose an he kinda reared backwards an the hair come up on his shoulders….that there ain’t what ya call a good sign. I swear….I don’t know who was more surprised, me, er the moose. I thought I better do something so I yelled.“Harold! Stop! What are ya tryin ta do, git yer self kilt?!? Stop and don’t you move!”Now surprisingly, Harold did stop. An as that there moose turned back up river after a lookin at Harold like a dog hearin a funny noise, I was glad that there critter turned an went back ta where he’d came from. I went at old Harold agin.I said “Harold I’m sorry I yelled at ya…but…lord thunderin…ya don’t go a scarin a critter like that…man he could a give ya one heck of a woolin if he was a mind too.”Harold jus looked at me an with absolutely no emotion said “I wanted pictures…he would not have harmed me…I believe I did get some…I hope so.”I couldn’t help wonderin if the moose had bin told not ta git mad and go all hay wire…an if so…who was it that told imm.I said “Harold…if that there moose was mind to…he’d a tramped you silly! An if that didn’t kill ya…well… by the time I’d a got to ya..you’d a bin drownded. If we see any more critters…you jus relax an don’t git so all fired up…they’ll be time ta git lots a pictures…anyway…no picture is worth gittin kilt over.”Well….I could tell old Harold was kinda put out with me, cause he sooked the rest a that there day. The way I seen it…he was a lucky man.It was always jus one thing right after another with that there feller, an this here was jus one time.Yes sir…them there salmon guides…they sure gotter made!

Monday, July 19, 2010

RL Tex Smith

A Dog and Ducks

2010-07-17T17:34:00.000-03:00

A Dog and Ducks

The year was 1965 and I had just mastered the fine art of swimming. That was a feat that meant new found freedom. What a glorious day it was. In this life, there are many peaks and valleys that we call growing in one form or another. Be it in size, heart, or mind, these growing lows and highs give way to what we call living. Learning how to swim was for me a giant peak. It meant that from that day forward I could go up and down the river on my own, well, the dog was usually with me, so really, I wasn’t alone.Father and Mother were always busy doing something to keep the business afloat; I think they call it work. It wasn’t easy for either of them to just drop what they were doing to accommodate me and my whims, so often I would fend for myself around the camps. But this newly acquired skill of swimming brought about a relaxing of the limit of my boundaries. I was allowed to venture a bit farther a field and that meant new adventures with much to explore.On one such occasion I told Mother that me and the dog were going to take the canoe for a ride. I was given strict orders to report back at such and such a time, and that I was not to venture too far away. Of course we came to an accord and it was away we went.Now then, the rule of distance should have been better explained. My perception of not too far away and my Mother’s idea of the same meant two different things. Even though I knew what she really meant, I agreed to the terms without hesitation.Lucky loved the water and he loved to go in the canoe with me. Come to think of it, he pretty much loved to do anything with me. I can close my eyes even to this day and see his expression and his actions when I would say “Come on Luck…less go fer a ride in the canoe.” He would jump and go it, round in circles the entire way to the canoe. It was as if he was trying to tell me to hurry up. The only thing that I know of that could fire up that dog more was saying to him “Lucky…see the squirrel.” I swear, I don’t know what kept that dog from blowing his heart right out though his side. And I can remember one squirrel being able to sense the dog’s excitement. The squirrel knew just how far to come down the tree and still be safe. So hour after hour day after day the squirrel and the dog would play. The squirrel on the tree trunk looking down at the dog chattering for all it was worth. The dog at the base of the tree barking and jumping up at the squirrel always falling just short of latching onto the little tormentor. I really believe that the squirrel looked forward to these encounters as much, if not more, than the dog.So it was me in the stern and old Lucky in the bow of the canoe and off down the river we went. Five minutes hadn’t passed and we were around the first ninety degree turn to the right and we were out of sight of home. First thing was first, out of sight meant I could light up a smoke with no fear of being caught. Smoking and me have always gotten along quite well. I know it is bad for you, I know all the terrible things about smoking. But I guess I was just bound to do it. For as far back as I can remember smoking has been a part of my life. Especially when I am on the river, there is just something about it that elates my inner self. Italways puts me at ease. My inner self would not be the only thing lit up if Mother or Father found out. My outer self, at least one part of it, would have done some glowing of its own, if they were to catch me. Father always had a way of making me feel lower than the scum on a snails belly when he caught me doing something wrong. Mother, well….she had a different way of dealing with my misdeeds. Thus I was always careful not to get caught. Actually, I was quite crafty in the ways I had of covering it up. I was even wilier in the ways I acquired my stash.Before too long we had made our way to Fred and Dora’s place. The shore was lined with canoes as it was during the heat of the day; fishing was not at it’s best at this time, otherwise, the canoes would all be out and down the river carrying folks to the good Salmon pools.Just past old Jack the Fish Warden’s place is a stretch I always called Bat Ally. And you would know why if you were to find yourself on that stretch when it was just coming dark. Bat Ally ran from Old Jack’s down almost to the forks where the North Branch and the South Branch of the Main Southwest Miramichi come together. It was on this stretch that we encountered a brood of Merganser ducks.They were floating along one behind the other following Mum down stream; staying close to the bushes so as to conceal themselves. The Merganser is a common sight there abouts, and they are not held in high esteem. In fact they are pretty much hated, especially by fishermen. See the darn things will eat their weight in fish every day. And anything that catches Salmon and Trout has a dim view cast upon it. Commonly they are called “Cussed ol Fish eattin ducks.”Even though these critters were too young to fly, let me tell ya, they could move when they had too. Once the canoe got too close for Mums liking, she gave the signal and they immediately got up and literally ran on top of the water. Their little wings looked like two windmills, and their feet going so fast you couldn’t see them moving. The water flew up behind them just like the rooster’s tail from a high sped speed boat, only on a smaller scale. They went until Mum felt the distance away was safe and they stopped and swam along normal.Now old Lucky had not seen them up to that point. When they exploded on the water with the sudden burst of speed in unison, Old Lucky went in two complete circles, and before I could say stay, he was out of the canoe and plunging into the water.Regardless of my concerned tone ordering him to stay, he went, full of determination to succeed in catching one of them birds. Now I knew that this doggie enterprise was ill-conceived on his part. There was no way that the dog paddle could come close to competing with the duck’s water run.As I continued to try and persuade Luck back he continued to beat and thrash the water in the direction of the ducks. I observed the ducks and I could tell that the new found water thrashing machine in no way caused any type of euphoric state for Mummy duck.Of a sudden, the little fellers up and took off again in an explosion of speed on the water. They went a ways down stream with Old Luck in his form of hot pursuit. He wasn’t gaining much on them. Then for some odd reason, Mummywheeled and like one of them jet boats at the races, she lined up on old Luck like some sort of high speed ballistic missile.She came to a ploughing stop just short of ramming the dog. Her wings spread out wide and her neck stretched out. She was one upset duck. She was a quaking real shrill like and thrashing the water in the dogs face with her wings. By and by she started flapping her wings on the dogs face and ears. She manoeuvred around behind Old Luck and then commenced stabbing him in the back of the head with her bill. After about the fourth strike Lucky turned and started back toward the canoe. As he turned so did the duck, still slapping his ears and stabbing him with that bill.This all seemed to go one for a lot longer than it really did. The dog closing in on the canoe the duck finally stopped, floated for a bit and kind of stood up on the water and shook, to get her feathers all back in place. Then she wheeled and took a short flight back to her kids. As she wheeled to leave I could have swore she stuck her bill in the air and seemed to make hummmph sound, as if to say “take that you cad!”Lucky was trying to claw his way into the canoe. I was coaching him the entire time. Seeing that he would need help I went to give him some assistance. Well sir, as my old buddy Unc would say “Ran you’re the clumsiest feller I know”, don’t ya know, I lost my footing and as Lucky came in I went out. Man that there water was cold.Now it appeared that Lucky was the pilot and I was the one watching him start to drift down stream. I was able to get up and wade to the canoe, grab hold of it and pull it to the shallows so I could take over the helm once again. Lucky made his way to where I was and decided to wash my face at the same time as I was pulling the canoe. Finally, I was able to get back aboard. My smokes were okay as they were in my little satchel still in the boat (we called a canoe a boat). So I threw out the anchor and lit up.After my smoke I turned the boat and started poling back up stream. Now I knew I was coming home later than the order that Mother had given me. But it didn’t matter much; she would get over it, just like she had to do most every time I went on one of my adventures.That was just one of many great days. Man I miss that dog. He was one of the good ones.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

RL Tex Smith

Ramblings 2

2010-07-15T22:27:00.000-03:00

Ramblings 2

Oh so many things that are confusing; where did God come from? Where did Cain’s wife come from? How long would it take to count all the grains of sand on a single beach? Why do we still have Apes? How come some critters were supposed to have evolved while others just decided to stay the same forever? The obvious is oblivious to many much, if not all, of the time. Rivers flow on and on and though their levels rise and fall, seldom do they quit flowing. Why is the sun able to burn without end for the amount of time it is capable of? The ability of the sun to warm the earth with the intensity that it does; why is it just the right distance away? We know that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction; what if there wasn’t?
In days of old, man had many wives and concubines, when was it decided that this was wrong and by whom was it decided? Why do some creatures mate for life while others do not? How can a dog or cat, for example, go so sound asleep so quickly, yet wake so easily? Why do so many folks that claim to believe in Jesus, find themselves not following his words; yet think that they are right while everyone else is wrong; even if the way they act goes against everything that Jesus taught? Why did the speed of sound and light settle for the velocity that they did; why not faster or slower?
Like I said so many confusing things. The list is endless. I’m not sure why I think about these things, I just do. We spend a lifetime studying and learning and then we die. So why do we bother? We can say that all we need is something to eat and drink and some shelter from the elements. Yet if this was good enough we would all still be cave dwellers. We would never have learned anything because eating, drinking, and staying dry and warm would have been good enough.
Each of us is a complexity of movement that is never satisfied; all at varying degrees of difference. What is it that drives some to do a thing while others could care less about that particular thing?
Now then, we come to the reason why certain people have to fix things that are not broken. They are willing to sacrifice all to change things just for the sake of change. Usually these people have a very high intolerance for the thoughts or suggestions of others. Most times it’s like a man trying to reason with a Payloader that has its engine at maximum throttle, whether the Payloader hears the man’s words or not is irrelevant, it just keeps on ploughing and gouging away as long as it has fuel and someone to operate it, all the while showing total indifference to the man’s voice of reason.
All of the great learned people of the world owe their great wisdom to the same school of thought. It must be that way, for it would appear that all of the schools of higher learning are teaching roughly the same thing. And it must have changed in the last thirty years, dramatically. The first and foremost steadfast rule must be to think one’s self to be much better than the next person. The second, to exhibit no sign of, in fact eradicate, common sense. Consider it a meaningless form of logic. The third is to become exactly like the high revving Payloader. And forth, call themselves managers.
Today’s manager, for the most part, for there is the exception to the rule, is exactly the opposite of what they should be. Here I must be careful, for if I say there is an exception to the rule, every manager will consider him or her self that shinning example of the exception. Let me be more clear. There are a few good and thoughtful managers. They are like hens teeth, but they are out there….somewhere. To be the exception means they are somewhat like a person trying to fly a helicopter and do the fandango at the same time. But they do exist.
They give out generous raises to there employees of .05% per year while knowing that the cost of the benefit program for example is going to cost the employee another 5% for the same year. Not to mention the fact that the cost of living raises by at least 5%, most times more, for that same year.
Then to make matters even more deplorable, these great folks of intellect, give themselves at least a 10% raise (because they are so much more important than a lowly employee) plus a huge bonus at Christmas time. All the while they pat one and other on the back congratulating themselves on a huge profit year. Thinking all the time that the lowly employee with so little education, you know, the people who actually get the work done, are too dumb to figure this all out.
In the mean time, perhaps they are right because nothing seems to change. But it will change at some point because it can’t continue the way that it is.
Say it was a car company that was pulling this type of go behind every year type of thinking. Who is it that buys the cars I wonder? If these folks continue to go behind every year compared to the cost of living, soon they won’t buy the cars any more. Then what? I know, the managers can all get jobs for other companies telling them how to fix their problems, the only thing is, they will have to be paid more than before. After all, their type of service is worth it.
Perhaps it is all a plot to win a war without firing a shot. The objective being to buy up all the land and all the companies, only to have them all go bankrupt. Hire all the greatest minds, pay them well to fail, to ensure success. It would appear well on its way.
Yes there are many many things that boggles the mind. What makes the average person think and accept the things they do, all the while having faith that things will get better with no change in the mindset, is the greatest mystery of all.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
RL Tex Smith

Simple

2010-07-15T02:52:00.000-03:00

Simple
In one of my earlier writings I spoke of a rock I used to set on. That rock was much more than just a rock. From it I was carried off to many special places. Not that much unlike a magic carpet it carried me. Finding me in a desert in some far away land in my tank or in a dog fight as I flew with my squadron of Aces.
Through one adventure after another there with me as always, was my constant companion and best friend in the world outside my Dad. It didn’t matter to me a smidgen that she was a girl. The bravest most understanding, kindest friend one could ever hope to have, outside my Dad. Her long strawberry blonde hair lined with dark streaks was as soft as satin.
In those days the Trans Canada Highway ended at the east end of the Hugh John Flemming Bridge in Hartland. My Grandfather’s farm was on the line between the communities of Upper Brighton and Peel. Just up the Saint John River from the bridge at Hartland. My rock was located in one of his pastures, near the old chicken barn that served as headquarters for my battalion or the town hall of some hamlet we were liberating. On some occasions it served as a saloon. Then there were the times it was nothing more than a large chicken coop.
Because the highway ended at Hartland, a lot of traffic made its way right past the farm. From my rock I could watch all sorts of vehicles. Trucks, cars, buses, of all shapes and sizes, even the odd motorcycle from time to time passed by me, my companion, and the rock. Of all the things I loved to watch, my favourite by far, was the long army convoys. They would take hours to pass.
This of course served as a perfect back drop when my battalion and I were taking a piece of ground against overwhelming odds, in one horrific and bloody battle after another.
Then when the pulp drive in the river was on, the boats served as another fine back drop. To top it all off, the Canadian Pacific Railway lay like two ribbons in plain view. Now I ask you, what more could a lad ask for? It was the perfect place on earth to be anything on earth I wanted it to be.
My companion’s name was Sheppy; the finest dog in the world. Where you found me you found old Shep.
It has been said by a host of folks a whole lot smarter than me that animals are just that, animals. They can’t reason, they don’t have thoughts or feelings. Well I am not convinced. One of the dogs I have now, Harley, has more expressions than some people I know. I think if we take the time to really look, I mean really look at the simple things; we begin to see things in a different light. We learn that any dog or other animal is much more than just a dog or whatever.
All those years ago from my bed in my house I could hear the phone ring. Bonanza had just ended and I was laying there in bed. I saw my Dad look at me, I never moved though, so he thought I was asleep. As I listened to him talk on the phone, I knew that something was terribly wrong. Something had happened; something bad. When I heard him say "well…she was a good old girl….that’s too bad" I knew….I knew that something had happened to old Shep. I sat up in the bed almost in shock, hoping I was wrong. By then Dad had passed the phone to Mum and he was making his way to me. In his gentle way he then confirmed my greatest fear as true. Old Shep was older than I had realized and she was getting hard of hearing and her eye sight wasn’t what it used to be. Whether either had been a contributing factor in her demise, I guess I will never know. She had been crossing the road when she was struck by a vehicle.
I think that was the first real time that I knew life was fragile. The first time I began to think how unfair life can really be by times; perhaps my first taste of loss of innocence.
From that time forward, the rock was never quite the same. Oh there were still many adventures. Yet somehow they were never as exciting or breath taking as when I would have old Shep at my side.
As I think back on it, sure I missed her, and I still do, but I also think there was something else going on at the same time without my knowing. Before this terrible event, life ending was on the television or the radio death announcements. Hearing about someone I didn’t know passing really didn’t have the same effect until I felt the sting of death first hand. It doesn’t matter that it was a dog. To me that dog was everything. Even to this day it stings when I think about her.
Since that time there have been many passing’s that have stung, and should I be fortunate enough to live a while longer, there will be more. It makes one wonder how much hurt can we handle? This makes me realize just how resilient our make up is. When I think of the hurts that some folks have endured it almost leaves me breathless.
So many things I can’t fathom. How perfectly our bodies are made to accommodate our lives. How we can adapt and overcome. The perfect system in which we and all creatures live. I can’t comprehend how molecule x met molecule y and went boom and started it all. I can’t grasp how we are supposed to have evolved so perfectly. Further, where did x and y come from?
Short wave radiant heat from the sun heats the earth and long wave radiant heat from the earth warms us. Just another example of how perfect our life balance is. It is beyond me how this just went boom and came to be.
So many mysteries that we may never know the answer too. In some strange way I think this keeps us trying to answer questions that as yet have no answers. Again….perfect. The complete wonder of our minds and how we only use a portion of them. Perhaps folks like Einstein learned a way to use more of the minds assets than normal.
It’s like looking at the simple things and really seeing them. How much life exists in each of our back yards? We see these every day, but its what we don’t see unless we really look that makes it truly fascinating.
Isn’t it the same with each of us? We may see each other every day. But do we really see each other? Do we really take the time to see the true great work of art each of us really are?
Ahhhh but alas we are all much too busy; always in a hurry, with not enough hours in any given day. We only have time to see what we see and take for granted what is really there. To me it’s a great deal of what is wrong with this world. Life is short, very short. We all need to slow down and appreciate the very simple things. The life in our back yard, the unique neighbour, or yes, the love of a dog.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
RL Tex Smith

Ramblings

2010-07-13T14:51:00.000-03:00

Ramblings
It’s late at night and all is quiet. A roar of silence begins and it is almost deafening. So much so you shift in your chair to make a sound so as to stop the insidious growl of nothingness. Your mind begins to wonder off in several directions. One thing leads to another and before you know it, time has slipped by without your realizing.
What did you think about? What caused you to think what you did? What will you do about these thoughts if anything? Were your thoughts healthy dreams or harmful stressors? Perhaps you were trying to improve on a system or plan you have been working on. Our imagination is a wonderful thing; most times, this leads to ideas which lead to discoveries and inventions that enrich our lives. There are some discoveries and ideas we could do without because of the hatefulness and harm they cause.
Shakespeare said "Nothing is either good or bad; it is our mind that makes it so."
Thoughts can become harmful in many ways; for instance, if they lead us to harm others. And thus we come to the difference between good and bad, at least for the most part anyway. For it is here we derive why some things are considered bad, if they cause harm to others or to one’s self, they are generally considered as such.
Our thoughts are our own as far as others are concerned. We are held accountable for our bad thoughts only if we choose to enact them. The ones left inside the recesses of our mind are between you and your Maker. If what I think is not the same as what another thinks, are my thoughts wrong? Not from where I stand. So what is it that defines right from wrong? I for one am still learning. For the time being at least, my thoughts are mine, be they right or wrong, they will only be judged right or wrong if I choose to enact my thoughts and make them real. If they cause no harm to anyone and no harm to myself, how can they be wrong?
I do not like sardines; does that make it wrong for others to eat them? Certainly not; I just do not like them. We are all human and to be human means to be unique. I feel that because I view something as wrong, it does not necessarily mean it is wrong for another. I find that when I view something as wrong I tend to judge. If it causes me no harm, if it causes another no harm, if there seems to be no danger of it causing any harm, then who am I to judge it as wrong? And if I do see harm to me, or what I perceive to be harm to another is it wrong then? What I view as causing harm to another may well be in reality non harmful to them. It is just my perception. But perhaps the person does not see the harm and you do. If you do not say anything then that can be wrong because you could have prevented the harm. (See, as said before, I am still learning.) If you do say anything you could be labelled judgemental or a meddler. It is all part of life. We
all lay ourselves out there for ridicule or reward. Hopefully common sense dictates. Sadly, many times it does not.
Yet there are other harmful things that can occur due to our thoughts, ones that we do not have to enact. These thoughts can sometimes lead to depression, anxiety, paranoia, just to name a few.
So how does this happen? Perhaps you have a dream, and as time goes by, it does not materialize. You may then begin to blame others for it not happening. You label these people dream thieves. Yet, they are your dreams not theirs, why are you allowing them to steal your dream? Maybe you are the biggest thief yourself and you blame others as an excuse to hide your fear. We really do hold ourselves back; why? Fear of failure, I think, is one of the front running causes of inaction.
Henry Ford said something along the lines of, "If you think you can or you can’t you will usually be right." We listen to the Nay Sayers and we allow ourselves to believe what others think, instead of what we think. We want to be accepted by the whole, so we refrain from doing anything that others might deem unacceptable. When really the Nay Sayers are just jealous or lack the ambition to do anything themselves, and they don’t want you to do it either. Heaven forbid you might get some attention or become someone noted for something while they set back unnoticed. Maybe they are just plain lazy. So because we want so badly to be accepted we don’t do a thing so as to maintain acceptance. While in all likelihood, you really are being tolerated rather than accepted. For if a person is of such a narrow mind, for whatever the reason, as to Nay Say all the time, I doubt you really are accepted by them, you are kept below them where they want you, and you in the end allow them to control you. You feel bad and they feel good, knowing that they are still better than you; in their minds at any rate.
So then, do we just stop thinking? I think that perhaps sometimes people do stop thinking. They suppress their imaginations so as not to continually be disappointed. Yet when this happens, the resentment is still there, the blaming of others, the blaming of ones self, its all resentment. We may think we have erased it from our minds but we really haven’t. It is likely still there inside our mind because we have not dealt with it. We have buried it and we fool ourselves into thinking it is gone. And if it is still there it is still causing harm, in ways we sometimes do not see ourselves. It helps us to become grumpy, and miserable for no apparent reason. It can cause us to take things out on our loved ones without intending to hurt them. All sorts of not so good things can develop if we do not deal with these things buried in our minds, things we say we have gotten rid of, but really haven’t.
So; if I know this information, if I can understand what causes sadness, depression, anxiety, grumpiness, along with a long list of other negative feelings, I should be able to deal with the causes and thus feel different. Alas, for me at least, it is not that easy. Eliminate one cause and there seems to be three that take its place, or one that I thought I had dealt with resurfaces. And these seem to be the hardest, for when they resurface, they tend to have gained strength rather that lessened their negative effect.
I have been told; "Snap out of it….or just stop". If I knew how I would. To me it is rather like flying a plane or helicopter. I can’t just say I will fly now without any instruction. It takes time, guidance, and practice.
Thus, it would seem that it will take time, guidance, and practice to learn how to deal with my feelings. I wish I could snap my fingers and make myself feel good immediately, but I can’t.
In the mean time, the worst of these feelings for me is sadness. Somehow, some way, I have to learn not to be sad and empty. Simply writing about it seems to help me.
If there is one thing that I know for sure, I need the help of others in order to do this. I need them to understand that I do not mean to be grumpy. I need them to try and be patient with me. I need them to be supportive.
Further, I need continued guidance and instruction. Admitting this to myself I think is a huge step in the right direction.
I ask myself, am I so different than other people? Why do I feel the way I do? So many others do not appear to have any of my symptoms. Then I say to myself, perhaps they are just better at hiding their feelings than I am.
Part of my great sadness comes from the learning that I can not please every one. I have this driving force inside me that aims to please all. I think it comes from wanting to be accepted. For if I can keep another pleased, perhaps they will accept me. Again I think I have mistaken acceptance for tolerance. Pedrhaps if all another does is tolerate me, perhaps I should not try so hard to constantly please them. Maybe they do not deserve my worthless endeavours to please them if they are merely tolerating me. For me I think, this will be a life long journey of practice, a journey I am only just beginning.
But I will win over this damned depression. I will eliminate this cursed sadness. Somehow…..some way.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
RL Tex Smith

The Power of Information and Communication

2010-03-30T12:04:00.000-03:00

Tuesday, March 30, 2010
My Thoughts
On
The Power of Information and Communication

Throughout history, and even in our own experiences, we have heard of, or had happen to us, something that was just wrong; something where the system failed people or you personally. Is this part of history only? Does it still happen today? Unfortunately, the answer is yes. It will always be a part of society as long as there are humans involved.
When we learn of, or have a first hand experience, with some form of injustice, we naturally want something done about it. In most cases, we want for this type of thing to stop and not happen in the future to others. So we make noise, we get upset, we write letters, until someone takes up the cause to have this injustice corrected. At this point, we must be careful. I think it is imperative to ask some very important questions. One that jumps, no leaps, to mind is; what are the motives of this person? Why have they decided to take up this cause? What are their reasons, is it truly for the greater good, or is there some other reason? Like perhaps….votes. In other words, it is great when we get the support we need from politicians or other influential figures of society. It is nice to know that there are some people that really do care. But do they?
I know this sounds negative, even perhaps suspicious. However, many times I can recall, seeing people wearing the name of the great Liberator, Champion of the people; only to find out later that they did not care one iota about the injustice. They had some other reason, and it was to benefit them.
Oh there are some who truly act for the greater good. Yet, in today’s society, these types of people are becoming far and few between. In fact, what once may have been the norm has sadly become the rarity.
I think it is time for the people of this great country we live in; to get a hold on things and reel them in before it is too late. There are some that would say it is already too late. I for one think it is never too late to do what is right.
People are frustrated. They feel left out of decisions; critical decisions that may have an effect on their well being, and their children’s well being. I hear things like; "it doesn’t matter what I think." "No one cares about anything but themselves." "Why bother, they are going to do what they want, they already have their minds made up."
Ask yourself; who put these people where they are? We did, and we have the right to expel them if they don’t listen to those that they are supposed to be representing. I know this is not perfect, our system, but it is by far the best system out there.
A politician listens, really, to only one thing. They really only see one thing, at least most of the politicians of today anyway. And I suspect, no I know, if we look at history, people in this regard were not much different. They view everything as votes. When they see enough votes, then they will champion the cause.
For example, when a politician in a riding sees that they have enough votes to be elected, they will stand up and say what people want to hear. They will ultimately support the majority and what they believe. Here though, is where we should wonder, does the politician believe the cause of the people, or does he or she believe in his or her cause to get elected?
So then, we start to hear folks saying; "I don’t know who to believe, they all are a bunch of crooks. One is just as bad as the other."
To this I say, it does matter, we can make a difference. The way I see this is simple, yet hard work. We need to inform our representatives of what we think. We need to be involved. We need to talk to them in any way we can; letters, phone calls, emails, one on one face to face, and in some cases, where the politician is not listening, in orderly peaceful groups.
We ask ourselves every day; where did we go wrong? Why, in one of the greatest countries in the world, are things the way they are? I believe it is because the real power people want it the way it is. They don’t want it to change, because they are driven by greed. They are making a fortune from our oppression. Further, we have become so used to it, that we begin to believe that things are as they should be.
There are those that would have you believe that things are as they should be. There are some people who think that some people are just meant to be poor and ignorant, while others are meant to be rich and powerful. They think that it is the natural order of things. They may not always say it. Yet, they think it, and they believe it.
I know this is perhaps a hard thing to believe, yet it has happened in our history. The difference in Tommy Douglas’s early days, was the politician’s and bureaucrats actual said it out loud. As far as I am concerned, this is just sad. What is even worse, is the fact that if they said it back then, they say it today; the only difference is how and when they say it.
We are very lucky to live in a free society, and we take it for granted every day. The Power Mongers are banking that we continue to do so. That we continue to feel frustrated and we continue to act like the robots they want us to be.
How is it that politicians in the thirty’s and forty’s got away with making statements like they did about people every bit as good as they were, if not a notch better because they had scruples. Information, that is why; the people of that era did not have what we have; information, and communication.
We live in a time where we have at our finger tips power. Yes power, because information and communication is power. We know when something happens almost immediately. There is no waiting, information is now. The question is, why are we not using it to our advantage?
The reason is quite simple really; we have been led to believe that we do not matter, yet I for one believe we do matter. I further believe we can use the power of information to our advantage and break free from this false impression that some keep us believing; we are powerless.
As long as we do not change our thinking, as long as we are falsely led to believe that we have no power and that we do not matter, they win, and we lose.
We need to become alert and involved, in a very peaceful way. We need to use the power we have for the greater good. There are ways to do this and I will elaborate on this further on in this writing.
There will be those that call me a dreamer. They will put me down any way they know how. There are those that will totally and forcefully disagree with me. To this I say; why are you so dead set against what I am saying? Why are you trying so desperately to make me look like a fool? I wonder, are you one of the people that think you are better than others? Are you one of the people that do not want things to change?
Let’s take a moment and look at our youth. I am not sure what you all are seeing but I can tell you this is what I see. I see a young society of people that are being led to not care or respect anything or any one. There are exceptions to this rule, and while I think that these young people are to be considered admirable for their beliefs, I think of how they are viewed by the whole, by their peers, others of their generation.
I can tell you that the young folks of today that do have principles and integrity along with respect, are viewed in a very harsh way by the whole. Theirs is a tough existence.
Why is it that our kids are so much different? One reason is the information and communication and lest we forget technology. Yet I think there is more to it. Yes every generation is different than the one before. But I wonder if our parents had the technology we have today, would they have been all that much different?
The other thing is this. No one with any sense condones the way children were treated years ago by the school system. They were beaten, and belittled in ways that were wrong on so many levels it is in some cases unthinkable. This had to change, and thank God it did. Yet the changes went too far and now we have a society of young people that have zero respect for authority of any kind.
You see folks it is easy to legislate things. When something is wrong we will legislate things to death. We make new laws and rules, many we do nothing to enforce. The law makers appease the greater good by making something a law or a rule, putting it on the books, making themselves look good, to get re-elected, or promoted, and then do absolutely nothing else with it.
Think of it this way, if we say no to our kids, then we give in and say yes, what will no mean to them?
I do not agree that we have to go back and start trying to knock things into our kids head. But we do have to make them accountable for their actions. We can no longer expect our teachers, for one, to accept abuse repeatedly from hoodlums. These criminals, sadly often perceived heroes by their peers, should be punished in the proper ways when they have done wrong. We need to support and ensure that this happens. Otherwise, we will continue this spiralling fall into the abyss. Plain and simple, the wrong doers in society, not only in our schools, but every where, need to be shown they will be held accountable for the wrong they do. This is the tough way of doing things. It means officials will have to deal with the problems, instead of just legislate them, or more clearly put, ignore them.
So what is the simple solution? Easy, begin teaching our kids in the home, right from wrong, and mean it. Stick to our guns. Tough love if you want. Make our kids accountable for their actions. Say what we mean and mean what we say.
This will require some effort, but it will pay dividends in the long run. When the kids find out that we will no longer accept unacceptable behaviour, it will become easier.
Now then, what you live with you learn. In some cases kids are only emulating what they see at home. If mum and dad are hoodlums, then junior is likely to be one too. This is where the schools come in. These kids need to be shown their worth and that they do matter. These kids have to be shown that they will be held accountable for their actions. And mum and dad hoodlum will need to be held accountable for junior hoodlum as well. They must be made to take responsibility for their children too. We need to support this and we need to support our teachers, police, and anyone trying to make things right for the greater good.
Well how do we do this? It isn’t that simple, or is it?
My thoughts on the youth (only a few thoughts) that I just spoke of, is just an example. There are countless other issues.
Take an issue that you are concerned with, and make it known. How you say?
Easy; email, face to face conversation, written letters, any way you want. Then just convince two people to do as you do, and have them commit to do like wise.
Here is an example. And it is only an example.
You do not agree with the 5 trout limit in New Brunswick.
You think that it should be 20. But you also think that people who get caught over limit should be fined $100.00 for being over the limit between 21 and 25. After which, for every trout they are over 25, fine them and extra $25.00 each. This is not long adding up. Further, you can not have any more than 2 in your possession that are over 12 inches long. This then will take care of the large sea trout. Beyond this, you want the powers that be to support the conservation officers with the money and tools they need to do the job. You want more patrols, more often, in all areas where trout fishing occurs. You want this all legislated.
Fine you say, but how do we achieve this?
Just write an email to your elected official (MLA) explaining this. But before you send it, ensure that you have two other people that will send the same email to the same person. And have them promise that they will do this. As well, have them promise to each have two more people do the same. We all know at least two people who we trust to do this sort of thing.
If you do the math, it will not be long and the official’s mail box will be full.
But you have to mean what you say and say what you mean. You have to ensure that the official knows that you will hold him accountable for his action or in-action.
This is information and communication power. It is at our finger tips. All we need to do is use it.
Not having a computer is not an excuse. Phones and written letters are at everyone’s disposal.
If there is a law or rule that you think is wrong, do not break that rule or law. Work to have it changed.
Or we can just go on letting the rich and powerful have us believe we do not matter. The choice is ours. RL Tex Smith

Complacency

2010-03-17T08:26:00.000-03:00

Fire Thought For The Day

Complacency

Everyone, who knows me, knows I love to cook. Well sir, leave it to me to come up with a comparison between wildland fire and cooking.
Today, I was cooking my family and me an old fashioned stew. This is one of my specialties. I thought to myself this is going to be some kind of good.
It was simmering away while I was typing away as usual, yet another fire thought for the day, then I decided I had better go check the stew to make sure that it was cooking just right. My mind was on my fire thought for the day. I lifted the cover off the stew pot, I couldn’t wait to smell the fragrance, and then it happened. Lightning fast, without warning, what a BONE HEAD I can be some times!
I have done this a 1000 time before without incident. I love the smell of stew. I automatically bent over to smell the stew, with my mind on something other than it should have been. As I took a large smell of the stew a cloud of very hot steam hit me in the face. Now then, I didn’t burn my nostrils bad; just enough to make me jerk away with pain very rapidly. Like I said, BONE HEAD!
I immediately thought, after the air turned less blue, another fire thought for the day.
Something I have done many times, without incident, all of a sudden reminded me, the hard way, to keep my mind on my work.
The next time I checked the stew I was a lot more careful. Yet, I had to get hurt in order to remind myself of the fact that things can go wrong very quickly.
When we are on the fires, let’s keep our mind on our work. Let’s not have to learn this the hard way. There is always time for the other thoughts after the fire.
I know we have all gone to fires many times in the past without incident. I know we have all got complacent from time to time. On a fire there is no room for complacency. Let’s stay focused out there folks. Let’s not have to get hurt in order to take the time to do things right.

Remember those flashy light fuels! The season is at hand!

LACES!!!!!!

“Fire is not prejudice…it will try to burn anything.”
Until next time, above all else Stay Safe! Tex

Belief and Prayer

2010-02-18T19:30:00.000-04:00

February 18, 2010

Belief and Prayer

Okay, suppose you are feeling like you should get out more. You are feeling like you should join a club to be with people more, because you have just been spending way too much time alone. After all, we humans are a social lot, for the most part, we are not meant to be alone all the time.
So there is new club you heard of in your community that meets every Thursday night. They go from one member’s house to the next, alternating each Thursday until each member has had a turn, then they start over. The club is a Hockey Fan Club. They watch different games every Thursday night and just more or less enjoy each others company while the games on. At least that is the word you get from your neighbour, he talks about the fun they have and has suggested you to join.
After giving it some thought, you think, I like hockey, I know most of the guys, so why not give it a try. What have you got to lose?
So you call your neighbour and tell him, and he thinks that’s just great, and it so happens that it his turn to host, so all you would have to do is walk down the street. So it is settled.
Already you are feeling good about the decision. You are looking forward to it with, almost child like anticipation. You can hardly wait.
Soon Thursday arrives and it’s off you go to your neighbours house. As you approach the house, you see a very large Montreal Canadian flag in the yard. You chuckle to yourself as you continue on, you knew that your neighbour was a Habs fan, and you are a die hard Toronto fan. So you are thinking this will be good, nothing wrong with a little gabbing back and forth with friends.
Your neighbour meets you at the door and he is glad to see you, and he welcomes you into his home. Now you are a bit taken back. Your friend has a Habs hat on, shirt, belt buckle, and even slippers! There is Montreal memorabilia all over the place. He pours you a glass of pop, and it comes to you in a glass, you guessed it, with a Habs emblem on it.
You are being polite and cordial, but you can’t help thinking, its fine to be a fan, but this seems a taste much. However, this is his house, and he was kind enough to ask you in the first place, so you decide that to each his own is the order of the day, so its off down the stairs to the basement to join the guys for the game.
When you enter the room….you are even more surprised. There are a lot of faces that you do not know. They are all laughing and being guys, as they all loudly welcome you after your neighbour introduces you. You begin to feel a bit out of place. Because every single one of these guys have Montreal shirts and hats on.
Suddenly this large fellow comes barrelling at you wearing a huge grin with a huge hand sticking out to greet you. He looks as though he might run you over. He doesn’t and you are happy, he grabs your hand and shakes your entire arm much harder than your shoulder likes. He bangs you on the back as if you were choking on a grape. While doing so he informs you of your next shock.
“Hey there how ya doin?...Glad to meet ya…My name is Elmo…But you can call me Bee…I’m the head kadoodler of the Habs Howlers…that’s what we call our little group…Ol Fred here has said you might be joinin our little group…I think that’s just great…The more the merrier…Just one rule though…Yer gonna half ta git you a Habs hat an shirt…Can’t be a member if ya ain’t showin yer colors…You are a Habs fan ain’t ya?”

Well….you had no idea….the first word that you can think of is flabbergasted.

Not wanting to disappoint your neighbour Fred, you stay, and you kind of just stay quiet and do a lot of nodding and smiling….You get through the night.

On the way home it occurs to you…you actually enjoyed the evening. Heck….you even say to yourself you had fun. This, feeling stays with you, you just can’t seem to shake it. A few days go by and you have yourself convinced that you wouldn’t mind doing that more often.
So there you have it. You continue going. You go out and get the things you need, shirt and hat, and you become a certified member of the Habs Howlers.
Now the thing you don’t tell the rest of the lads is that you still are, really deep down, a Leafs fan. And even though, you let on to the lads that you are entirely for the Habs, they never really are ever able to change your feelings.

If we admit it, and no one will know but you, there are a lot of things in life that are very similar to the forgoing scenario. We will go to great lengths in order to gain acceptance from others. We want to have that feeling of belonging. We don’t want to be on the outside looking in. We want to be part of things.
I have said many times before that a person’s walk with the Lord is their own. To me that is how it should be. We may smile and nod when we hear things we don’t completely agree with. Yet in order to be accepted by other people, we will compromise even what we believe; to avoid a disagreement, or worse, be banned from whatever group you may belong too.
So what do you believe…really? Thinking what you believe, saying what you believe, and acting in accordance with what you believe, can be, three different things. There are times when you don’t know what to believe. The person who tells you they never have a doubt about their beliefs, is a person that I am very careful around. Because I think we all doubt at times.
So do I think I believe in God? Yes I do. Do I say I believe in God? Yes I do. Do I act like I believe in God? Not always. Why? Because I am far from perfect.
In John Ortberg’s book “Faith and Doubt”, he talks about this very thing. He has a way of putting a certain question, which really makes you think. At least he did with me. It was one of those, wow, moments in life that has the potential to really change a person.
Ortberg puts it something like this. When you are doing something, ask yourself; would you do this if your mother was with you? Be honest.
Do you believe in Jesus? You answer yes. If Jesus were with you right now, would you do what it is you are doing? Would you change the way you behave? You say it is very likely I would change. And no I likely would not do this if Jesus were with me. But then you said you believe in Jesus, and part of that means you know that He’s always with you, and that He knows and sees all. He even knows what you will do before you do it. You say yes I believe so. To this I say, well why are you doing what you are then? If Jesus were here with you, you said you would not do what you are doing. But you also say that Jesus is always with you. So why then are you doing what you are?
See we are very complex organisms. Sometimes we have trouble even knowing what we believe for sure. I think one sure way is to look at how you treat others. Your actions are hard to hide. I think your actions will tell you what you believe.
Ortberg heard some one say, and he writes this in his book, “Faith and Doubt”, “There is good in this world…and it is worth fighting for.” This was from a movie, as he explains in his book. This line seemed to hit Ortberg like a ton of bricks. It really touched him. Later he realised why. He said it was because, “I believed this line without trying.”
I think that this likely tells us a lot about ourselves if we begin to think about it. How do I treat folks? Do I have to work at it in order to believe and keep believing whatever it might be that I say I believe? This is all a part of learning, for me anyway, a part of how I continue to grow. Self evaluation, I can not say it enough. Without becoming paranoid, self evaluation is a vital part of my growth. I suspect it could be for you too.

So here is a question. What do you believe about prayer?
There are likely more different ideas and right and wrong ways to pray than a person cares to count.
I am not going to tell you what you should or should not believe. All I can do is tell you what I think; what you believe or do not believe…well to put it bluntly….that’s your business.
My objective here is to hopefully give you cause for thought, nothing more. Further, if you disagree…well… that is also your business. We each one of us are different. I think that is a blessing in it’s self. So what is good for you, I say great! As far as what I believe; it’s what I believe, I think it is good for me.

Prayer in public causes some very strenuous thought for me. I am sure there are folks that can do it with no problem. But I wonder, and it’s not because of being afraid to speak in front of a crowd, is this type of prayer healthy? Is it real? Again I am sure there are some folks that are very sincere about it and very real. I am sure there are some that truly concentrate on the Lord when they are doing it.
What I question is, are we more concerned with making a good impression on the folks gathered with you? Are we concentrating on our words and how we put emphasis in the right places more than talking with the Lord? To those that are listening, are they more concerned with what the person is saying than with supporting the prayer? Are there those people listening to you pray just to get perhaps the latest news, or perhaps to catch you on something and be able to tell later how wrong you were? Do I always understand what the person praying means, or what their intent is?
There have been times when I have heard some pray; and as they continued they kept getting louder as if God was walking away from them and they were trying to make Him hear.
One person will tell you that you must get on your knees and humble yourself before God. Another something else. And on and on it goes, with as many different ideas as there are people.
To me, there is no need to be fancy, because the Lord knows what you are going to say before you say it. Simple straight forward talk, and I think that is important,
I just do a lot of talking to Him, most of the time silently in my thoughts. I also like to be alone where it is quiet, out for a walk in the forest surrounded by beauty, or in my furnace room. While driving from one place to another. Out on the river in a canoe, again surrounded by beauty. Any place where I can feel close to the Lord and be able to concentrate completely on Him.
Along with this, I try to be myself and be honest and real.
With all this said, there is nothing like the Bible and the instruction of Jesus to guide us. So let’s look at some of what Jesus said about prayer.

Matthew 6: 5 -15

5 “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites. They love to stand in the synagogues and on the street corners and pray loudly. They want people to see them. The truth is, that’s all the reward they will get. 6 But when you pray, you should go into your room and close the door. Then pray to your Father. He is there in that private place. He can see what is done in private, and he will reward you. 7 “And when you pray, don’t be like the people who don’t know God. They say the same things again and again. They think that if they say it enough, their god will hear them. 8 Don’t be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 So this is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, we pray that your name will always be kept holy. 10 We pray that your kingdom will come— that what you want will be done here on earth, the same as in heaven. 11 Give us the food we need for today. 12 Forgive our sins, just as we have forgiven those who did wrong to us.13 Don’t let us be tempted, but save us from the Evil One. 14 Yes, if you forgive others for the wrongs they do to you, then your Father in heaven will also forgive your wrongs. 15 But if you don’t forgive others, then your Father in heaven will not forgive the wrongs you do.

Mark 12: 38-40

38 Jesus continued teaching. He said, “Be careful of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around wearing clothes that look important. And they love for people to show respect to them in the marketplaces. 39 They love to have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 40 But they cheat widows and take their homes. Then they try to make themselves look good by saying long prayers. God will punish them very much.”

LUKE 11: 1-4

1 One time Jesus was out praying, and when he finished, one of his followers said to him, “John taught his followers how to pray. Lord, teach us how to pray too.” 2 Jesus said to the followers, “This is how you should pray: ‘ Father, we pray that your name will always be kept holy. We pray that your kingdom will come. 3 Give us the food we need for each day. 4 Forgive our sins, just as we forgive everyone who has done wrong to us. And don’t let us be tempted.’”

Now let’s look at a few things that tell us how Jesus prayed.

Matthew 14: 23

23 After Jesus said goodbye to the people, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. It was late, and he was there alone.

Matthew 26: 36-46

36 Then Jesus went with his followers to a place called Gethsemane. He said to them, “Sit here while I go there and pray.” 37 He told Peter and the two sons of Zebedee to come with him. Then he began to be very sad and troubled. 38 Jesus said to Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, “My heart is so heavy with grief, I feel as if I am dying. Wait here and stay awake with me.” 39 Then Jesus went on a little farther away from them. He fell to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, don’t make me drink from this cup. But do what you want, not what I want.” 40 Then he went back to his followers and found them sleeping. He said to Peter, “Could you men not stay awake with me for one hour? 41 Stay awake and pray for strength against temptation. Your spirit wants to do what is right, but your body is weak.” 42 Then Jesus went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if I must do this and it is not possible for me to escape it, then I pray that what you want will be done.” 26:39 cup A symbol of suffering. Jesus used the idea of drinking from a cup to mean accepting the suffering he would face in the terrible events that were soon to come. 26:42 do this Literally, “drink this,” referring to the “cup,” the symbol of suffering in verse 39. 43 Then he went back to the followers. Again he found them sleeping. They could not stay awake. 44 So he left them and went away one more time and prayed. This third time he prayed, he said the same thing. 45 Then Jesus went back to the followers and said, “Are you still sleeping and resting? The time has come for the Son of Man to be handed over to the control of sinful men. 46 Stand up! We must go. Here comes the one who will hand me over.”

Mark 1: 35-37

35 The next morning Jesus woke up very early. He left the house while it was still dark and went to a place where he could be alone and pray. 36 Later, Simon and his friends went to look for Jesus. 37 They found him and said, “Everyone is looking for you!”

Mark 6: 45-46

45 Then Jesus told the followers to get into the boat. He told them to go to the other side of the lake to Bethsaida. He said he would come later. He stayed there to tell everyone they could go home. 46 After he said goodbye to them, he went up into the hills to pray.

Mark 14: 32-42

32 Jesus and his followers went to a place named Gethsemane. He said to them, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 But he told Peter, James, and John to come with him. He began to be very distressed and troubled, 34 and he said to them, “My heart is so heavy with grief, I feel as if I am dying. Wait here and stay awake.” 35 Jesus went on a little farther away from them, fell to the ground, and prayed. He asked that, if possible, he would not have this time of suffering. 36 He said, “Abba, Father! You can do all things. Don’t make me drink from this cup. But do what you want, not what I want.” 37 Then he went back to his followers and found them sleeping. He said to Peter, “Simon, why are you sleeping? Could you not stay awake with me for one hour? 38 Stay awake and pray for strength against temptation. Your spirit wants to do what is right, but your body is weak.” 39 Again Jesus went away and prayed the same thing. 40 Then he went back to the followers and again found them sleeping. They could not stay awake. They did not know what they should say to him. 41 After Jesus prayed a third time, he went back to his followers. He said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? That’s enough! The time has come for the Son of Man to be handed over to the control of sinful men. 42 Stand up! We must go. Here comes the man who is handing me over to them.”

Luke 5: 16

16 Jesus often went away to other places to be alone so that he could pray.

Luke 6: 12

12 A few days later, Jesus went out to a mountain to pray. He stayed there all night praying to God.

Luke 9: 18

18 One time Jesus was praying alone. His followers came together there, and he asked them, “Who do the people say I am?”
These are but a few examples of what the Bible says about Jesus and prayer. It is my belief that the answer to a lot of our questions are in the Bible.
Like I said, I believe everyone’s walk with the Lord is their own. Who am I to tell anyone what they should or should not do? All I can say is I trust the Word. Especially the words in red, for they are the words of Jesus.
There are some folks that will use the Word in the Bible through their interpretation, to make others seem wrong, or to make themselves look right. I do not believe this is a good thing to do. Unfortunately it happens.
For me, I needed to get a translation of the Bible that I could understand, mine is the Easy to Read Version, from the World Translation Center in Texas, and I have to really think over what I have read. When I get to a verse of sentence that I do not understand, I ask many others what they think it means. Then I make up my mind.

Until next time
May the Lord be with you always.
Tex

Come To Me Like A Child

2010-02-16T22:23:00.001-04:00

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Come To Me Like A Child

Children are the most amazing creatures. If we watch them, it is fascinating to see how they learn. It is wondrous how they think. For us to say there is nothing they can teach us, because after all they are just kids, it is just wrong.
So very innocent and naive, their needs so basic. At the same time so dependant upon us to provide for them.
Some of the things I have seen are, for example, their imaginations. When they build with blocks, when they draw. When they sing their made up little songs full of joy with no care as to whether they rhyme or not. There is no limit either, for each child’s imagination is as unique as they are. From super hero’s, to lions and bears. From flying planes to driving trucks and trains. As I said, they are truly a wonderment to watch.
Another thing I have come to learn is, they have no prejudices when they are small. It would appear they are color blind as well, because they don’t give the color of another person’s skin a second thought. All they want to do is be friends and play.
Do they have feelings? You bet; when someone gets hurt, they come to give comfort. When they have done something very spectacular like making a very excellent drawing of a house, and we don’t praise them, or we are too busy to take the time to really look at it, there little eyes tell us their feelings have been deeply hurt.
They are really only born with two fears; the fear of falling, and the fear of loud noises. The rest of the fears they learn from us, and through first hand experience.
Unfortunately, they learn some other things from us that are very unattractive, prejudice, hate, jealousy, these just to name a few. Yet, before they learn all of these things, they are very innocent and all they want is to Love and be Loved.
I think this is what Jesus meant when he said for us to accept him the way these little children did. They do not question, they just know love when they see and feel it. They do not judge. They do not live by a bunch of man made laws. They love to be held and they love to hold. Their love is real. Their love is pure. That is until adults teach them the things that destroy these simple values.
I think it would do us all well to learn this if nothing else from the little children. When we love, it should be real. It should be forgiving; it should be for the right reasons. It does not need to be fancy or elaborate. It does not have to be complicated. There should be no conditions put in place in order that we love. For real, and pure love, is unconditional.
Yes this is what I think Jesus meant when he said to come to him like that of a child.
God Bless

Tex

Passion

2010-02-15T21:55:00.000-04:00

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Passion

This will be deep! However, I will try my best to make it simple.
Wait! Don’t stop reading; give me a chance. I know in this time of fast pace, hurry up and wait… hurry to go where? We have no time for the babblings of some crazy old lunatic that is rambling on about some gibberish that will serve no purpose. There will be nothing… (In it for me). Because, if we are honest, that is how the world works today, Quid Pro Quo. It’s too bad too.
If you give me a chance, perhaps I will at least make you think, so why not get a coffee and sit down with this; what have you got to lose?

Imagine if you will, that you are in a classroom. There is a professor at the chalk board. He is writing notes and you think…I should copy these notes….they may be important. You ask yourself…Is anyone else writing these notes down? The strange thing is that everyone is likely thinking the same thing as you. So everyone is looking at each other, with puzzled looks. Because as of yet, the professor has said nothing. You are still doubting, and your mind is saying should I or should I not? The old saying… “Fools rush in” is arguing with thoughts of …. “If I do not copy this down….and it is important…then I will be in a mess.”
Finally, one brave soul decides to start writing. Good, now I can go ahead and not look like a geek. Soon the entire works of the class is doing the same. We really are more like sheep than we care to admit.
You write feverishly so as to get the information. Professors have a tendency to erase and keep writing, with the appearance that they could care less if you are finished copying or not. They are on their own time table, not yours.
Soon though, the professor sets down. He rubs his hands together to wipe away the chalk dust, then wipes an apple off, grabs the daily paper, gets comfortable, and begins to read. It is like he is the only one in the room, like he does not even acknowledge that the room is filled with you and those like you.
Again you see some puzzled faces. Yours being one of them.Then one brave over achiever asks, “Sir…could you give us some direction?” To no avail. The professor continues to read the paper and devour his apple, as if he heard nothing at all.
Then and only then do you go back and read what you have copied once again. Because when we get in a hurry, we tend to accomplish the primary task, with little or no regard for anything else. You decided to copy the notes, and to do it at a fast pace so as not to miss getting them. You copied the words with out really digesting what they said.
Here is what it said.

“At a time beyond two weeks from now but less than three; be prepared to speak in front of the class, on the importance of a food chain in the ecosystem. You can be as creative as you see fit. It is important to point out that your priorities are all important as to the effort you give this task. You can elect to abstain from this endeavour, or, you can choose to be prepared. The choice is entirely up to you as an individual. You will have up to a twenty minute time limit for this exercise. Wisdom dictates that our choices be made in accordance with logic.”

So, you read it. Then you reread it. You look around and begin to realize the different fears that are starting to manifest themselves on people’s faces, along with the ones hatching inside of you.
There is a small revolt beginning as different people begin asking questions.
“What will this be worth?” What does this have to do with a psychology class…if I wanted to be a biologist…I would have chosen to enrol in those studies”
“Please give us a date so we will know exactly when this will be due.”
“There was nothing in the course outline that stated we would have to speak in front of people.”
Several more comments are made none of which the professor acknowledges. Finally though, he puts down his paper. Tosses his apple core in the waste can, turns with no emotion or change of expression and says. “You have all the information you need….at least all that you are going to get….I suggest you act accordingly…class dismissed.” With this said, he very calmly picks up his things from his desk and walks out of the class. Louder statements are made by many. The unfairness of it all is emphasised. Yet, nothing seems to deter the professor’s exit.
Now then, we jump ahead to two and half weeks from now. You have decided to give this enough effort to at least pass. You have heard of some folks that have chosen to ignore this task, thinking that it will only account for a small portion of the final mark. You know of other classmates that have burned the midnight oil putting forth a great effort to gather, prepare, and organize the information.
You have one friend that has remained non committed as to how they will approach this.
The day arrives and with much apprehension and perhaps a bit of interest as to how this will play out, you go in to class.
The professor is seated at his desk as the class begins. One by one he calls the name of the members of the class.
When you are called you go forth with butterflies in your stomach and present what you have prepared. You do it with as much emotion and vigour as you first thought, enough to go through the motions and pass. Just what was required and nothing more. After all, you have a lot of other work to do too.
You get through it, and it is like one thousand pounds has been lifted from your back upon completion. You did look for some sign of how you did from the professor, yet you receive none. For just as he did with the others he said nothing. He just seemed to listen and make a few notes. He never once showed any emotion one way or the other.
You listen to the various presentations, assessing each as they speak. Some are short and sweet and to the point. Some are done in such a manor they may as well have read them aloud in the first place, for that is what they did anyway. Some use power point presentations to enhance their presentations. Yet even some of these are just words, no diagrams, no pictures, so it was just like a reading in the long run. And yes there were a few that abstained. Even at this, you noticed that the professor never gave a sign of emotion one way or the other.
There was one person though, that made you laugh; he made you feel, well…good. It was also informative, not too long, not too short. The student spoke to the entire class and seemed very comfortable. He only used his notes as a reference, instead of just reading a bunch of information. You also found that it was interesting, because…you actually learned some things from his presentation. Perhaps even to the point of reading more about the subject on your own time.
Once done the professor stands in front of the class.
He then spoke.
“Today we have witnessed some very creative presentations. Further, we have seen many different styles. Some chose not to participate. Well…in life there are choices….We all are presented everyday with challenges where we have to make decisions, sometimes based on very little information. The point to this exercise was to see how we all react differently to basically the same thing. Really there were none of you right or wrong. Yet it was very interesting to see how you all reacted to this. I certainly have learned a great deal from this little experiment, it is my hope that you did too. Why? Because…my friends…two weeks from today…I will expect a formal paper from each of you relating to what this exercise has taught you. I do not want to know what you learned about a food chain either. I want you to relate what this entire process has taught you about life. This will be very important to you as it will account for 60% on your final exam.”
This now seemed somehow in an odd way to make sense. At least now we had enough information to make a semi sound decision as to what to do.
Had I learned anything from this? My answer is yes. And I think if you think about it you will too.

It strikes me that in life it is a lot like this example. There are some of us that choose to do nothing, commit to nothing, because most of the time they either don’t care or there is nothing in it for them. There are those that give just enough to get by. Then there are the few that give their all with great enthusiasm.
It is easy to be enthusiastic about something you believe in. But how do you know if you really believe in something? I think you believe in something when you are excited about it. When the hair on your neck stands and you get the tingles. When you have an insatiable desire to learn all you can about it. When you speak about it with passion.
We are, I think, becoming a society with less and less passion about anything.
Sadly, when we come across a person that is full of passion, some of us, not all, put the person down, label him an idiot or childish. Some of us will do anything to make the person with passion seem less than they are.
There are likely many reasons for this. I think one huge reason is envy, or jealousy. It seems some folks get in a rut and they feel somehow threatened by a person who is not. Sometimes it seems they are in the rut and they like it there, and they want everyone to be in the same rut with them. I for one can not bring myself to feel this. In fact I have a very hard time understanding it. I love to listen to people and I really like a person that has passion. I am however, not into the mean spirited type of passion. To me this type of person is not all that different than Hitler. You all know these types of people. My way only. You had better listen to me. I am right and the rest of the world is wrong. These types of people. They may well be passionate, but to me it is the wrong type of passion.
So then, this begs the question, what am I most passionate about? Because if I think if I know these things, I will come to know what I believe in.
I self evaluate all the time. I ask myself questions. Some would call this a struggle for identity, or paranoia. I call it part of learning.
If you are like me, then you all can remember a teacher that you had that seemed to be full of an endless supply of information to impart on us with a never ending, never changing, emotionless, monotone, uncreative, demeanour.
You likely remember another teacher that touched you with their enthusiasm and creativity, their passion.
The difference is, because you remember them both, I will venture to guess that you remember well the lessons of the passionate teacher. While the only thing you really remember from the other is how positively boring they were. How hard you had to struggle to stay awake, and very little about the lesson.
To me this person with no passion is a huge problem, because it gives me several feelings. One, the person really could care less if I got anything from their teaching. Two, the person generally comes across as….I know you don’t let’s just leave it at that…attitude. Or they are just going through the motions. Just putting forth enough effort to get by. No passion whatsoever.
It is easy to be passionate about the things we enjoy the most. Take baseball for example, if this is something you like; you generally will be full of information about the teams and players. You will know inside and out the rules of the game. You will strive to learn all you can about the game. You just plain enjoy it. It brings you joy. It maybe golf or something else, but no matter what it is, if you truly love it, if you truly are devoted to it, if you believe in it without trying. Then it will be easy to be passionate about it.
So then, if you do not go around showing to everyone the passion you have for something, am I saying you don’t believe in it? No I am not. I think for a host of reasons people tend a lot of the time to hide their passions. They don’t want to make a big deal about it. Part of the reason is they do not want others to put them down. They want to be accepted. They do not like the feeling of being made fun of. They want and deserve respect. I think it is absurd that this exists; to me it is a very high form of petty meanness. It is something I will never be able to accept or understand, why some people get so big on themselves they feel the need to look down on another person in a host of different ugly ways. And that is what it is to me, plain and simple, ugly.
I also find it interesting that the people who you know the best, the people you grew up with, are by far the worst offenders. Again, not all, but some, make it their mission in life to prove to the world they are better than you by telling you exactly what you should and shouldn’t do and how you are wrong if you don’t agree with them.
It seems to me that even Jesus could not preach in his home town because of this very thing. I mean…who does he think he is…he is just a carpenter…where does he get off…I knew him when…Things like that.
So what do I believe, what do you believe. God?.... Well? Do I believe in God? Do you? Is it okay to have doubts? Because I do have doubts. The person who tells you that they have no doubts…well….lets just say…I am very careful around these types of people.
I come from the world of wildland fire suppression; I have been involved in it for a very long time. Because of this, I get to help out with some courses here and there as an instructor. I tell folks at the start of every course somewhat the same thing. I tell them, the one thing I have learned for sure is how little I know. The reason is clear, the learning never stops because we are involved very personally front and center with one of the most powerful forces in nature. No matter what I learn, there is always something new to learn. I do not think that one person can ever know it all.
If I could find a person that has fought fire in every type of environment under every type of condition, in all types of weather, then I might say that person knows almost everything. I know a lot of people a lot smarter than I am about wildland fire, and I can tell you I have never come close to meeting anyone like that. And I know I never will either.
Yet, I have met a lot of folks that say and let on like they know all there is to know about wildland fire…..and I tell every class….these are the folks that will get you hurt or worse…killed…if you let them.
So then, what are you passionate about? What do you believe in? I don’t want you to tell me, tell yourself.
And if you are passionate, do you show it? If not, why don’t you?
No one will know for sure but you and God.
I said before we all want to be accepted no matter if is on a baseball team or if it is church. This is part of being human. I think acceptance is a key. Tolerance is a key. I do not like to forced to do or not do anything. I try not to do this to other folks because I wouldn’t want them doing it to me.
My walk with the Lord is my own, and if I walk wrong, he will let me know in some way. It is a private thing between myself and God. I don’t need to know what another person views as right and wrong. What might be right for them may not be right for me and vice versa. Who am I to tell you that you are wrong with your thoughts? I am not speaking of the wrongs all of society has deemed wrong, like breaking laws. I am speaking of the things a person believes and is passionate about. When it comes to that, it should be between me and the Lord.
I do not feel like we should have to agree in all aspects of we believe in order to be treated with respect or to be accepted.
To me it is very clear. We are all the same, none better, none worse. It is not up to me to judge peoples beliefs, beyond the written laws that we all have to obey. If you do not like rock music, that’s fine by me, but I don’t think that because you think it is wrong, it gives you the right to tell me that I am evil because I do. Well…you can say this to me….it does not mean I have to listen. Think about it, be honest with yourself. If some one were to make a habit of pointing out how you are less of a person than they are because of something as ridiculous as this. Do they really change the way you think? Do they really change your belief? You may well give in to them, for the want of acceptance, but I seriously doubt they will ever change what you believe. I think only you are able to do that.
I know it sounds like I am some sort of rebel. I am not trying to be.
Ask yourself which is worse. The person smoking a cigarette, or the person condemning that person to hell because he is smoking. See to me, as long as society deems it is legal, and the person is not telling me that I should smoke, or they are not making me breath second hand smoke, then who am I to say they shouldn’t. Do I think they will go to hell because they smoke? I do not.
And I believe the same about a lot of things that people for whatever reason believe are wrong.
I love country music. I have a passion for it. I am not forcing others to listen to it if they do not like it. I do not see where my country music listening has caused harm to anyone else either. Yet I have been told that I should only listen to gospel music. That any other type of music is wrong. Hmmm, can’t find anywhere when Jesus said that all music is bad and you will burn in hell if you play or listen to anything but gospel music or hymns.
I know that there will be someone out there that will have a list of reasons as to why my thinking is wrong. To these folks I say, good. Say what you will, I doubt that you will change what I believe. Yet you can try if you wish.
I do recall that Jesus had something to say to the Pharisees about making rules that were hard for people to follow, just so they could feel better about themselves.
I do recall that Jesus said that anyone that accepts Him and asks for forgiveness will be saved.
I do recall that Jesus said that it is not what goes into a person that makes them wrong, it is what comes out of a person that can make him wrong.
And best of all, at least where I am concerned, Jesus gave us two great laws. Love the Lord with all your heart mind and soul. And love others as you would have them love you.
For me it is just too much of a stretch to think that going to a dance with my wife will condemn me to hell.
But then this is just what I think…I am not in anyway telling you what you should think.
One thing I do find really unacceptable, is how passion and enthusiasm is put down by some. I think we need to let our passions flow, regardless of what others think.

Until next time, may God bless you all, and may He give us the courage to be real. Tex

Shewgundy

2010-02-13T23:33:00.000-04:00

February 13, 2010

Tex’s Thought Provokers 016

Shewgundy

Once a very long time ago, to a place called Shewgundy, our destination; a small boy, a dog named Sheppy, and a lady named Kate, embarked on a most interesting adventure.
A gentle breeze whispered through the fresh green leaves of two giant Manitoba Maple trees, while the long grass in the field before them swayed giving the illusion of waves on the water. The bright sunlight added to this effect causing the grass to almost gleam as it waltzed with the wind.
Shewgundy was a mystical place that the boy had heard the big people talking about, but he had never been there. He knew it was in a place far far away; some day he hoped he would go there. Today was that long awaited day.
As the boy skipped along he was filled with eager anticipation of what this grand expedition might entail. As ever, Sheppy kept close to the boy with the watchful eye of a great protector. Kate walked steadily along, stopping every so often long enough only to urge the boy to come along.
As they past the white barn where the chickens lived, the lad looked at Kate’s long red hair as it blew in the wind sweeping across her face; and he wondered how she could see, and if it tickled.
Above him and to the left, on the side hill was the big flat rock where he and Sheppy had spent many wondrous times just setting and watching. The big rock was as far as he had ever ventured, from here on, it would be knew territory.
Well below him and to his right, was first the railroad track, then the road, and finally the big river. He thought of how the man in the train engine, as well as the man in the caboose, would always wave at him when they went by and they saw him and Sheppy on the rock.
In those days, the army moved long convoys of machines and men up and down the road. However, he thought, that it had been a very long time since he had seen them; it must have been at least two weeks. He figured, surly they would be back soon, and he told Sheppy as much as he patted her lovingly on the head.
The boy’s mind then drifted to the river and the big event he had been witness to not long ago. The river was filled with what the big people called pulp, and he remembered watching the strange looking boats with men on them with long spears, they used the spears to poke at the pulp. Yes, there were many odd things to watch from the rock, and he was glad that he could watch such amazing things with such a good friend as Sheppy.
As the troop of adventurers continued on, through the field with many huge rocks, Kate stopped next to a very strange looking plant. It was very tall with peculiar leaves and on top there was a small pink paint brush, at least that is what he thought it looked like. Kate smiled and told him it was a Thistle. She gently took hold of his hand as he reach to touch the fistle. Apparently, those funny looking leaves had sharp sticky things on the ends, nasty things that would hurt if they were touched by young boys.
Then with time being of the essence, Kate told him that they had to press on, for there was yet much to do, and a fair way to go.
The huge rocks reminded him of a scene in a movie he had gone to see with his Mum and Dad. It was all about men both good guys and bad guys, in some war, that was what his Dad had told him. All he knew was, there were some scary parts in that movie; parts where bad guys jumped out from behind rocks just like these, and when they jumped out they were shooting at the good guys. However, his Dad had told him it was just a movie, and that really, it was not happening. His Dad had also told him not to worry, because some man named John would save the day. Sure enough he was right.
Remembering the movie and how big John saved the day was of little comfort now, because there was no big man named John anywhere around here. Oh there was John up at the store, but that was a long way from here. Then it occurred to him that Sheppy was there, and she would never let anything bad happen to Kate or him. So he felt better, yet, he kept a close watch on the rocks, in the event that a bad guy would jump out at them, he would be ready, just in case.
The boy had no way of knowing then, but this would be the site of many great battles in the future. Desperate battles, where all that there was depended on their outcome.
Soon they came to a huge barn that he had only seen before from a very long way away. He was astounded by it’s gigantic size, for it looked so much smaller from where he usually looked at it.
Kate told him as they came up to the barn, to never go near it. Inside the floor timbers were weak with age, and he might fall through. Besides that, there were all sorts of Mice, Rats, mean old barn Cats, and perhaps even some wild animals like Racoons living inside. None of which he found appealing in any way.
The boy assured Kate she had nothing to worry about; he would indeed stay away from the barn. On the outside he tried to seem brave, yet on the inside, he felt that the barn was quite a spooky looking place, and he was really quite glad to accommodate Kate’s wishes.
As they started to move on he looked up the hill to his left and he spied beneath a lone apple tree, a small pile of dirt. He quickly pointed it out to Kate, and then inquired as to what caused it. Kate explained that it was a Groundhog, and that there would be a hole, next to the pile of dirt, in the ground where the animal made his home.
This was just too much good information, for a young lad not to at least go and have a closer look. Kate agreed to let him go, she would wait, but only on the condition that he took a quick look and then came back.
Sheppy let out with a short bark, as the boy wheeled and ran up the hill toward the Groundhog’s home, with Sheppy bouncing along at his side. Upon reaching the dirt, and after catching his breath, he looked down and sure enough there was a hole just as Kate had said. Sheppy drove her nose deep into the hole, and then she dug at the hole. When Kate observed this from below, she called Sheppy and the boy to come back. The boy started back down the hill, and Sheppy reluctantly followed, wearing her disappointed dog look.
After they had passed the old barn, to the right was an old house. It was not very big and it looked like no one lived there, the windows were all broken and there was no door. Kate told him that it was an old abandoned house and he was to stay away from this place too. It looked even more scary than the barn, so he thought staying away would be easy.
By now they were at the end of the field and straight in front of them was a steep hill with trees of all kinds growing on it. To the left there was an old road that led up a hill slightly less steep. Kate pointed up the old road and told him that this was the way. He looked down the hill to his right as he walked up the old road and he could see a small brook babbling away at the base. Beyond the brook there was the other hill covered in trees, much steeper, and going up away from the brook.
Kate pointed at the brook and explained that in the spring, a person with some ambition, could find an ample supply of fiddle heads along the brook. Now the boy knew what these were. His Dad had taken him to another place to pick them along time ago that very past spring. He remembered he like it, mud, water, woods, flies, and all sorts of fun things went along with picking fiddle heads. Picking them though, was not anywhere near as good as eating them when his Mum fixed them for him. Vinegar, butter, salt and pepper, and fresh buttered bread. Emmmm…he thought…he could almost taste them now.
Onward they went, and before too long they had reached the summit of the hill. At this juncture, the old road crossed the small brook. Kate took his hand and helped him step from stone to stone to manage the crossing to the other side. Sheppy just waded right into the brook, stopping mid way to lap up a sweet drink of fresh cool water.
Once on the other side, Kate put her finger to her lips and whispered for the boy to be very quiet. If they were to go carefully, and they were very fortunate, they might get to see some Pheasants.
They turned to the right away from the road into a small clearing. There was a page wire fence to the left of the clearing and woods to the right. The clearing was covered with pasture like grass between numerous rocks. Ahead at the end of the clearing were several apple trees, behind them, more woods. On the other side of the fence to the left was an old field that wasn’t farmed anymore, nature was reclaiming the field as there were many weeds, shrubs and small trees growing up in it.
Kate stopped and looked ahead to the apple trees, and then informed the boy that there were no Pheasants today. Then, she simply said one word; Shewgundy.
They sat down on some rocks near the brook and Kate said that in the fall they would come back to Shewgundy and pick some apples. The Pheasants were more likely to be there then. She as well pointed out the wild grapes that were growing on the fence behind them. She said that they would make good jelly and perhaps they could come pick enough to make a batch later in the summer when it was their time to be harvested. She explained that further on up the old road there was another spot to pick raspberries. These would make a lovely pie.
After setting, petting Sheppy and listening to Kate, he decided that Shewgundy was one of his very most favourite places that he had ever been. He concluded that there could be no place in the world that was quite as special.
Soon they were walking back down the hill on the old road. It was sure a lot easier going back down the hill than it was going up. As they entered the field at the bottom, Kate turned and walked toward the old abandoned house. She told the boy that it was time to gather some rhubarb.
This turn of events excited the boy, for he knew that rhubarb meant pie, and that was scrumptious. As Kate went to work carefully picking only the best stalks, the boy was busy in another patch picking as well. When he brought them over and began to lay them in the pile with Kate’s, she laughed and said that there was a difference between rhubarb and burdocks. She then showed the boy and explained the difference.

“Ran…Ran…wake up. You can go in now if you would like too.” It was my Father, he thought I was asleep, but really I was in deep thought. I guess when I didn’t answer him the first time, even though I guess I heard him; he thought I had drifted off. It had been a long evening. I had heard him, but I really didn’t want to leave what was filling my mind.
Grammy Kate had had another heart attack and she was in intensive care. It was either her third or fourth, I’m not sure which. It didn’t matter, all I could think of was the times I had spent with her. Our adventure to Shewgundy was but one of our times that I had been recalling all afternoon and evening. Yes, I had heard Dad; I guess I just was afraid of what he might have to say to me.
After realizing what he said, I told him that I did want to go in. So half scared to death, I followed Dad to meet a nurse that guided me in.
I tried my best to appear calm and I nervously smiled as I walked up beside her. I bent over and kissed her on the forehead and gently pushed some of her still red hair back from her cheek. She looked so feeble and tired. Gram always had fair skin, but that night her skin was even more white. As I held her hand, it was so cold in my hand.
I said softly, “Gram…are you warm enough?”
As soon as she heard my voice she knew, “Randi…it’s you…yes dear I’m fine.”
As I continued to hold her hand, she turned her head slightly and she tried to focus on me, she was not wearing her glasses.
“Randi…there is something I need to tell you.”
I interrupted, “Gram…you need to rest, you can tell me later when you are feeling better, you just need to rest for now.”
“No…I need to talk now….I don’t think there will be another chance.”
On hearing this, of course I didn’t want too, so I tried to stop her.
“Now Gram, you’re going to be just fine.”
She stopped me and I didn’t argue with her for fear of upsetting her more.
“No…now you have to listen to me…I have had a very good life. It is just time for me to go home. Now listen, I have always known you were a good boy. I’m not going to tell you how to live your life. I know that will all work out just fine. But, I want you to please promise me this.”
“Yes Gram, what is it?”
“I want you to continue to always be a good boy, and then you will be a good man. And above all else….I want you to please promise me that you will always treat other folks the way you would want them to treat you.”
“Yes…I promise Gram…now don’t you worry…you rest now, and get better, I promise I will do my best.”
“Good…I know you will.”
The nurse was there then and urging me, it was time I let Gram rest. I kissed her on the forehead again and left her side. She was now sleeping peacefully.

Later that night, Gram slipped away. At the time it hurt. Gram was the first really close loss I’d had. It hit me very hard, for I had spent a great deal of time with her growing up. At the time there were only two other women that equalled a place in my heart the way she did. That was my Mother and Gram Smith. I loved them all the same, different, but they all were equal in my heart, special ladies each of them in their own ways.
Now Gram Hallett was one of the kindest people I have ever known. It even hurt her feelings to swat a fly. She was also very smart. That is not to say I held her in any higher regard than Gram Smith or Mum, like I said, I loved them all the same.
Yet, not long ago, I realized just how smart my Gram Hallett was. I had made her that promise, and from that very night on, I always did try to fulfill that vow. It was very hard to do at times. And I am certain there were times when I failed to keep the promise at all. At least though, I have always tried to make an effort.
I didn’t have the slightest idea what the promise really meant at the time I made it. I guess then, I thought she was just trying to get me to be a good boy and grow into a good man. But she knew something, something that I would take a long time to come to learn. Yet she knew I would someday learn it. She had faith. A strong and pure faith. I know she had hurts and pains in her life, however, I can honestly say that I never heard her say a single bad word about anyone, or anything.
What was just a way of life for her, took me a very long time to figure out. She knew that there were two great laws. She further knew, that if someone tried to force anything on me, that I was very strong willed and I would reject it just on my stubborn principles. She didn’t say a word about the first great Law. She knew it would do no good at that time to say anything. So she spoke only of the second great Law. See, she knew in her heart, she had great faith, that if I followed the second great Law, that I would eventually come to follow the first great Law. She was right.

37 Jesus answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and most important command. 39 And the second command is like the first: ‘Love your neighbour the same as you love yourself.’ 40 All the law and the writings of the prophets* take their meaning from these two commands.” Matthew 22:37-40

Until next time, may the Lord bless and keep you all.
In Christ Tex

This is one of my older writings. Written after my first year as a committed Christian

2010-02-10T17:14:00.000-04:00

Tex’s Thought Provokers 015

The Year In Review

The time is drawing very near. It has been almost one full year. November 05, 2007 to be exact. This is the date that my life began a slow but sure metamorphosis. In no way do I believe that my change was all at once like some magical trick; no, I believe that I am very much a work in progress. Further, I contend that for as long as I live, I will still be very much a work in progress. All I can do is my best.
My, but where does the time go? A year flew by at record speed. It seems that the older I get the faster time slips by. Yet, undoubtedly, you all know this same thing.
So how has my life changed thus far? First and for most, I have found a true friend, one that will always be at my side through good and bad times, no matter where I go, no matter what I do, he will never let me down. I know I can always trust him and I know that no matter what the circumstance he will always love me. He is understanding, He does not make fun of me, He is not hateful, He does not expect more from me than I can produce, He is happy when I do my best.
Beyond Jesus, I have come to get to know many folks that I have known all my life. That sounds weird doesn’t it? What I mean is, I have known these folks but in the last year, I have come to really know them. As well, I have come to know many others that I never knew, in a way that once, I never thought possible. I have come to love all these people with all my heart.
I have made friendships that will last forever. There are many, however, one comes to mind that I can not go on without mentioning. Pastor Garth, my brother in Christ, my very dear friend. If it were not for him, being the man that he is, I know that the Lord would have led me to Him, but through Garth, the transition that I made was real and very natural. I thank God for bringing us together everyday. Even though he and his family, that have come to mean so much to me and my family, are moving on, no matter where this life takes us, we have formed a relationship that will never be taken away from the works of what this world has to offer. I have never known two people that love the Lord the way Garth and Liane do. They have a great son in Colin who as well it has been a pleasure to come to know.
I have as well been reunited with some very dear friends that I grew up with. Somewhere along the way, our worlds drifted apart. Now they have drifted back together. For this I am very thankful.
In the last twenty years, I have come to learn that I love to learn. This was a somewhat different train of thought than what my teen years produced. I am not really certain when this revelation occurred to me, but I am certainly glad that it did. This last year in particular has been a year of great learning. The two things I have learned above all else are, my Father really is a smart man, and how very little I know. This is besides learning that the Lord is always with me and that he loves me.
Another day I will always remember is the day that my wife and I were baptised together last Easter. No words can explain the joy I felt that day. Besides having my family and close friends witness this, the icing on the cake was having Garth perform the baptism.
I have as well come to know that Pastor Brandon is a fine example for our young people and really, a fine example to us all. A fine young man who I am happy to call a friend. Brandon was there to catch me in case I slipped from Garth’s hands during the Baptism. Believe me I was glad he was there, but for more than just a safety net, I was pleased to have him take part in our Baptism as well. Brandon has also come to mean a great deal to my son, and for this I am very thankful.
Then we became members of our church. Another marked day. We were baptised as Baptist and we joined a Baptist church. This warrants some commentary. We belong to a Baptist church, and we were baptised by a Baptist Minister, yet, the most important thing to us is our love for Christ. This is not meant to offend anyone or belittle the Baptist’s in any way. Like I said, some of my best friends are Baptist. This being said, I do not buy into a lot of the legislation and regulation of any denomination. I believe in Jesus Christ, he is my personal saviour. I love the Lord with all my heart and soul and mind and I love others as I would want them to love me. Beyond these facts, I do not think a lot of earthly rules made by men are necessary to live a Christian’s life. Again I will stress how very important these two greatest commands that Jesus gave us are. People may be aghast that I would say such a thing. Well all I can say is if we all followed these two rules with all that is in us, the world would be a very different place. These two rules are perfect, which should come as no great surprise, being as much as they came from ultimate perfection. Follow these rules and all the rest will fall into place, because all the rest of the rules get their power and meaning from these two great rules. So very simple, and so perfect!
I find that I am more patient and more relaxed about things. Oh I still get upset now and then, I still make mistakes every day. I still worry, but not as much, and not about things I have no control over such as the past. I am making a concerted effort to quit with the “if only syndrome”.
I have come to understand that every person that walks this earth with God at his or her side, walks their own personal walk with Him. Who am I to tell them how they should walk? That is up to the Lord. I know the bible says that we should point things out to brothers and sisters that they may be doing that are not quite up to certain standards:

15 “If your brother or sister in God’s family does something wrong, go and tell them what they did wrong. Do this when you are alone with them. If they listen to you, then you have helped them to be your brother or sister again.
Matthew 18:15

1Brothers and sisters, someone in your group might do something wrong. You who are following the Spirit should go to the one who is sinning. Help make that person right again, and do it in a gentle way. But be careful, because you might be tempted to sin too.
Galatians 6:1

I think we have to be very very careful at this point. We can get several meanings from the last sentence of the above verse. It could mean for us to be careful that we are not led to doing the same thing as the other person is doing. It could also mean that there is a fine line between judging a person and trying to help them. You might therefore be tempted to think you are better than the other person. Other than what the Lord tells us is a sin, who am I to say what is wrong?

1 So do you think that you can judge those other people? You are wrong. You too are guilty of sin. You judge them, but you do the same things they do. So when you judge them, you are really condemning yourself. Romans 1: 1

11Brothers and sisters, don’t say anything against each other. If you criticize your brother or sister in Christ or judge them, you are criticizing and judging the law they follow. And when you are judging the law, you are not a follower of the law. You have become a judge. 12God is the one who gave us the law, and he is the Judge. He is the only one who can save and destroy. So it is not right for you to judge anyone. James 4:11-12
Example: If I see someone pilfering something that is not his, and let’s say it is mine, so I know beyond a doubt that he is taking the thing without permission, it would be very easy for me to say that is wrong. I would further be very confident that it was wrong, and thus a sin. It is illegal, and the Lord says not to do this type of thing. So I would then confront the individual.
However, if on the other hand, I see someone smoking a cigarette, it is not illegal, I can not find it in the bible where it is saying anything about smoking being a sin, so who am I to say it is wrong and thus a sin?
Let’s say I see a person having a beer or glass of wine. It is not illegal provided the rules are followed, Jesus turned water to wine after it seemed the party goers were already feeling extremely good, yes, Jesus was without sin and the only person ever to walk the earth that was or is perfect, He drank wine, so how could it be a sin if He is sinless? I for one do not believe it is a sin unless you lead others to sin with its use. But then, there are many things we could say that do that. I refuse to judge a person to be sinning for something I do not believe is a sin.

9Don’t let all kinds of strange teachings lead you into the wrong way. Depend only on God’s grace for spiritual strength, not on rules about foods. Obeying those rules doesn’t help anyone. Hebrews 13:9

10 Jesus called the people to him. He said, “Listen and understand what I am saying. 11 It is not what people put in their mouth that makes them wrong. It is what comes out of their mouth that makes them wrong.” Matthew 15:10-11

18 Why do I say people are like that? Because John came, not eating like other people or drinking wine, and people say, ‘He has a demon* inside him.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and people say, ‘Look at him! He eats too much and drinks too much wine. He’s a friend of tax collectors and other sinners.’ But wisdom is shown to be right by what it does.”
Matthew 11:18-19

That being said, I do believe however that a person should not be drunk. They should always be ready and of sound mind, for we never know the minute or second that Jesus will come again. To me, there is a huge difference between having a drink with friends and being drunk and involved in wild parties.

42 “So always be ready. You don’t know the day your Lord will come”. Matthew 24:42

13 “So always be ready. You don’t know the day or the time when the Son of Man will come.” Matthew 25:13

32 “No one knows when that day or time will be. The Son and the angels in heaven don’t know when that day or time will be. Only the Father knows. 33 Be careful! Always be ready. You don’t know when that time will be. Mark 13:32-33

34 “Be careful not to spend your time having parties and getting drunk or worrying about this life. If you do that, you won’t be able to think straight, and the end might come when you are not ready.”
Luke 21:34

13 We should live in a right way, like people who belong to the day. We should not have wild parties or be drunk. We should not be involved in sexual sin or any kind of immoral behavior. We should not cause arguments and trouble or be jealous. Romans 13:13

17 So don’t be foolish with your lives, but learn what the Lord wants you to do. 18 Don’t be drunk with wine, which will ruin your life, but be filled with the Spirit. Ephesians 5:17-18

19 The wrong things the sinful self does are clear: committing sexual sin, being morally bad, doing all kinds of shameful things, 20 worshiping false gods, taking part in witchcraft, hating people, causing trouble, being jealous, angry or selfish, causing people to argue and divide into separate groups, 21 being filled with envy, getting drunk, having wild parties, and doing other things like this. I warn you now as I warned you before: The people who do these things will not have a part in God’s kingdom. Galatians 5:19-21

With my kids, I have always told them, if you think or feel something is wrong, it likely is. So don’t do it. It goes the same for us, if we think it might be wrong, it likely is. So don’t do it. But don’t keep from doing something that is not a written law, just because someone else says it is wrong. If Jesus didn’t tell us it was wrong, and it is not a law of the land, then who gives another person the right to say something is wrong just because they do not like it?
I want to stress that I further believe if something is wrong for another person, say that person has a problem with drinking alcohol, then I certainly would not tempt that person with drink. I don’t think others should do this either. To me this is a great sin when you tempt a person into doing any kind of wrong. This being said, not everyone has a problem with alcohol. No two people are the same when it comes to anything.

2 Don’t change yourselves to be like the people of this world, but let God change you inside with a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to understand and accept what God wants for you. You will be able to know what is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect. Romans 12:2

16 Don’t allow what is good for you to become something they say is evil. 17 In God’s kingdom, what we eat and drink is not important. Here is what is important: a right way of life, peace, and joy—all from the Holy Spirit. Romans 14:16-17

21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else that hurts the faith of your brother or sister. 22 You should keep your beliefs about these things a secret between yourself and God. It is a blessing to be able to do what you think is right without feeling guilty.
Romans 14:21-22
Some of you are by now wondering why I harp on this so much. I will attempt to explain.
I have heard it said that the greatest stumbling block to the church is the church itself. All the while we live by rules that man has made in one form or another, it is my belief that people have been and are being driven further from the Lord. Things people have heard that has turned them off are like the following: “Oh my land…you dance? That is a sin! You mustn’t do that!” “Oh you evil person you…you smoke! That is detestable! You are certainly not welcome in this house!” “Look at that poor excuse for a man…I mean he drinks…what an abomination!” “Oh my heavens!!!!...That is the devils music! That rock and roll heathen music!” “You would watch a movie such as the likes of that! That is terrible! What a terrible sin that is!”
I think you are getting the picture. My point is that there are a lot of wonderful people that live good and peaceful lives that would perhaps like to come to church and hear God’s word, and have fellowship with other good people. But I can tell you that this will not happen as long as folks feel they are better than others. It won’t happen as long as folks are missing the real point of being a Christian. People do not want to be made to feel like they are terrible people because they do some things that are different, not wrong, but different than others.
One of the reasons I think folks are confused, is as follows.
Have you ever set down to read one of Shakespeare’s Sonnets?
I have, and it was very hard for me to understand. If you are good at such a thing, I think it is wonderful. It is written in a language that I do not do very well with.
The same thing goes for the King James Version of the Bible. If you understand it, I think it is just wonderful, however, it was written a long time ago, in street language of that time. It was not the formal language of that time. I am glad that it was translated, for it was in Greek, Hebrew and Latin prior to this. I doubt a large portion of the people in this world would have had much success trying to understand this. The number one reason it was translated was so the word of God could be brought to those that did not have it. Brought to them in a language they could understand. The meaning was not changed and people of that time understood it better. I say better, because even in a language we can understand the Bible is hard enough to understand. When brother Garth gave me my easy to read version of the Bible, my world really started to change. I read with great enthusiasm because for the first time in my life I really understood more of what the Bible was saying. I read it every single day and I love doing it. For me it goes hand in hand with Jesus, because Jesus is the Word.
I am not saying the New King James Version is bad; again, if you understand what it is saying then I really do think it is wonderful.
My Bible came from the World Translation Center in Texas. I have come to learn that this organization ships thousands of Bibles in hundreds of Languages to many countries around the world so that the easy to read version can be had by all peoples. What a wonderful and great thing to do.
I have one more point concerning this. In talking with a Christian from another church, not long ago, the conversation we were having was to do with the Bible. I know this individual had been a Christian for a very long time, and a very good person. The person was trying their best to be what the Lord wanted them to be. I know this in my heart. I have no doubt whatsoever. I said something and the person looked at me as if I were odd (I Know…a lot of folks do). I can’t even remember what verse it was we were talking about. In short, he had read the verse many times. He told me that he never really understood what it was saying. But the way my Bible said it, made it very clear to him.
What may be good for one person may not be good for another, and vise versa.
All in all, it has been one of the best years of my life. I have a wonderful family. I have a host of very dear friends. I am fortunate enough to work in the field I love. It gives me great pleasure to say that we live in one of the greatest, really, the greatest, country in the world. I have the Lord with me wherever I go, what ever I do. Yes, I am a very fortunate man.
Another thing that comes to mind is the power of prayer. I really do believe that there is a lot to be said about prayer. I am convinced the Lord likes it when we pray. I am further convinced that prayer is answered, it may be answered in such a way that we did not see coming, but the Lord does answer prayers. It may not be at a time of our choosing, but the Lord does answer prayers.
Prayers, I don’t think, have to be fancy or elaborate. They have to be real. They have to be simple and filled with praise for Jesus. I think there is power in group prayers, but also, there are those times in the day when we should very quietly just talk with the Lord. It is important to be truly thankful in our prayers. But above all, they should be real.

Speaking of real, it is my belief that the Lord wants us to be real. He does not want us to put on Sunday faces and be something we are not. He does not want us to be one way in front of people at church on Sunday, then for the rest of the week be something we try to let on we are not. When the Pastor, Minister, Vicar, Rector, Priest, Preacher, Reverend what ever the case may be, gives you a sermon, there is meaning for our lives behind him or her doing this. It is not meant for us to sit and listen for an hour or so, then forget about it. In other words, the Lord knows if you are a Sunday Christian. He knows all and sees all, He even know the number of hairs on your head. So far be it from me to think that I can fool the Lord. To me, those that try this are only fooling themselves.
There is yet another thing that I have learned. I am getting older, not old, just older. With that, I can not do what I did when I was in my twenties and thirties. I try sometimes to do too much. I find it hard to say no to those that ask. Yet, somehow, I have got to learn to say no once in a while. When I say yes to something I am saying no to something else. Last year my wife and I made a point of going for a walk almost every day. Lately, she has reminded me that the almost everyday walks have gone to once in a while to when we can. It is not so much the exercise, though it is very good for us, it is an hour or so each day for her and I to be husband and wife and just enjoy each other. I feel that this is very important.
So in the coming year, I plan to change things a bit. I will not quit everything, but I will have to cut back.
Work for me has new meaning, but it is still very demanding time wise. So we have Monday evening free. One Tuesday a month is a meeting and training night at the fire hall. Wednesday’s are Juniors at the fire house. Thursday night is bible study night. Friday is usually free. Saturday is sometimes free. Church on Sunday. Walk on Monday nights when there is nothing else happening, walk on Friday and Saturday when there is nothing else happening. Well….you get the idea. So folks, I am going to set down and make some decisions very soon. I know that people will understand.
In closing, I would like to thank those of you that have been so kind and loving to me and my family. I am not going to single you out because you know who you are. You folks really are Salt of The Earth.
Until next time, live for the Lord, and be real. In Christ Tex

Learning to Learn

2010-02-04T12:38:00.000-04:00

February 4, 2010

Tex’s Thought Provokers 014

Learning to Learn

I believe that learning begins from the time we are born and never stops there after. Even once we cross the long swamp into eternal life, we still go on learning. At least, that is how I see it.
I also believe that we go through stages, or learning spurts if you will. As well, there are some things that we learn easier than others. Some folks are numbers people; I am not one of these. There are words people, I’m onboard this train. Then there are the folks that are both numbers and words. There are the creative folks and some are followers and others leaders.
Some people learn much better with the hands on approach, some are more visual. For myself, it depends on what I am trying to fathom as to which style I like better. If we think on this just for a minute, we soon realize that this mumble jumble of ways to learn are a teacher’s nightmare. Therefore, I can understand why some, not all, but some teachers are just bit off center.
I am starting to realize that I am going into the down hill slide of life. The reason I say this, is because I am seeing signs of my circle being completed in my life. This is not to say that I am by any means over the hill, yet I have come to some very important realizations, ones that can attest to the narrowing gap in the arc of my circle.
Once, when I was very young, the world was new and full of adventure. The simplest things held my attention and I loved experiencing them for the first time. Sometimes I liked experiencing them over and over again. For example, cow pies; it did not take me long to learn that they were stinky, usually green, and in my Grand Father’s pasture, they were plentiful. Somehow or another, a part of at least one would inevitably find it’s way to some portion of my person whenever I ventured out into the pasture, which was often. On close inspection, I found that little gold coloured flies love to perch on them. These were special flies, for I never seen them anywhere else. After a certain amount of time had elapsed, the pies would turn dark grey, at least on the outside. Yet the inside always remained green, wet, and slippery. And yes, still very stinky.
Thus here is an example of what I believe Newton was talking about when he said; “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” Although I think there was a flaw in his thinking. It should have read; “For every action there is a double opposite reaction.” At least where my Mother was concerned. I really don’t think that Newton was considering her in his thought process. For you see, whenever I would come home from the farm, either my sneakers, pants, shirt, coat, hair, and once my nose and face (this is another story), was plastered with remnants of one of my adventures in the pasture. Her reaction was by far more than equal to the action that caused it. It was opposite though. Opposite because it was nothing like I wanted.
Learning was fun then, the way it should always be. Long before the days of gas guzzling giant wheeled lime spreaders that tear across the fields at a horrendous speed, there was the simple way of spreading lime. I can remember Gramps and old buddy Unc and I, heading up to the railway siding near the bottom of Peel Hill in the old blue Chev truck, that we affectionately named the “Arkansas Chug a Bug”, after a cartoon show that used to be on Saturday mornings. There, on the siding was a box car, left by the train, filled with lime. Gramps and Unc would shovel lime onto the back of the old truck and I had a little shovel and would help too. Although, I think I was likely more of a hindrance than a help. After a time the truck was loaded and it was off back down to the farm to spread the lime in one of the many fields. There was a small spreading machine that Gramps and Unc would hook to the back of the old truck and once it was hooked, we would go to a field. Here Unc would put the “Arkansas Chug a Bug” in Jumbo (Low Gear) get the truck rolling and I would slide under the wheel. It was my job to steer the truck across the field while Gramps and Unc would shovel lime into the spreader from the truck. I would do my best to keep the truck straight as it rolled slowly along. This was not as easy as one might think. I had to set on the very edge of the seat to reach the foot feed. I pulled on the steering wheel to help hold me in place and I craned my neck and tilted my head to look out between the steering wheel and the dash. Every once in a while Gramps would holler “a little to the right Ran”, or “a little to the left”, and I would then get back on track. And every once in a while, I would hit a rough spot or a rock, and this would cause my foot to push down on the accelerator too hard and the old “Arkansas Chug a Bug” would belch and jump. This must have been an aggravation to old buddy Unc because he would holler “taker easy young feller”.
After the truck was empty, Gramps and Unc would climb in on either side of me, looking as though they were soldiers from the Confederate Army, covered from head to toe in a grey-blue dust from the lime. Unc would drive and he would shove me to the centre and say the same thing I have heard him say many times over the years. “Git over Ran…let a professional under the wheel.” And we would go off to the siding for another load.
Now then, one might say this was not teaching me anything, but I beg to differ. I was learning what hard work was all about. How to drive at a very young age. Having fun and getting things done was okay. Lime was good for the fields because they were getting too acidy, Lime counteracts acid. And the simple way of doing things was by far the best.
In those days, there were mixed farmers all up and down the Saint John River valley. Everyone grew a few acres of grain, taters, corn, buck wheat; they all had a few cows and horses, some chickens and pigs and the like. The Carleton Creamery Truck would make its run stopping at all the farms driveways, leaving empty cream cans and taking the full ones. All the near by farmers helped one and other and life was just a whole lot simpler.
There were no big gigantic farmers, where one person with the most money and the most pull had it all. There were many farmers each contributing a little from each of their farms.
Then things started to change, new and improved machines, bigger and better everything came along. This caused farmers to grow more taters, because they could harvest more. The little guys soon got squeezed out. This process is still ongoing and it is not just limited to the farming industry.
The forest industry had the same things take place as well as the fishing industry. And so it goes, machines made by intelligent men and women made it so a fewer number of people were needed to work in order to get things done. There are many other industries that have gone through and are going through the same type of thing. Do more with a lot less. This is quickly turning into do a lot less with less.
These machines and technology come with a huge price tag. This drives the cost of things through the roof.
Yes it could be argued that more people are better educated today than ever before. People have higher paying jobs. This is a good thing, or is it?
This do more with less people, with more educated people, has also caused a decline in common sense. There is a world full of people with all sorts of book learning. But there is a huge void where experience is concerned. This do more with less attitude has made a great many very rich. It is a very young concept in the real scheme of things. If we look around things are starting to come unglued. It can not go on and it will at some point fail.
This was all well and fine as long as there were still people with experience around. These people are starting to retire and unfortunately die. You can have all sorts of training, but with no experience in how to make things work when the book says they won’t, you are going to come to a stand still at some point.
Please do not misunderstand me. I whole heartedly believe in sound education. I further believe in technology. But there also must be a happy medium met where both are concerned. This will be hard to ever achieve because of the greed of man. The people with all the power and money will not allow this to happen. Yet, I contend that it will happen with or without them. For again I come back to the circle. Everything goes in a circle.

9All things continue the way they have been since the beginning. The same things will be done that have always been done. There is nothing new in this life. 10Someone might say, “Look, this is new,” but that thing has always been here. It was here before we were. 11People don’t remember what happened long ago. In the future, they will not remember what is happening now. And later, other people will not remember what the people before them did.
Ecclesiastes 1:9-11

Then came the drudgery of school. I longed for to be over even before it got started. Any place on the face of the earth would have been better than setting in that confined school room listening to some one drone on about some place I would never go, or some mathematical genius such as Pythagoras. I would have given anything to be with Gramps and Unc on the farm. To me that work was teaching me practical things that I could use in life. This statement was true, but what I could not see at the time, was I needed the school room too.
It is a funny thing, when I was young; my Dad was the smartest person I knew. Then for some reason about the time I turned fourteen he seemed to become goofy. It seemed that I knew a great deal more than him. By the time I reached eighteen, he had lost his mind completely. Then in my mid twenties he miraculously had started to recover, he was getting some of his intelligence back. By the time I was in my mid thirties, he was actually quite smart. However, no where near as smart I was by that time. Then came my mid to late forties, and I discovered he is once again the smartest man I know. See what I mean about full circle.
I guess perhaps a lot of folks realize this same thing. The thing that is even more odd is when we are at our very best physically; we are at our least mentally. Go figure!
Beginning in the fifties and carrying over into present. The world powers have been in a constant struggle to outdo each other. One built a bomb; the other would build two and so on.
Einstein said; “ I don’t know what world war three will be fought with, but world war four will be fought with sticks and stones.”
Then communism began to collapse, and the threat to civilization became the rouge country that might get it’s hands on a weapon of mass destruction. Then terrorist became and still are the threat to end all threats. Wars and rumours of more wars. Hmmmm, sounds familiar.
Another two edged sword that we are faced with today is the information highway. Through satellite and advanced technology, we have the internet, multiple television stations, multiple radio stations, cell phones, two way radios, all designed to quench our inexhaustible thirst for knowledge. We think we have to have the means to communicate in every circumstance. When I was a kid, we had a party line telephone and snail mail, three television stations, two of which were fuzzy, one or two AM radio stations and no one even heard of FM.
The point to all this is, I look at our kids today, mine included, and they are busy on the internet, with video games, on their cell phones, or in front of the TV. One would think that with all this information, they would be getting more intelligent. However, even with our so called better schools with over crowded class rooms and less time for one on one instruction from their teachers, ask them who our Prime Minister is, who our Premiere is, where is Moose Jaw, spell anything, add 5 plus 5 and divide it by 2 then subtract 5 what do you get without the use of a calculator, Who was Stalin, who was Hitler, what does the Legion stand for, who was Winston Churchill, what county do we live in, and you will see exactly what I mean.
This is fine for now, but these kids are going to become our leaders of the future, if there is one. They are the ones that will look after us. I know, every generation says the same things about the one that is coming next. But I fear that this generation is going to be the one that breaks the tradition. Its not so much that I fear them looking after us, its more who will look after them in their old age? Who will lead them? And what’s more, it is not their fault.
I know you are now saying…hopeless negativity.
I guess I am a dreamer. I think of a community such as the following. One room school houses where morals are taught. Important things like reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, history, science, and most of all the Bible. Small classes where being politically correct is not something on the mind of all comers. Where kids can grow up together as friends for life. Where drive by shootings are people taking pictures from cars as they drive by. Where drugs are something that we take to make us better when we get sick. Where the town in which we live in or close to is big enough to have seven grocery stores, two or three churches, two hardware stores, a shoe man, a post office, Dr.’s office, drug store, car dealer, a jewellery store, four or five restaurants, a clothing store, a couple of barbers, two or three hair dressers, a farm machinery sales depot, a plumbing supply store, an appliance store, a heavy equipment parts depot, a train station, several industries or factories for folks to work in, an electrical supply store, a small department store, a decent fire department, a small police force, water and sewer, a community centre, several garages, an auto supply store, a couple of pool rooms, a theatre, a Legion, a ball field, an arena, and a laundry matt. Where it is big enough to have all these many things and yet still know everyone and you look forward to seeing them again. A place where it was safe to walk the streets at any time. A place where kids play together out doors all day, with no fear of abduction or worse.
Hmmm, I just described Hartland when I was a kid.
Perhaps I dwell on the past too much.
Centralization is a dirty word for me. Somewhere we got the idea that bigger is better. To this I say; if the lawn mower is cutting grass and things are working, why mess with the carburetor?
Change for the better is something I am all for, but change for the sake of change is not usually a good thing.
Why do we think we can never go back and still maintain some of the good things we have learned? We have the power to make choices. We have the technology to do it if we so wished. Why can’t our towns go back to the way they were, only incorporating new technologies, that is, the technologies that are helping not hindering?
We are Canadians, and we live in one of the greatest, if not the greatest country in the world. Each of us deserves to have the same things as the other when it comes to health care and the like. Quite some time ago, the federal government slashed our transfer payments to the provinces. This then started a cut and slash job here in these smaller populated Maritimes. At least cut and slash at the bottom. The top grew. The answer is clear to me, either one of two things has to happen. We need to get our transfer payments back to acceptable levels or we need to combine New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador and make one province.
This sounds radical I know, but something has got to give. We need to also as a world of individuals make some changes. We need to get back to the basics. If we want a country and a free world for our grand kids to come into, we need to start now.
We have to still welcome those that want to come here and live. This is part of what we are all about. But when they come here, they will have to live according to our rules, not the rules they left behind. Many cultures can still be maintained and I believe this is wonderful, but we can neither afford nor accept non-indigenous ways forced upon us.
We need to look at the simple things and quit living like ten cent million heirs.
We need to get back to the foundation that this country was built on, Christianity.
We need to pay an honest days wage for an honest days work. A wage that equals the cost of living. We need a system that gives people in need a hand up instead of an endless hand out.
Crimes need to be addressed in a way that is befitting of the crime, judged upon the intent of the doer. And a penalty given that is befitting the crime.
We have to quit worrying about the rights and feelings of the criminal. What about the rights of the law bidding citizen?
We need to quit wasting tax payer’s money in government on insane things.
With the world going the way it is, we need to get away from this centralization thing. We need to put folks to work. We do not need to be faster and bigger; the cost to this is unreal. We need to produce quality products for less money, with the use of more people. We need to market more wisely. We don’t have to do it in such a hurry. We need to have people buy our products because they are made better, and made so they cost less. We can use new technology to help us do this, but we need to keep the people working. We need to capitalize on resources that we are not at the present time.
I know this almost sounds like I am running for office. I am not. Think about this folks, the current salary for an MLA with no portfolio is $85000.00 per year. This is not including his expenses. Imagine a back bencher making this kind of money, to do what? Do what he is told by the party, not the people he is suppose to represent. These things need to change.
We are now living in a time where there are the very rich and the poor. There is no longer any in between. There is no such thing as average. The average person belongs to the working poor now. Our prisons are full. We are taxed to death. People everywhere are feeling more hopeless every day. Look back in history, our country is a very young one compared to those over seas. Look at and read some history of the old countries and see what happened when the same situations existed as we are seeing now in this country.
But on the other hand, we are still living in a wondrous grand country. It is just that I would like my children’s children to get a chance to enjoy it the same as we have.
We have loaded the tree heavily at the top. The tree is bent over so badly the top of the tree is almost touching the ground. Meanwhile the government keeps scratching around the tree’s roots. Industry has done the same thing. The tree is at a crucial point, if something is not done, one of two things will happen, either the tree’s trunk will suddenly snap, or the roots will tear away from the ground. Either way the tree will come crashing down.
Here is an example of what I mean.
In 1979 the department of Natural Resources had five regions. In each region there were a couple of biologists. That is a total of ten. In our capital city there were three more for a total of thirteen. In the Gordonsville Ranger station in the early eighties, there were sixteen employees. Some were seasonal, but sixteen none the less.
Now in 2008 there are four regions within the province. Each region has at least one Biologist. Some have more than one; however, I will say at least one for a total of four. Our capital city houses some forty or more biologists. Our office now has been combined with the Perth office; Gordonsville and Perth are both closed. Plaster Rock is also in our area. So our areas got huge and when we came over from Gordonsville to Florenceville we had five people. One of these was a clerical position.
So us representing the roots of the tree, and the biologists representing the top of the tree, we can see what is going to happen.
They keep cutting away at the roots and for those that are left, they have restrictions as to what they can do and when.
This is not just happening at our office either; it is through out the province. I have been with the Department for thirty years, so my time is drawing close to an end. So really, it does not matter to me much what effect this has on me. What matters to me is what effect it has on our resources and those new people coming to take on the stewardship of those resources.
Ah yes, but I live in a home, where I am warm and have lots to eat. I have a car to drive to get to work and other places. I have a church to go to, and new roads to drive on. I have a wonderful family and things are just great. I sometimes even have enough money left over to go to a movie or out to eat. What right do I have to complain? I don’t when it comes to me, but what about my kids and grand kids?
As Charles Dickens said in his novel from 1859, “A Tale Of Two Cities” in the opening line … “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”
The sad fact of the matter is, we even see this in our churches, do more with less. And a church’s health is sometimes judged by the number of members in the congregation. How tall the steeple is. How nice the furniture is. How beautiful the woodwork inside the sanctuary is. The wonderful comfort of the fancy padded pews. The calibre of people that attend.
When we should perhaps be concentrating more on the quality of message. We are busy comparing ourselves to others in the church when we should be concentrating on what the Lord wants us to do. We are busy looking down on others while we don’t consider ourselves and what we are doing that may not be all that pleasing to the Lord. To me it is not quantity that matters, it is quality.
So here I am, and the one thing I have learned is how little I know. It is really strange how it works. Once I loved to learn, which then turned into great distaste for any kind of learning. At that stage I guess I knew just about all there was to know. Then all of a sudden out of the blue, I began to like to learn again. At this stage I started to realize that I had lots left to learn. I was not as smart as I thought I was. This then, turned into a great love for learning. I am still at this stage, and I hope I always am. For now I am very aware that I know very little. Just as it was when I first started to learn; see, full circle.
I have been a very fortunate individual. I have got to witness many things in this life that not many ever have an opportunity to see. I have been to many places and met many people. Yes, I am very fortunate indeed. And though I have left my tracks on many trails in many out of the way places, the trail that leads to my home is the one that always makes my feet the happiest to be on. For as much as we sometimes think other places would be better, there is no place on earth like my Carleton County home.

I will leave you with these:

23 “Only God knows the way to wisdom. Only he knows where wisdom is. Job 28:23

28 Then he said to humans, “To fear and respect the Lord is wisdom. To turn away from evil is understanding.” Job 28:28

10 Wisdom begins with fear and respect for the Lord. Those who obey him are very wise. Praises will be sung to him forever.
Psalms 111:10

7Don’t trust in your own wisdom, but fear and respect the Lord and stay away from evil. Proverbs 3:7

11 Wisdom is better than pearls, and nothing you desire compares with her. Proverbs 8:11

2Proud and boastful people will be shamed, but wisdom stays with those who are modest and humble. Proverbs 11:2

5Trust the Lord completely, and don’t depend on your own knowledge. 6With every step you take, think about what he wants, and he will help you go the right way. 7Don’t trust in your own wisdom, but fear and respect the Lord and stay away from evil. 8If you do this, it will be like a refreshing drink and medicine for your body. Proverbs 3:5-8

12Listen to your teacher and learn all you can. Proverbs 23:12

19Don’t let those who are evil upset you, and don’t be jealous of them. 20They have no hope. Their light will burn out.
Proverbs 24:19-20

We all have learned so much and yet so very little. Following are ten things I have learned.
1. I have learned that my Father is one of the smartest people I know.
2. Hard work at a young age does no one any harm; in fact it is very beneficial. For in the future these people will know what those that are working hard are going through.
3. Taking time to absorb natural things around us just by watching is worth its weight in gold.
4. There is some worth in all people.
5. We can learn something from every person and we can learn something from every situation, because no two are ever alike.
6. Reading about how to do something is never like actually doing it.
7. Every day brings forth an opportunity to do good in some way.
8. A day when nothing is learned, is a day wasted.
9. If all we ever look for is the bad, then that is all we will ever see.
10. There is nothing that is good that God doesn’t have a hand in.

Following are ten things that I want to learn:

1. I want to learn to be nicer and less grumpy.
2. I want to love more than I do now.
3. I want to learn how to listen more and talk less.
4. I want to learn more about how to keep others safe in times of disaster.
5. I want to learn how to become a better leader to those that I am responsible for, especially those that work in harms way.
6. I want to learn how to grow closer to my Lord every day.
7. I want to learn how to write better than I do now.
8. I want to learn how to be a better example to my family and friends.
9. I want to learn as much as I can about the Word of the Lord and what it means.
10. I want to learn how to be more patient.

Until next time, love the Lord with all of your heart soul and mind.
In Christ
Tex

Do No Wrong?

2010-02-02T23:05:00.000-04:00

February 2, 2010

Tex’s Thought Provokers 013

Do No Wrong ?

Over the years I have been accused of being very analytical. There have been those that have come right out and said that I analyse things to death. So after reflecting on these revelations from a host of individuals, I will have to admit that this is indeed one of my traits.
Now that I have admitted this, I will endeavour to explain. This trait comes from my 25 years of law enforcement adventures. Always trying to assess the who, what, why, where, when, and how, of hundreds of different situations. Always trying to see the unseen, always trying to get to the truth has a tendency to make you a bit analytical.
But it did not stop with my pursuit of absconders from the law. It goes a bit deeper with me, into the world of fire. Some of you may have heard that a large part of my life is fire. Part of the many things that I am responsible for on wildland fires, being a wildland fire behaviour specialist, is to try and ascertain what the fire will do before it does it.
I end up analysing the fire’s behaviour as it reacts to it’s environment. This is a life long learning experience. I have heard it said that fire is fire, it burns stuff, and all fires are the same. Nothing could be further from the truth. Although all uncontrolled fire tends to be destructive, the similarities between fires, especially wildland fires, ends at destruction. A wildland fire reacts to what we call the fire behaviour triangle. There are three sides to a triangle, and there are three things that influence how a wildland fire burns. Fuel, Weather, and Topography are the three things, thus the three legs of the triangle are these three things.
If we could find a person that has seen a fire burn in every fuel type in every type of weather on every slope with every percent slope steepness covered, I would consider them an expert. I don’t know anyone like that. And believe me; I know a lot of people that have spent a life time studying this field. Most of these people have titles behind their names such as PhD and the like, and they will be the first to tell you that they do not know anyone like that either. Most of these people who I am fortunate to call friends, have forgotten more about how wildland fire behaves than I will ever know.
I think that I have made it clear as to how I became a bit on the analytical side.
Now then, lately I have been pondering a certain subject. And at the risk of sounding analytical, I have some thoughts I would like to share on the subject.
We all know people in our lives that think they are a lot better than other folks. The question that I have been pondering is why do they feel this way?
What makes these people think they are indeed better than other people? Do some of them even realize they are conveying this type of attitude? Do these people do this to hurt others?
I think there are a lot of reasons why. Let me share with you some of them.
Remember that I keep saying “what you live with you learn” well, some people have been told by their parents and others so many times that they are the elite, the cream of the crop, the best in every way, that it is all they know. I think this is one reason. I further think that a lot of these folks fall into the category of those that do not know they are acting like this.
We humans are very competitive. We are surrounded by a need to win all our life. We are encouraged from every angle to be the very best we can be at everything, especially sports. This causes a type of blindness to everything but winning. “I’m number one…or we’re number one.” And when we say “we’re”…there are those amongst the group that think if it were not for their individual performance, the rest would be nothing. They are told so many times after winning, they are the best, they get swelled head syndrome. This I think happens and it carries over into their every day life and they ultimately think they are better than others.
Great wealth I think also gets people used to the so called finer things in life. Ewwww….hamburger for lunch…don’t be absurd. After a while this attitude shows through in all that they say and do. So, Sally’s your cousin, there you have it, they become better than every one.
Great genius is but another path that leads to the feeling of superiority over others. When we mention genius, a lot of us think of Einstein. But here are a few things that Einstein said.

“The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.”

“Every man for himself and God for us all.”

“It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.”

“It is harder to crack a prejudice than an atom.”

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.”

“My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind.”

“No, this trick won't work... How on earth are you ever going to explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love?”

“The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it.”

“Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.”

“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.” (One of my favorites!)

“Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.”

“Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.”

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

“Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts.”

“I have no particular talent. I am merely inquisitive.”

“It's not that I'm so smart; it's just that I stay with problems longer.”

“Everyone should be respected as an individual, but no one idolized.”

“We still do not know one thousandth of one percent of what nature has revealed to us.”

“The value of a man should be seen in what he gives and not in what he is able to receive.”

These are but a few of the famous quotes from one of the worlds most brilliant minds. When people think of Einstein, generally the first thing that comes to their mind is the theory of relativity or splitting the atom. However, there was much more to this man than these complex discoveries to which he is accredited. The philosophical side of the man offers much to the world.
If we consider the above quotes, we get no indication that the man considered himself superior to others. In fact, one would think that he was indeed a humble man.
The reason that I have spent so much time on Einstein, is because it proves a point that I feel very important.
Another of our human traits is to make statements that generalize. You see, by saying that all genius’s think they are better than others is a generalization. It is the same thing when we say that all people with money think they are superior.
This is yet another thing that I am guilty of; I tend to generalize way too much. Now that I have had this epiphany, I am trying to work at depleting it from my make up all together.
Now then, I wonder, even though there are some that indeed do think they are superior to others, could it be that we sometimes imagine that someone is better than ourselves?
Perhaps, just perhaps, we sometimes think that another person thinks they are somehow better than others. In truth, it is sometimes all in our mind. Shakespeare once said, “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so" This from “Hamlet” Act II, Scene II.
The mind is capable of many strange and wonderful things. So I submit that it is very likely that we can convince ourselves of anything, including thinking that another thinks they are superior to the entire world, when in fact, if the truth be known, nothing could be further from the truth.
We sometimes believe something so much that we search for misconceived facts to prove ourselves correct. We see a certain gesture, or a look from another, and we are convinced that the person is showing signs of snobbery. When in fact the unaware person had to sneeze and couldn’t. Go figure!
All this being said, there are unfortunately some who really do think they are supreme beings of some sort. And really, it has been my experience that when you come across such an individual, there is little room for doubt.
When I used to be out searching for night hunters, in my younger days, after sitting in the dark for long periods of time, my mind would wonder. And suddenly I had convinced myself that I had seen a light. When I would report this to my fellow officers, they would be quite startled when they learned that there was no light at all. An old Ranger once told me, “Ahhhhaa…yah…ya just think yer seein a light…but its all in that mind a yours. Ya won’t have no trouble telling the real thing when ya see it.”
And this did not just happen to me, it happened to all of us at one time or another. And yes, the old Ranger was right, when a light would come into view, there was no doubt what so ever.
I think it is a lot the same for trying to detect snootiness. When the real thing shows up, you won’t have any trouble making up your mind as to the intent of the person.

Jesus said:

35 Those who are good have good things saved in their hearts. That’s why they say good things. But those who are evil have hearts full of evil, and that’s why they say things that are evil. 36 I tell you that everyone will have to answer for all the careless things they have said. This will happen on the day of judgment.
Matthew 12:35 -36

45 Good people have good things saved in their hearts. That’s why they say good things. But those who are evil have hearts full of evil, and that’s why they say things that are evil. What people say with their mouths comes from what fills their hearts. Luke 6:45
15 Jesus said to them, “You make yourselves look good in front of people. But God knows what is really in your hearts. What people think is important is worth nothing to God. Luke 16:15

34 You snakes! You are so evil. How can you say anything good? What people say with their mouths comes from what fills their hearts.
Matthew 12:34

God knows what is in our hearts. We can not hide this from Him. When we feel jealousy, bitterness, anger, superiority, lust, vengefulness, hate, we are guilty of sin, as guilty as if we actually went out and committed a sin for all to see.
There is no one without sin. All we can do is to ask forgiveness and mercy from our Lord.
For this reason alone, there is none better, nor none worse than each of us. The Lord wants us to be real. He wants us to be what He intended for us to be. Sometimes it is hard to understand, but that is not for us to judge. The Lord even knows the number of hairs on our heads. We can not hide our thoughts from the Lord.
With these things said, I feel that where there is none better or worse than me, I will try my best not to concern myself with what I think others should or shouldn’t do. For it does not matter what any of us think about another person, what matters is what the Lord thinks.

Now then I believe that when a person is born again, Christ lives within their heart. We belong to Him.

22 God makes people right through their faith in Jesus Christ. He does this for all who believe in Christ. Everyone is the same. 23All have sinned and are not good enough to share God’s divine greatness. 24 They are made right with God by his grace. This is a free gift. They are made right with God by being made free from sin through Jesus Christ.
Romans 3:22-24

3 Did you forget that all of us became part of Christ Jesus when we were baptized? In our baptism we shared in his death. 4 So when we were baptized, we were buried with Christ and took part in his death. And just as Christ was raised from death by the wonderful power of the Father, so we can now live a new life. Romans 6:3-4
4 In the same way, my brothers and sisters, your old selves died and you became free from the law through the body of Christ. Now you belong to someone else. You belong to the one who was raised from death. We belong to Christ so that we can be used in service to God.
Romans 7:4

14 But be like the Lord Jesus Christ, so that when people see what you do, they will see Christ. Don’t think about how to satisfy the desires of your sinful self.
Romans 14:14

12Christ gave these gifts to prepare God’s holy people for the work of serving, to make the body of Christ stronger. 13This work must continue until we are all joined together in what we believe and in what we know about the Son of God. Our goal is to become like a full-grown man—to look just like Christ and have all his perfection.
Ephesians 4:12-13

15No, we will speak the truth with love. We will grow to be like Christ in every way. He is the head, 16and the whole body depends on him. All the parts of the body are joined and held together, with each part doing its own work. This causes the whole body to grow and to be stronger in love.
Ephesians 4:15-16

21This is what you were chosen to do. Christ gave you an example to follow. He suffered for you. So you should do the same as he did: 22 “He never sinned, and he never told a lie.” Isaiah 53:9 23People insulted him, but he did not insult them back. He suffered, but he did not threaten anyone. No, he let God take care of him. God is the one who judges rightly. 24Christ carried our sins in his body on the cross. He did this so that we would stop living for sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you were healed. 25You were like sheep that went the wrong way. But now you have come back to the Shepherd and Protector of your lives.
1Peter 2:21-25

3He is pure, and everyone who has this hope in him keeps themselves pure like Christ.
1 John 3:3
6So whoever lives in Christ does not continue to sin. If they continue to sin, they have never really understood Christ and have never known him. 7Dear children, don’t let anyone lead you into the wrong way. Christ always did what was right. So to be good like Christ, you must do what is right.
1 John 3:6-7

48 What I am saying is that you must be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
Matthew 5:48

14With one sacrifice Christ made his people perfect forever. They are the ones who are being made holy.
Hebrews 10:14

We all know that the Lord Jesus was and is perfect. For me there is no doubt what so ever. In fact He is the only one that ever walked the face of the earth without sin.
In some of the above verses we see that the word perfect is used a lot. Also we see that we are told to be like Jesus.
I believe there is a danger in this. I will explain:
To me Jesus came to earth to be a servant. He was without sin yes, but he also was the humblest of the humble.
Unfortunately, there are those that think and say they are better Christians than others. To me this is the ultimate snobbery. I think what happens is very simple. They read and heed. It says to be like Jesus. And we all know that Jesus was perfect without sin. So some forget about the serving part, and the ultimate act of grace, death on a cross, for us undeserving people. They just see with their eyes and not their hearts. They see that if they are to live like Jesus they must be perfect.
Again, there is none on earth that is without sin. Therefore, there is no perfect person outside of Jesus.
But in the minds of some, they live like Jesus, so they get to feeling like they are better, or perfect if you will.
Being like Jesus is not all about being perfect. He knows above all that we can not be perfect. It is the serving part that we need to get a handle on. We need to put Jesus first; others second, and ourselves last. We need to be ourselves and real. We need to look at the human side of Christ.
Love the Lord with all your heart mind and soul. And love others the same as you would have them love you.
Reference: Matthew 22:37-40

It really is all about the love.

Until next time go with the Lord first in all you do. And let love guide your life.
In Christ Tex

Ol Base

2010-02-01T21:48:00.001-04:00

February 1, 2010

Tex’s Thought Provokers 012

Ol Base

The fall of 1979 seems in some ways a long time ago. Yet, in other ways it was just yesterday. In those days, a Ranger Station looked like a Ranger Station. Log shaped boards for outside siding, a fire hose drying rack in the back yard. The inside of the building was dressed in stained knotty pine, walls and ceilings. The anemometer (wind speed gauge) was in miles per hour. It even smelled like a Ranger Station should. Rangers dressed in forest green shirts.
The New Brunswick Forest Service was born after world war two. The returning veterans were in need of jobs, and the forest was in need of management, thus, Maritime Forest Ranger School was born.
Back then the Forest Service was almost military in form. The school certainly was, and this remained. The school never really lost it’s form of training, a place of work, but the Forest Service slowly but surely changed as folks retired.
When I went to work for the Forest Service in the fall of 1979, there was still a very strong military mind set. Subtly, over the next few years change came and a way of life started to die.
Now in 2008, it has long since passed away. The change came with almost no notice. We seemed to wake up one morning and our old way of life had become new. We had a choice to make, learn to accept the change and get on board the train, or brace our feet and get left at the station.
From my point of view some of the change, and really the most of it has been positive. That is until we finally reached a point of stall in the new world of do more with less. We were taught at Ranger School to adapt and over come, improvise, get things done. No excuses, just get things done. We were trained to win. It was no wonder; the first Director of the Ranger School was a retired Marine.
So we kept getting things done no matter what was asked of us. We improvised and we adapted and we over came, for 25 years. But now, we have reached that point where we can not win, we are doomed to lose before we start. We have objectives that are unrealistic, unobtainable, and sometimes the goals can’t even be measured. Thus we can not succeed.
So lately, I have been thinking a lot about when I first started in the outfit. Those were the good old days. But then, I guess every generation says the same thing.

9 All things continue the way they have been since the beginning. The same things will be done that have always been done. There is nothing new in this life. Ecclesiastes 1:9

There was an older Ranger at Gordonsville when I first went there, and Basil was his name. He was a man of very few words until he got to know you. And believe me; it took a long time for him to get to know you. Yet, once you gained his trust, he was a true friend for life.
I can remember as if it were yesterday, when we first met and what transpired that day.
Ron, the District Ranger introduced me to Basil.
“Basil….this here is Randi….he is one of our new Wardens.”
Basil turned around very slowly, for every move he made was calculated and deliberate, he stuck out his hand for me to shake and said in a soft growly voice, “Ha’low.”
As I shook his hand I said, “How’s she goin?”
I remember thinking for such a huge man, he had a very soft hand shake, and I thought that a bit strange.
A few minutes went by and I had a cup of tea and a doughnut, as I enjoyed this, I listened with great enthusiasm to the shop talk of the other Rangers and Wardens.
Basil came to me and asked in a slow soft growly voice. “Whachya doin taday? Ya got any plans?”
I looked at him with what I know seemed like the look of a kid excited at Christmas time. “No sir…no plans as yet…no one’s said a word.”
“Well…good nough…ya wana go with me…an do some tallyin?”
A bit puzzled I said, “Sure…not quite sure what ta do….never done no tallyin before…but sure.”
Basil looked at me for a second or two then said, “That don’t make no difference…nothing to it…show ya when we git there….got yer lunch with ya?”
I said, “yes sir..sure do.”
So it was off to the woods with Basil I went. He never said a word to me for what seemed the longest time. To tell the truth, that was just a bit unnerving. We headed in toward the river, and when we got to the Lockhart Mill road we swung out by the mill in Bristol.
I had grown up in the Juniper and Nashwaak area, along with the Hartland area. I had been though the area we were going a few times, but I could not say that I knew it well.
On out by the Shikatehawk Bible Camp we drove along at the horrendous speed of what had to be at least 30 miles/hr, 50Km/hr for you metric folks. I doubt very much that ol Base (What I later would come to call him) ever went much faster than 50 miles/hr. He sure never did whenever I was with him. I guess you could say that he was calculating and deliberate with his driving, just the same as he was with the way he lived.
As I think about it now, I can only remember a couple of times when I ever seen him get excited, and his excited would be most everyone else’s mild uneasiness.
By now we had made it out to the base of Campbell Hill. We continued on until we came to Kenneth. From Kenneth, we went to Chapmanville. Still Base had not said a word. I was now in unseen territory for me; it was the first time I had been in this place. By and by we came to an old road to the left. Base bounced us through what I considered to be the equal of a Goat pass. Now I was totally lost. We finally came out in a clear cut and continued down a long steep hill. We came to a place called Murphy Corner.
Here we swung to the right, and Base finally said, “This here is Murphy Corner…were headin in ta Kilfoil…ya ever bin here?”
I said, “Okay…Murphy Corner…headin ta Kilfoil…no sir…don’t know this here country at all.”
Base gave me a long careful look, never said a word, and continued on.
Now I know that Base was sizing me up. It was just the way he was. He wanted to know what he could expect from me. We drove down over another long hill and at the bottom there was a road to the left, we bared to the right and Base said, “That over there…that’s the Range.” I was trying to remember all I was seeing and what little Base told me.
We continued on and soon we crossed a stream. Base said never changing his tone or expression, “that right there is the east branch of the Monquart.” We then stared to climb up wards for what seemed the longest time. I suppose it didn’t help that Base was now just merely crawling with the truck. He would every now and then out of the blue say names of brooks and roads, “that there Brook ….that’s Craig Brook.” A ways further, “that there road’ll take ya ta Trout Brook Lake.” then, “Randall Brook”.
We had been driving by cut operations along the way and then Base turned off to the right and parked on a higher piece of ground. He shut the truck off, looked down into a fairly new cut and said, “might as well eat R lunch right here….gittin close on ta nose bag time anyway….an this here is a good spot ta maybe see a deer er somethin…ya never know.”
Now I soon learned that Base had a ritual that he never varied from when it came to eating his lunch. It was a sight to behold. First he would lay out a double folded piece of paper towel, folded ever so carefully, and laid with care on the dash of the truck. Then out came the salt shaker, and all the tools for eating. Then the cheese laid on the towel neatly. The same as the cucumber, home made bread, meat, cookies, and a cup on the dash as well. Then he would dig out of his pack a plastic jug of water and fill the cup. There might have been the odd occasion that there would be something added, like an entire raw onion, or several radish, but there was always the other main things, that never changed.
He also loved Kippers and Sardines, and they are one of the few things I really don’t care for. When ol Base learned this, he chuckled, and he would bring them on purpose if he even thought there was a chance we would be working together. Those things sure do stink.
Any way, we were eating, and Base never said a word all though lunch. He ate the same way he did everything, slow, calculated, methodical, and deliberate.
As soon as he finished, he put things away the same way. Then he looked off towards a mountain and said while he nodded, “that there knob over yonder…that’s Porcupine Mountain.”
Then he took a king sized cameo cigarette and put it in his mouth, he stared at the mountain for what seemed the longest time, then very slow and careful, he lit the cigarette. Up until that point, I never knew he smoked.
Now this turn of events made me feel a bit more relaxed. It gave me the go ahead to light up too.
Now I know a body should not smoke, it is not good for you at all. But, it is something that I do and I know I am none the better for it. I have asked the Lord to be patient with me, and for some reason, He don’t seem all that riled up over it. In fact He directed me to the following.
2 Don’t change yourselves to be like the people of this world, but let God change you inside with a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to understand and accept what God wants for you. You will be able to know what is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect.
Romans 12:2

And then he led me to read;

5 Some people might believe that one day is more important than another. And others might believe that every day is the same. Everyone should be sure about their beliefs in their own mind.
Romans 14: 5

And then;

16 Don’t allow what is good for you to become something they say is evil. 17 In God’s kingdom,* what we eat and drink is not important. Here is what is important: a right way of life, peace, and joy—all from the Holy Spirit.*
Romans 14: 16-17

And then;

22 You should keep your beliefs about these things a secret between yourself and God. It is a blessing to be able to do what you think is right without feeling guilty.
Romans 14: 22

7 Christ accepted you, so you should accept each other. This will bring honor to God.
Romans 15: 7

And Then;

10 Jesus called the people to him. He said, “Listen and understand what I am saying. 11 It is not what people put in their mouth that makes them wrong. It is what comes out of their mouth that makes them wrong.”
Matthew 15:10-11

Now right here, I want to make it clear that I am not trying to make excuses for myself.
Following is the point I want to make.
I still know that it is bad for my health, and I shouldn’t do it, but I am not encouraging others to do it.
Another way to put it I guess is this. I don’t feel guilty about it. And I think Jesus would let me know if it was that displeasing to him.
I wonder, which is worse, those that smoke, or those that look down on those that do?

1 “Don’t judge others, and God will not judge you. 2 If you judge others, you will be judged the same way you judge them. God will treat you the same way you treat others. 3 “Why do you notice the small piece of dust that is in your friend’s eye, but you don’t notice the big piece of wood that is in your own? 4 Why do you say to your friend, ‘Let me take that piece of dust out of your eye’? Look at yourself first! You still have that big piece of wood in your own eye.
Matthew 7: 1-4

On top of all these things, I figure, that smoking is likely not near as bad as some things a body could be doing.
All that said, I wonder if there are things that folks do that are just as bad as smoking, yet not viewed with the same dislike, for example, over eating.

7 The Jewish leaders continued to ask him their question. So he stood up and said, “Anyone here who has never sinned should throw the first stone at her.” John 8:7

Did you ever wonder how many folks stay away from church just on account of being judged? I can tell you that there are a mighty lot of them. I know because I have been out there amongst them.
I can also tell you that there are a lot of good folks that would come to church and give their life to Jesus. And they steer clear because of legalism. Another reason they stay away is because they view some folks as not being real. In other words, they view some as Sunday morning Christians.
It is my belief that Jesus loves all folks the same. He don’t give a hoot as to whether you have millions of dollars and appear to be a saint, or if you are just an ordinary person being real. He loves us all.
I know for sure in my heart that He looks down on people that cause other people harm. Now there are many ways to harm someone. Hitting them up side the head with a baseball bat is one way. Encouraging them to smoke or drink or do drugs is another. Showing no respect for another person is another way. Judging a person is another. And one of my long time pet peeves is, putting others down or saying mean things to them. Those hurts are deep and very long lasting. Words are sometime a lot sharper than swords. Words are a lot like shooting a bullet from a gun, once said, you can’t reach out and take them back. Just the same as when you pull the trigger on a gun, you can’t reach out and bring back the bullet.
If you get shot though, and you are fortunate enough to live, the Doctor goes in and he finds the bullet and takes it out. He also repairs the damage. But tell me, how do you find a wounding word or words inside a person. How do you remove that hurt? I suppose you could go to some Sigmund Froid type, he might give you a pill to feel better about things. He might be able to get you to talking, and that may help. But the hurt is really still there.
There is one way, and one way only. At least as I see it. Give the pain to Jesus. Forgive the sayer of the words. And you will find, that the Lord can remove the pain.

We then went to work scaling logs and pulp. Base showed me what to do and I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the day.
In my life, I have had many great people to teach me and lead me. There are many that I consider great mentors of mine. My Dad is my hero. He is not perfect, no one is. I could never asked for a better Dad. He is my greatest teacher, my friend, and I love him dearly. Some of the other mentors I have been fortunate to have are;
Mum Charlene, both Grand Mothers Laura and Kate, Grand Father Earl, Uncle Richard (Old Buddy Unc), Aunt Dianne, Uncle Gennie, Aunt Shirley, Uncle Roy, Great Aunt Ella, Great Uncle Jap, and I could go on for ever. These are all folks that I have learned much from. There are many.
Dad, Gramps, and Uncle Richard were family members that taught me things about the woods and nature. I have had enough other teachers that taught me things about the forest and nature to fill several pages with names alone. I have been and am a very fortunate man.
Even though I learned things about the woods and nature from the best, I would have to say outside of my family members; Basil was one of my greatest teachers. He taught me things from a technical and common sense view. When he dealt with people, he was teaching me without even knowing.
I have a great many Basil stories, and I am sure that if you continue to read my writings, you will see Basil turn up several times.
Now when Basil retired, things were never quite the same.
As it is in life, things moved on at a fast pace after Base retired. My good buddy and partner Steven and I were always going to go and visit ol Base. We never got around to it.
Out of the blue and very unexpectedly, we got a call at the office; Base had passed away from a massive heart attack.
He had just about one full year of retirement in when he passed.
We tend to put things off thinking things will stay the same forever. Here on earth, in this dynamic life, we find that time waits for no person. We are all so wrapped up in our busy lives, that we end up taking for granted a lot of things. These reclusive habits are easy to get used too. Then we end up becoming numb to things that happen around us. This leads a person to start subconsciously thinking that unless it affects me directly, we end up appearing like we do not care.

I am going to make every effort to not put things off. When I get a chance to do things I will do them.

For this time I will leave you with the following.

2 1Think about what we have in Christ: the encouragement he has brought us, the comfort of his love, our sharing in his Spirit,* and the mercy and kindness he has shown us. If you enjoy these blessings,
2 then do what will make my joy complete: Agree with each other, and show your love for each other. Be united in your goals and in the way you think. 3 In whatever you do, don’t let selfishness or pride be your guide. Be humble, and honor others more than yourselves.
4 Don’t be interested only in your own life, but care about the lives of others too. Philippians 2: 1-4

Until Next Time; I pray that you do not put off for tomorrow what you can do today. Always be ready. Tomorrow may not come. In Christ Tex.

There is Always the River

2010-01-30T20:56:00.000-04:00

January 30, 2010

Tex’s Thought Provokers 011

There is Always the River

When I was a young boy, knee high to nearly everything, I can remember that feeling of freshness. That feeling of experiencing things for the very first time. That wonder of youth when there were very few complex matters or bad things in the world to think about. Mine was a type of Huck Finn existence; with as far back as I can remember, the forest always being a part of my life.
And then, there was the river. I grew up on the headwaters of the Main Southwest Miramichi River. The hours turned into days, the days gave way to the weeks, the weeks revealed the months, the months turned to years, and time slipped by very quickly. Quietly with no amount of fanfare, I blinked my eyes and I was a man. At least that is what it seems like now. At the time, I can remember always waiting and wishing for something. “I can hardly wait until I can swim, then I will be able too.”… Then that day came and went and the wait was replaced with another “I can hardly wait for”, there always was something.
I realize now that when we are young we wish away the time always waiting for something, and usually that day came. When we get older, we wish we could go back to those times, knowing we never can. That is when, it becomes clear, that we take much for granted, and we seem to dwell in the world of “If only”. Yet, we then wake up from our dreams and realize that hindsight really is twenty-twenty. It is not just a saying that our Parents or Grand Parents said. It was true.

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference." --Reinhold Niebuhr, The Serenity Prayer

I can understand the ways of our Native brothers, they thought the earth was their mother and they were brothers with the bear and moose. The earth provided for them and river provided for them. I can understand why they held these things with such high regard.
So I ask, can something as simple as a river teach us anything? Can the forest teach us? Can the abundance of wildlife that call these places home teach us?
The answer is very clear to me, yes. That is if we take the time to see with our hearts and not just our eyes. For our eyes are very deceiving. They play tricks on our mind. One person sees a fully grown mature Eastern White Pine with their eyes. They see the value of that tree and perhaps what they can make from it. There is nothing wrong with this, provided the tree is used to its best end. However, another person sees the tree with their eyes as well, they see the same things, but they also see other things, like the story the tree can tell, the beauty it adds to the earth, the lives of the creatures that depend on that tree. It is then a person begins to see with their heart as well as their eyes.
When I was in Ranger School, there came a day when we were out on the wood lot practicing and learning about “Selection Cutting”. This should not be confused with “Selective Cutting” for there is a great difference. Selection is the harvesting of trees when they are the very best they will ever be, taking at the same time the less valuable wood, to give the best room to grow, leaving a legacy of good trees behind. Selective is the harvesting of the very best and leaving the rest, also called “High-Grading”. The former is wise consumptive use generating good wood for many generations to come. The latter is a one time profit, leaving behind trash wood for many generations.
At any rate, we were harvesting some Red Spruce. We were cutting only the very largest and oldest trees. They were magnificent, as they stood towering over many of the other trees below them.
I began to think of all the things those trees had survived. Wildlife nibbling on their young shoots when they were small. Infestations of many insects such as the Spruce Bud Worm, and the Spruce Saw Fly. As they grew they became resistant to diseases. They were witness to many wild fires, even the Great Miramichi fire in October of 1825. Hundreds of storms with very high winds and lightning galore, sometimes in winter, ice storms that left their branches hanging heavy.
Yes, they withstood many things. Had it not been for a firm root system, that solid foundation, they would have succumbed to something. And now, here we were, cutting them.
I said to one of my mentors standing next to me; “You know…there is something very sad about seeing these trees cut” He gave me a very stern look and wagged his finger in my face admonishing me for my statement; “You know these trees are the best they will ever be…it is time for them to be cut…if we wait any longer…their value will be decreased because of the rot…they have reached the age of culmination… if you had been paying attention…you would know these things..”
I know I looked like a whipped pup. At Ranger School, if one questioned or argued in a way that might be perceived the wrong way, you were labelled an Anarchist bent on Revolution. I thought quickly as he stood waiting for my response. I was always taught that honesty is the best policy, so humbly I said; “Yes Sir…I know that what you say is all true…I agree with it as well…its… just these trees are so magnificent…perfect…it seems a shame to cut them…even though I know we must…do I have to feel good about it?” His hardened face grew immediately soft and warm, his eyes no longer felt like they were burning holes through me. Then he smiled. I was relieved. He said after thinking for a bit; “Hmm…I guess we really did teach you something here.” And smiling he walked away.
No, the forest or the river, the animals, fish, or insects, do not speak to me as we humans speak to each other. They communicate in ways that many never have the chance to realize. I am still learning their language for it takes a lifetime to learn.
Time, we are living in a time of hurry. The faster we can get to something, accomplish it, and move on to the next thing, the better. We do not know how to relax. We do not know how to see with our hearts. There just is not enough time. From one goal to the next we go with very little regard for anything around us. We do not even take time to consider our neighbours let alone nature. There is just not enough time. Oh, when we retire we will have lots of time. We will consider these things then, when things slow down for us. Hummm, dream on, for most of the retired folks that I know are busier than they ever were. By the time you realize that you should have made time, it has run out, and there is no time left. We can not get it back.
Time Out!!!
There is Connie the mail Lady! I have been waiting for my new bible to come in the mail. I have been waiting with great enthusiasm! I can hardly wait!......
Wait, hold on just a minute. See, there I go again. There is always some reason to wish away the time.
No, my bible never came, but instead, a letter from the Newburgh College of the Bible came. I am thinking about some on line courses.
One expected thing has turned into a totally unexpected pleasant surprise. I have been accepted, if I can raise the money, I can earn a Bachelor of Arts in Pastoral Studies.
At this point, I will give you another example of seeing with your heart.
Like I said earlier, I lived a Huck Finn kind of existence. The river was my life. Whether I was fishing for trout and salmon with my dad, or swimming, or just canoeing, I was at one with my brother the river.
Each and every day was a new and exciting adventure. Yes, I spent time on the river nearly every day. And if I allowed it, it might have become boring. After all, once you had gone down the river a few times, what newness did it hold? Well, I can tell you, that every time down the river, although much the same as the time before, it was always different. Each trip was filled with a newness, the newness of a different day.
Have you ever thought about the rivers? I mean, they run endlessly, thousands upon thousand of gallons per minute, day after day, year after year. They never seem to stop. They get high with rain and snow melt, they get low with the absence of moisture, but they never stop. Just having these thoughts alone allow you to start to see with more than just your eyes.
Many times I have poled down the river and seen wildlife, the river being one of their sources of water and food. A lot of the time the animals that I encountered were the same critters.
So come and take a journey down the river with me, and I’ll show you what I mean about seeing with your heart.
Here are the rules.
First of all, we have to go back in time to about when I was sixteen.
I will be doing all the talking.
You do the listening.
Keep your eyes and ears open, and let your mind concentrate on the river. Put all other thoughts out of your head.
Now then, let me paint the picture for you.
It is now about 7:00am. It is July. The sky is clear. It is cool for this time of year, with absolutely no wind. There is a mist rising from the Bogan. I’m standing in the rear of the canoe steadying the canoe with the boat pole. We call a canoe a boat.
I’m dressed in a short sleeved shirt and jeans. And for manly foot wear…well… I’m in my bare feet.
You are on the bank under the white birch, spruce, and fire trees, next to a huge rock with a crack in it. You are waving your hands around as if you wanted to fly. It goes like this.
“What you waving at?” “Flies…ya there a bit bad this morning…but don’t worry…they’ll soon be gone.” “Now you come down an git in the boat…you sit in that there boat chair in the front.” “No…don’t you worry none…I got the boat…we won’t upend if you do as I tell ya.” “That’s it….now just sit still…here we go.”
I shove the canoe’s stern out and you can hear the growl of the bottom of the bow as it leaves the gravel on shore. I see that you are hanging onto the gun walls with white knuckles. You’ve never been in a canoe before, so your mind fills with the horror stories you’ve heard about people always upsetting in a canoe. And to make it worse, I am standing up in the back. You figure that you’re bound to get wet.
“Now then…just relax…I will speak real soft…just above a whisper. Don’t make no sudden moves…jus listen…there’s no need to worry…we ain’t a gona upend…as long as you sit still. Now, the reason I will speak in a soft voice is…I wana be quiet. Voice travels fer a mighty long ways down the river…so you keep yer voice down too. Now if I tap ya on the shoulder with the boat pole…that means don’t move and don’t say nothin…I heard somethin… an if we wana see it…we gotta be quiet.”
“Now ya see that there big ol rock?...that there is called Governor’s Table… it got its name years ago…ol Governor Carleton usta come out here fishing trout. When he’d git to that ol rock…well he’d up an have his lunch on it.”
Now the canoe is gently drifting down stream. The water is crystal clear, and you can see the bottom very plainly. Little fish are jumping out of the water next to the bushes that line the right hand side of the river; they are having breakfast on a host of different insects on the water. Off in the distance you can hear birds singing at least a dozen different songs.
“Look ta yer left up there on the sand bar…them there is turtle tracks…hey!...look, there’s one now… under that willow bush…see it?” “Yes sir…ain’t that somethin…tain’t offen ya git a chance ta see one…but there he is…big as life.”
By now we have drifted down to the first turn, it swings 90 degrees to the right.
“Hear that there roarin off in the distance behind us?...that there is up ta the tree nursery on Irvin ground. They’s testing the water bombers…they do that every day…ta make sure if they’s a fire….they’ll be ready ta go.” “What’s that?....Ya…sounds like there right beside us…See this here river is crookeder than a rams horn…twouldn’t be no more than a mile er so to where they are….up above us on the south and north branch…ya could almost throw a rock from the south an hit the north….they’s places where the dang thing almost comes back to meet itself…on both branches. Why if I was over at birch stub pool on the north branch fishin…an dad let out one of his yelps from the camp…I dare say I could hear imm…real plane. It’s no more an a little ways as the crow flies…but it’s about two miles by river ta git there from the camp.”
Ahead down stream you can see a small green camp, and just this side of it there is a weathered barn like building. To the left the water is very shallow; you wonder how the boat is floating at all.
“That there green camp that ya see is the Federal Fisheries camp, I don’t know if ol Jack’ll be there er not…that buildin just before it on the right is Fred’s work shop…years ago…it usta be an Inn…then it was a fish hatchery fer a time….then Fred moved in and made er into a work shop.” “Him and some his kids do a lot of different things in that there shop…they build snowshoes…fix canoes…an ol Fred…he’s a taxidermist.” “Listen to the river now fer a piece…she’s talkin.”
We go for a few boat lengths and just listen to the river.
“Dya hear it…?” “Ya didn’t…ya those danged ol ravens are a tad noisy alright…ya I know the sounds of the highway off to the right are there too…ya jus gotta tune them other things out…lets give er another try…now listen real close.”
As small whirl pools twist around the rocks and gurgles, and the water happily babbles over the shallow gravel bar, small little waves snap against the boat, the canoe pole thubs it way into the water. The sunlight dances like a billion diamonds on the water ahead of us. A slight puff of wind stirs the surface of the water like a comb bushes hair.
“Well…dya hear that time?” “No…well give it some time and yer ear will git tuned to it.”
You notice of a sudden that there are no more flies. They are gone. And so are your white knuckles.
“Ya well…when ya git out on the water away from the shore a ways…they seem ta disappear…not all of emm mind ya…but enough so’s ya notice a difference.” “See that there flat rock ahead of ya…that’s right…that’s the one….they’s a lamprey eel nest on the lower side of it…may hap we could see the cussed thing….hateful creatures they are….one of the Ol Fellers lesser creations.”

Lamprey eels run with the Atlantic salmon, they are parasites. They have a suction cup mouth and they will just latch onto the sides of the salmon and it seems like they get a free ride up stream. However, that is not all that is being accomplished. Inside their mouth are rows of hook like teeth. They first use the suction to hook to their host then the teeth help hold it there, in this case the salmon. Then while they get a free ride up stream, they devour the salmon’s blood at the same time.
“Yes sir…there is the ugly ol thing now…cussed things…they have tried in rivers such as the Connecticut…ta git rid of the things cause the salmon population was all but gone…but them scientist fellers found out that the larva of the eel…when he is a little feller…can last up to seven years….so they give er up fer a lost cause.”
I give the canoe a little extra shove to get away from the creature’s nest.
“Cussed things…if ya put the pole in their nest where they’re layin their eggs…they git real protective…the cussed things el come right up outa the water at ya….jus like a cussed ol snake….ewww I don’t like emm.”
By now we are adjacent to Fred and Dora’s house. Usually there are several canoes tied up along the shore, but not today. Everyone is down river fishing.
As we pass by the warden shack, old jack is there and he comes out.
“Hey Jack how’s she goin taday?” Jack smiles as he rolls a cigarette and says, “Not too bad I guess…wha chya doin taday?”
“Oh were jus goin fer a little boat ride down the river a piece…showin my friend here the river.”
“Ain’t chya gonna fish none?...they’s a real good run on.”
“Naw…I might go down later…jus wana enjoy the river fer now.”
“Well okay…ya have a good trip then…we’ll be talkin to ya”
“Sure nough…I’ll be down ta see ya some time soon…an we’ll have a say.”
“Good nough”
By now we are starting around a slight bend to the left.
“This here is what we call bat ally…we won’t see any taday…but when we go down fishin in the evenin…an come back in the dark… the air is filled with the little goombers.” “What’s that…no they don’t bother ya none….they is a eattin flies…an anything that eats flies is a friend a mine…oh every once in a blue moon…one’ll make a slight error in judgement…an wack ya in the side of the head…but it is a bigger surprise ta imm than it is ta you…an he sure didn’t mean too.”
You notice that the bottom of the river here is starting to change a bit. There are bigger rocks and more of them. There is a lot less gravel. The weeds on the rocks have changed as well.
Off to the left, as the canoe is manoeuvred between a row of large rocks, a noise is heard. It sounds like a loud swallow, only much louder.
“What’s that…oh that there is a Meadow Hen…it’s over yonder in the Bogan off to the left…It’s a heron like bird…only smaller…it lives on frogs an such…folks here bouts call emm either a pile driver…or some call emm a meder hen.”
Just then the sound of a man laughing can be heard. It is a loud deep laugh. I mean very loud, unique, like you never have heard before.
“Well…that there will be ol Harley….one of Fred’s sons….sounds like he’s at the Forks Pool.” “See them camps up there on your right…they bin there a long time….this place is called the Forks Pool because it is where the north branch meets the south branch…many a fish have bin caught here…that down below is what we call the main river.”
As we drift by the Forks, Harley and I exchange a wave, and we continue on. There are two more folks fishing at the Upper Barr Pool in the main river.
“Yes sir...that there was ol Harley…he might not look it…but he is a powerful man…works in the woods ya know….they’s a set a rapids a way down river called Big Louie…an Harley is the only one I ever heard tell of that could pole a canoe up through emm.”
“Now them fellers down below fishin the Barr…that’s another of ol Fred’s sons…Freddy…er Fred Jr…but folks jus call imm Freddy…that feller with imm is ol Don…he owns a camp up there….that there grey one at the top over lookin the river.”
I pass the time of day with the boys, and ol Don tells me exactly why the fish are not taking. Freddy, he is a bit quiet around strangers, so he does not say much.
We continue on.
“That there rock behind us there…the one up next to Freddy…that’s Lem’s Rock…I don’t know it fer sure…but I guess it got it’s name when some feller name of Lem dove off it…he went straight ta the bottom an busted open his head on another rock….seems like they’s a lot a rocks got their name that way.”
Below us another canoe is anchored out in the middle of the river. There is one man in the boat fishing the sunken rocks at what is known as the Lower Barr Pool.
The river now is somewhat wider than it is in either the south or north branch.
“See that camp in there on the left…In there in that Bogan…that there is Stillwell’s Bogan….That there camp belongs to the Stillwells…over there to the right….that’s their boat landin…they use a boat to git ta the camp.” “Right in there in the bushes ta the left….that there is where ol Fred and Dora lived in a small house when they first came here from Cloverdale…they’s nothin much left ta the ol house…it’s all fell in now.”
The man in the boat fishing is another man named Fred; he also owns a camp up at the Forks.
Fred and I exchange hello’s and I ask how the fishing is. He tells me there are a few around, but he has had no luck. Onward we go.
As the river widens out even more, there is a long straight stretch to cover.
“That there noise ya hear…that is the train…the tracks is jus up there a short distance in the woods.” “See that big ol Pine tree up there on the right bank…see that big limb there about mid way up the tree…well that is where they is a big ol Great Horned Owl a settin most evenins…he’s a big ol feller…big nough ta make off with a fawn deer…yes sir…that’s right…no foolin…he’s that big….I know I wouldn’t want imm stickin those big ol talons in me.”
We go for some distance now not saying a word, just drifting. Listening to the river talk.
“Were a comin up on the Big Pool now…that there in the canoe ahead there…that’s ol Fred and Dora…the Big Pool is one of their favourites….I’ll have to be extra careful going by them….Dora don’t like it none when they’s too much disturbance on the water ta scare the fish…an she’ll let a body know it too…that there big ol rock there to the left of their boat is what they call Indian Rock…when we git right across from it….you’ll be able to see the Indian’s face an his head dress….right off the point of that there rock is where I caught my first salmon…I was seven years old…I don’t know who was more excited….me er dad…one things fer sure…when we came back up the river that day…Ol Fred was a waitin on the bank by his shop ta see what we caught….he said he knew we’d caught somethin…cause he could hear the hollerin all the way up ta his shop…an that there is a long ways.” “I guess that us fellers…specially dad…is quite loud…even more so when we git a bit excited.”
I was extra careful as we drifted by ol Fred and Dora. Fred always smiled and seemed happy to see me, and we exchanged greetings. Dora never said too much. That was not unusual, for that was in her nature. As I said my so longs to Fred, we were now in what is called the Dungeon Pool. It is very deep and wide, and the river seems to be hardly moving at all.
“This here is the Dungeon…it always has fish in it…it is real deep and it has a bunch a cold springs a bubblin up from the bottom…I never did see any one ever ketch a fish in this here pool…it’s a good holdin pool though…an as the fish ease up inta the Big Pool…that’s when they’ll take…while they’s in the Dungeon though…they jus like ta beat an thrash around and play…they ain’t interested in no fly hook fer what ever the reason.”
Just then as if almost on que, a salmon about twelve pounds or so exploded out of the water snaking through the air.
“Dya see that?!?!...Ol Silver Sides imm self…that’s what I call the salmon…Ol Silver Sides.” “That there was a nice fish…bout twelve pounds I’d guess…they sure are a sight ta behold.” “That there camp over there on the left is Dalton’s camp….bin there fer years….the train tracks is jus on the other side of it…from here on in we’ll be real quiet…they’s not too many folks that come down this far…an if we go easy… may hap we’ll see some other critters”
Farther on down and steady we go. Quiet, listening to the river talk.
I could see on the far bank way down, two moose. This would be fun.
You feel the tap of the boat pole on your shoulder. You know that is the signal to be very quiet and still.
I whisper just loud enough for you to hear.
“Down below us…two moose….see emm?...it looks like ol Thunder Foot and Grey Rump.”
I always named the critters that I knew I had seen often. Thunder Foot was a big bull with a good rack of horns. Grey Rump was another smaller bull, I had seen the pair several times.
Now if you remain very still you can get right up to the moose, and sometimes go right by them without them really giving you other than a good look. If you are really lucky, you can pass close enough to see the flies crawling on their nose.
I always had this thing where I imagined what they were saying to each other. In my mind the moose conversation went something like this.
“Hey TF….what’s that?”
“Emmmm where?”
“No not down there ya big galoot…up the water…see it?”
“Emmmm yup…looks like an ol tree… stump an all…musta washed out from up above.”
“It don’t look like no tree I ever did see…are you sure?”
“Emmmm yup…like I said…it’s a tree…now let me git back ta my eattin…an quit yer danged fool frettin.”
“Ya well…I ain’t so sure…somthin jus ain’t right...I’m gonna keep my eye peeled on that thing.”
“Emmmm, yup…go ahead…you do that…me… I’m gonna eat….let me know if it turns out ta be some sort a human boogie man…emmmm you got a over active magination….silly ol grey rump….I think that there is why ya got that grey rump…all your grey matter….what little ya had…done got relocated to the proper place…emmmm yuck emmmm yuck…I made a funny.”
“It ain’t funny TF….what if it is a man with a boom stick….you remember what happened ta ol buddy Big Bell last year….he thought there was nothin that could hurt imm…yup a real bull of the woods…jus stood there an looked all tough an the like while that there two legged vermin up with that boom stick and pointed it at Big Bell…then we heard the boom…an Big Bell roared loud and fell…remember…we run off….an that there was the last we ever did see a Big Bell.”
“Emmmm you worry too much lunk head…emmmm I tell ya it’s a danged ol tree….now leave me alone…I’m eattin!”
“Ya….I’ll leave ya alone…but I’m gonna watch that thing mighty close.”
By now we were right beside the moose. They had looked at us several times, but we didn’t move. As we went by very close, close enough to see their eye lashes, they both just stood there chewing away staring at us. As the sun shone on their wet faces, and water dripped from their neck and chin. It was one of those perfect moments.
I had moments like this nearly every day. But for someone who had never seen it before, well, it was really quite something. I don’t know which I enjoyed more, the look on my friends face or the moose. It was a toss up.
Now well below the moose, I spoke softly once again.
“What dya think of that”?
“No…your right….that’s not somethin ya see everyday…this here spot is Upper Rocky Bend…it’ another good pool…jus look at them there Pine trees….ain’t they beauties?...that there one in the middle…it’s bin hit by lightning…at least three times that I know of….see the big ol cracks down it’s trunk?....look over there ta yer right….it’s a Kingfisher settin in that there alder….an look over ta yer left…it’s an ol fish eattin Merganser…she’s got all her brood a little ducks with er…cussed things…eat their weight in fish every day…but…I guess they gotta live too.”
Mean while I looked over my shoulder to take another look at the moose. I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself. They were sondering back up into the woods. My thoughts went quickly back to their imagined conversation.
“Emmmm come on ya ol worry wart lets go over to the pond an see what’s goin on there….I wonder if ol Clyde’ll be there…ain’t seen imm in a week er two….I toll ya that there was a tree…emmmm yuck …emmmm yuck…human…emmmm yuck….boom stick emmmm yuck….ya comin?”
“Ya well…some day yer gonna thank me fer bein suspicious…what if I ain’t there ta keep watch fer ya….boom…an that’ll be all she wrote for ol Thunder Foot….funny guy…you’ll see someday.”
As they disappeared from sight, I imagined them still mumbling away.
We were now in the main pool at Rocky Bend.
“Now this here is Rocky Bend Pool…it looks a bit like the Dungeon…but they’s a difference…over there next to the tall grass…the water is a taste lower…they’s a spring that puts in right there…the fish lay right there… I’ve hooked a lot a fish right there….it’s a good spot.” “See that there dead Pine….ya that’s the one…see the holes in it?….yup them holes was made by a Pileated Woodpecker…ya know them there fellers with the big ol red head.”
As we make our way around a slight bend to the left, we can look down towards China Town.
“Now ya see all them there rocks ahead of ya…that there is China Town…it got it’s name cause there is as many rocks down there as they is them there Chinese fellers….look there’s a deer and an it’s got a little feller with it…we could sneak up on the two a them jus like we did with the moose….but what dya say we leave emm be…were down the brook a fair piece…an the big fellers is startin ta eat the little fellers…huh…oh that means I’m startin ta git a taste hungry…what dya say we head back now?”
We make our way back up stream. Poling up to the camp takes a while, but we finally make it. Just in time for a real good breakfast. I hope you had a good trip.

If only life were that simple. I don’t remember when it was, I must have been fairly young, when I began to realize that there was a complete different world out there besides the one I knew on the river. I can remember being at the farm where my Grand Parents and Aunt and Uncle lived. Watching the evening news night after night. We would be setting there together, Gramps, Gram, ol buddy Unc that’s what I called my Uncle Richard, and Aunt Dineny (Dianne). Walter Cronkite would give the death toll from that day in a place called Viet Nam. It seemed like a far away place, but I knew that many young men were dying there every day. At the time I had no idea as to why, but they were dying none the less. The looks on the grown up faces was cold, almost numb. I can remember being scared. Feeling like this is real; it was not just another war movie. Some call it a loss of childhood innocence.
As I got older, I soon learned that there was a lot more to life than my Huck Finn existence. The world was a very tough and sometimes cruel place. Amid all the beauty of God’s creation, there were many terrible things that a person had to face. I guess they call it growing up, becoming a man. And it all happened way too fast as I look back on it now. Back then it couldn’t seem to happen fast enough.
Time goes by very quickly and we are here for such a very short time. I wonder why we have to fight and argue over such trivial things?
I wonder why we have to hurt one and other?
I wonder why we as humans, with so called intelligence, can’t see the simplicity of life, the wonder of all of God’s creations?
I ask myself over and over where can I go, what place will I ever find where I can just find God’s simplicity?
And then it comes to me. It has been there for all of my life. I ignored it many times. But it never went away. And I say to myself, it is as plain as the age spots I now have.
There is always the river. Until next time, pray often and seek guidance from the Lord. In Christ Tex

Question the What Not the Who

2010-01-30T01:14:00.000-04:00

January 30, 2010

Tex’s Thought Provokers 010

Question The What Not The Who

Did you ever wonder why we feel so let down and helpless when it comes to getting our thoughts heard? Be it a boss, politician, spouse, child, Doctor, or any number of other people who do not seem to want to be bothered. It seems like what we have to say and think does not seem to matter. No one really wants to hear. They almost view it as complaining. When perhaps, it is not just complaining, it just might be they feel they can help. Or they may need help.
After a long period of time of hearing the same answers to our questions or ideas, the same thing over and over and not getting any results, a person becomes used to the idea of no one caring, and nothing we have to say matters.
Think of it this way, if you have a dog and every time you walk by him you slap his ears. Very quickly, the dog will come to expect a slap every time he sees you.
In other words, again, what you live with you learn.
As I see it, we are all in the same boat, and we seem to be paddling against the current with every facet of our lives. We don’t seem to be making much headway. If we get to a point where we start to gain a bit, the current gets stronger and shoves us back down river even further than when we started.
For especially the last twenty five years, we have been witness to a constant barrage of do more with less. Cut back here, cut back there, and no one at the top seems to listen to any of the things we are saying, nor do we see any cuts at the top, and we just round up and take it. It seems to me that is what the very rich want us to do.
I feel as though everyone counts, and everyone should have a say and feel as though they are being heard, and further, contributing.
We are like the slapped dog at this point; we just come to expect more and more of the same.
In this country right now, we have the very rich and the poor. The rich are getting richer so they do not want it to change. Thus they make fun, put down, give lip service to any and all that might want to see some positive change. The poor keep getting the same answers, nothing in big bunches, and the harder they try the worse things seem to get. So they don’t change because they have given up hope on expecting anything different. So they grumble away, and round up and take it, saying there is nothing that I can do, or no one cares and why bother if this is the case. Or one of the key indicators to hopelessness, vote for who? Why? They are all the same, there is no difference.
Picture a judge in a court room. Day after day he sees the same thing. The dregs of society marching in and out of his court. He gets used to this. He is limited to the decisions he can make because of regulations. So after a while, it becomes the same old thing to him. He gives out the same fines and sentences over and over according to regulation and all the time he knows he will likely see the same individual again in the future. And usually he is right.
As much as he is first frustrated, then numb to the situation, think of how police officers feel when they get caught up in the system, especially after spending a lot of time and effort corralling the culprit.
They can get frustrated fairly quick too.
To me the system is just not working and there does not seem to be anyone who is offering anything better. We spend millions on gun registration, which is designed to stop crime. It does nothing of the sort. Criminals don’t registrar their weapons. It does nothing to take weapons off the street. We have had to register hand guns in Canada for many years. If I had the money, I could make a quick trip to Saint John and fill a half ton truck full of hand guns, none that are registered. That is if I had the connections.
A young RCMP officer told me once that we needed gun control. I asked him why. He told me that when he is going to a domestic dispute, he wanted to know if there were any guns there ahead of time. I simply said, young feller, whenever I went into any kind of situation where there was a potential for violence, I always expected the worst and hoped for the best. I always expected a weapon of some kind. That way I was always ready. He just looked at me like a dog hearing a funny noise. I know he had no idea what I meant. He never said anything else, yet I could tell he thought I was crazier than horse fly caught between a window and the screen.
So on it goes from one day to the next, unchanging with very little hope of anything getting better. Every where we go we hear the same things; it is only going to get worse.
But I for one do not buy into this. This can change, and each of has the power to control what we do. This is one of the benefits of living in a free society. It is just a matter of starting with ourselves, with an attitude of; I will not compromise my beliefs. I will say my piece, and I will not fear what others think of me. Because really, when it all comes down to the bare bones of it all, we do care and sometimes fear what others think of us. Oh, we can appear big and tough and what not, saying I don’t care, but inside you do. Some folks can hide it better than others, but it is there.

2 Don’t change yourselves to be like the people of this world, but let God change you inside with a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to understand and accept what God wants for you. You will be able to know what is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect.
Romans 12:2

So the system is not working. No one seems to have the answers to make things better. To me the answer is crystal clear. Jesus!

So this is what I am going to try to do. I will try my best to do the things I say I am going to do, and I will try my best to do what the Lord leads me to do.
· I will put the Lord first in all the things I do in my life.
· I will Love the Lord with all my heart and soul and mind as best as I possibly can. And Love others as best as I possibly can. 37 Jesus answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and most important command. 39 And the second command is like the first: ‘Love your neighbour the same as you love yourself.’ 40 All the law and the writings of the prophets* take their meaning from these two commands.” Matthew 22:37-40.
· This one will be very hard, but I will do my best. I will not judge others. For who am I to think that I can say what others think and say and do is right or wrong. 1“Don’t judge others, and God will not judge you. 2 If you judge others, you will be judged the same way you judge them. God will treat you the same way you treat others. Matthew 7:1-2.
· I will try with all that is in me to be forgiving. 22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, you must forgive them more than seven times. You must continue to forgive them even if they do wrong to you seventy-seven times.” Matthew 18:22
· I will try my best to show mercy. 36 Give love and mercy the same as your Father gives love and mercy. Luke 6:36
· I will give of myself as much as I can. 38 Give to others, and you will receive. You will be given much. It will be poured into your hands—more than you can hold. You will be given so much that it will spill into your lap. The way you give to others is the way God will give to you.” Luke 6:38
· I will try my best to think of others first and not be selfish and prideful trying all the time to be humble. 3 In whatever you do, don’t let selfishness or pride be your guide. Be humble, and honour others more than yourselves. Philippians 2:3
· I am going to do my best to eliminate from my vocabulary and thoughts; “You Should, You Must, You Are, If You Don’t, If You Are, or any other thought, or thing I say, that could be seen as telling others what they should or shouldn’t do with regard to their beliefs.
· I am going to do my best to fill my heart with love. 34 “I give you a new command: Love each other. You must love each other just as I loved you. 35 All people will know that you are my followers if you love each other.” John 13:34-35. 4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. 5 Love is not rude, it is not selfish, and it cannot be made angry easily. Love does not remember wrongs done against it. 6 Love is never happy when others do wrong, but it is always happy with the truth. 7 Love never gives up on people. It never stops trusting, never loses hope, and never quits. 1Corinthians 13: 4-7.

I ask myself if I should just fall into the mould and not say or do anything that might upset the norm? Should I be willing to just accept everything? Am I not condoning things if I say nothing?
I think it is very possible to be all the things that the Lord wants us to be without judging.
On fires we often have after action reviews to determine what went well, and what can be improved in the future. We do this as a vital part of the learning process. We have one very important rule when we do this. We question the what not the who.
So I will always likely question the what. What is working well I will embrace. What is not working well I will try to change.
Perhaps I am stubborn; perhaps I will be labelled a boat rocker. I am not saying that I am out to break the law. I am not saying that I think nothing is right. But when I see something that is being done, and I do not understand it, I will first ask why is it this is done this way. I will not demand anything. If for some reason I feel this thing could be done better, then I will say so. Again, I will not question the who, but rather, I will question the what.
Am I saying that I am the be all end all? Am I saying that I know all there is to know and that I am the only one that is right? No, I am merely saying that it is ok to question things. It is ok to speak up about the things, not the people, but the things that I believe are not right.
Those that are in the many different positions of power are banking on the fact that no one will question them. And I for one will not question them either. But I will question “the what” or “the what is not” that is being or not being done.
As an example, you will notice that I did not question the people who enacted gun control. I questioned gun control.
The Lord gave us all a mind to think with, and I for one think it is not right if I let others always do the thinking for me.There are a lot of unjust things in this world today. Yet, it is not really any different today than it ever has been. The media we have at our disposal makes information more accessible.
Perhaps I am a Pipe Dreamer, but if we could just learn to stick together we have the power to change many unjust things. For example, if everyone in North America were to fill their passenger and recreational vehicles with fuel on Monday, and make it last as long as they could without buying more gas, maybe two or three days, hopefully longer, we would see a big change very quickly. I say this because this one thing has the potential to cost millions and millions of dollars. You will hear things like that can’t work, but I say, it is what we have been led to believe. It has been crammed into our heads for so long, we believe it.
So by setting back and just letting others do the thinking, and letting others make all the decisions, “Old Scab Face” doesn’t have to do a thing. In a lot of ways it is being done very well for him without his help.

In closing this writing, I will leave you this time with some words from Henry Ford “Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right."

Until next time, in everything you do, may you be blessed by the Lord.Tex

Fuel type Changes

2010-01-29T11:32:00.000-04:00

Fire Thought For The Day 009
Fuel Type Changes

Here in the east we are blessed with a host of fuel types. Sometimes it is a real dog’s breakfast to deal with. We could have a fire that is burning in grass, then it burns into a clear-cut, then into a softwood stand, then into a hardwood stand, back to grass, into a plantation, next it is threatening a home in the Urban Interface, and on and on it goes.
This can be a very dangerous situation. You get to the fire and see a certain type of fire behavior under certain weather conditions, in a given fuel type, influenced also by the type of topography. The fire seems to be exhibiting behavior you feel you can deal with. Be sure to consider what type of fuel the fire will burn into in the future. It may exhibit totally different fire behavior under the same weather and topographic features that are influencing the fire behavior.
Again, I will state and restate, we are all very good at reacting, we need to get more proactive.
Ask yourself:
- Where am I and my crew now? What type of fire behavior am I seeing?
- Where will we all be in the future? What will the fire be doing at that time?
- Is the fire going to burn into a new type of fuel?
- As always, is the wind picking up, or is it forecast to pick up in the future?
- As always, is the fire going to burn into different topography?
- Remember, all of these things influence fire behavior. All the more reason to have one or two very trusted Lookouts posted. But. I know you folks are all going to implement LACES on every fire. It is a must. Take the time to do things right.

Fuel type changes can also be our friends too. A fast moving crown fire can sometimes burn into a hardwood stand for example, and the fire may drop from the crown to the surface. It may still be very hot and dangerous; however, with help from air tankers it may be a place to catch the fire. We must learn to look ahead and plan for things such as this too.
Remember too, that it does not take a big stand of softwood to burn and hurt people. A small jackpot of fuel or even a single softwood tree can ignite and burn very intensely. This can happen very suddenly. Some burn over events start and end very quickly. Think about how quickly a single softwood tree can burn, how long does it take? Seconds. This may be all the time it takes for you or your crew to be burned over.
Heads up always. LACES always. Foresight always.

Until next time, above all else Stay Safe! Tex

Do Like the Animals Do

2010-01-26T20:41:00.000-04:00

Tex’s Thought Provokers 009

Do Like The Animals Do

As many of you know, over the years I have spent a lot of time away from home. I often receive comments like “it must be something else to get to see all of these places.” To which I reply; “Well…I might just as well be out over the hill from my place…cause all I really get to see is fire and stuff that the fire has burnt. There is one thing though…it’s the folks I get to meet, from all over the world. The down side to that is…on fires you get really close with people in a hurry…then you may never see them face to face ever again.”
The other thing as I reflect on it, is the time missed with my family. Those are missed times that are very hard to make up for.
In order for me to do this, I have to have a very understanding wife. And believe me, she is. The kids, well they just didn’t seem to know anything different, they just grew up with it and all, it is what I am and what I do. So they never really got to wound up over my being gone all the time.
On the other hand, there is Meiko. You know, our dog that I spoke to you about in an earlier writing. He is a smart dog, not insane, and he seems to get his tail in a knot when I go away. Oh I am not saying that he does bad things or gives my wife a hard time. There just seems to be a difference in his attitude when I come back home.
He goes through stages with me. The first thing he does is go to barking like crazy when he sees me. He kind of tilts his head off side ways and more or less sasses me, so I call that bark his sassy bark.
Then I will go and pet him, and he wags his tail, and lets on like he is glad to see me. But I can tell that he is really not all that fussy on it one way or the other, indifferent if you will.
Then as I walk away from him, he will turn himself side ways and he will give me what I call his disgusted look. That one turquoise eye seems to burn a hole right though me.
However in a day or so he is back to normal and after he is clear of his snit, he warms up to me and shows me his love.
Now then, we also have four cats, first we have Ginger Bug, he was a scrawny little thing when we brought him home, and he grew into a giant eating machine, he reminds me of Garfield the cartoon cat in a lot of ways. His attitude is the same that is portrayed by Garfield, indifferent to everything. He is even the same color.
Next we have a pure bread Siamese seal point cat and we named him Moglie. In his case, it shows that I will do just about anything for my wife. We drove to Phelpston Ontario to retrieve him and it was a quite an episode. But that is another story.
At any rate, Moglie is a beautiful specimen of a cat, and he loves to talk. He has beautiful intense blue eyes and he loves to stare at you, and while does, his eyes wiggle back and forth, kind of makes him look a bit schizo.
Then came Annie, she is a pure bread Siamese blue point. She is the most loving cuddly creature. She will lay in my arms and stare at me for hours. My wife found her frost bitten and starving, as close to death as she could be without being dead. I really don’t think she would have made it through the night had Rhonda not brought her home. After many trips to the Vet, and a few fitful-sleepless nights for me, nursing her back to health, she is just fine now.
Then we just couldn’t resist, we got Cloie. We brought her home because friends of ours had several kittens to give away and they weren’t getting many takers. The shelters had all sorts of cats, in other words full up, no room at the inn. So we got to thinking about the what ifs, and we decided, what the heck, what’s one more?!?!
Now Cloie is special, she has seven toes on both front feet. The softest fur and so gray she almost has a silver shine on the tips of her hair. She is the kind of cat you just want to pick up and hold. But Cloie has an entire different concept of being held. She does not like it even a little bit. And she will let you know it with all 24 claws!
Now you know a bit about my cats.
When I am away from the cats, and when I return, I get a varied reception. Ginger Bug is pretty much the same, unless I come in the house wearing a hat. Then his eyes bug out and he goes into run away and hide mode. But after a bit when he realizes that it is me, he goes back to normal and heads strait for his dish and begins staring at me, giving short little meows, then turns in a circle several times, sits down and continues to stare at me, trying to will me into feeding him, he is always hungry.
So I guess, he really doesn’t miss me all that much. He just misses the easy food while I am gone; he has me figured as a push over.
Moglie rubs up against my legs and talks to me more than normal.
Annie walks between my legs and seems to smile all the time.
And Cloie just stares at me then takes off chasing anything that moves. Just does it out of the blue, for no apparent reason.
It has been said that animals are just that, and there is not much we can learn from them. I beg to differ. Talk to any good hunter, and he will undoubtedly tell you about following the big buck deer. Then of a sudden the hunter finds that the big buck deer has circled and he is following the hunter.
No, I contend that animals do have the capability to reason and I do believe we can learn much from them if we take the time to look.
Some of what I have learned from my pets alone is what follows.
· We do not own our cats, they own us.
· Our pets can be upset with us, but they always forgive us unconditionally. No matter how many how many times we upset them, they always forgive us. Even as many as 77 times.
· They do not hold grudges against us.
· Meiko is very protective of Rhonda and the kids. I know beyond all doubt that he would gladly fight to the death, giving up his life to protect them.
· Our cats detest being alone. If we are in one room, they have to be there. They hate shut doors. If we are in the garage for example, they will all four set on the steps waiting for us. When we come in, there they are patiently waiting. They have a need to be with us.
· All of them enjoy attention and here is where I see jealousy come out in their personalities, especially with the cats.
· They crave our love and they unconditionally love us back. No matter what it is we have done. They love us. I think they know the feeling is mutual.
· They do not care about material things.
· Their needs are very simple, food, shelter, water, LOVE.
· They do not care about what others think. They only care about us.
· Especially Meiko, just wants to please us. The cats don’t seem to give this much thought.
· They do not mean to or want to disappoint us.
· Their love is real.
· They trust us completely.

So if we really think about what animals can teach us, there really is a lot. Consider the following;

13 So these three things continue: faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13

21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, when someone won’t stop doing wrong to me, how many times must I forgive them? Seven times?” 22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, you must forgive them more than seven times. You must continue to forgive them even if they do
wrong to you seventy-seven times.” Matthew 18:21-22

27 But earthly food spoils and ruins. So don’t work to get that kind of food. But work to get the food that stays good and gives you eternal life. The Son of Man will give you that food. He is the only one qualified by God the Father to give it to you.” John 6:27

19 The way they live is leading them to destruction. They have replaced God with their own desires. They do shameful things, and they are proud of what they do. They think only about earthly things.
Philippians 3:19

Yes animals are humble creatures that can teach us a host of things. They love and want to be loved. They don’t hold grudges, except perhaps Wolverines, but they are hateful animals that are likely the pets of “Old Blister Brain”.
So if animals can do all these simple things, and they are “so called dumb,” what does that make a lot of us?

Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) once said; “Man is the only animal that blushes…and the only one that needs too.”

So long for this time and I leave you with this.

24 Kind words are like honey; they are easy to accept and good for your health. PROVERBS 16:24

Until next time may the Lord fill your hearts with a new love and respect for all things created by God.

Tex

Fine Fuels (Wildland Fire)

2010-01-25T21:48:00.000-04:00

Fire Thought For The Day 008

Fine Fuels

Fine fuels are worth a thought.
- Remember that fine fuels carry the fire.
- Fine fuels are flashy and can spread very quickly. Example, in May when the grass is 100% cured. It can burn very rapidly.
- Fine fuels will dry out very quickly after rain, especially in hot windy weather with low relative humidities.
- Many tragedies have happened in light flashy fuel. Don’t underestimate their danger. All it takes is one breath of super heated air and your air ways are burned.
- Fine fuels do not usually burn with the same intensity as heavier ones. However, they make up for it in spread rate. It is very common to see 100% cured grass spread at 50m/minute (roughly 3 feet per second) and higher under the right conditions.

California, a (Municipal Volunteer Firefighter) got burned over in grass fuels. She survived. She went through a tremendously painful rehabilitation. Her life and the lives of those around her changed for ever.

Saskatchewan, a (Municipal Volunteer Firefighter) got burned over in a grass fuel type. He survived for 45 days and then succumbed to his burn injuries. His life ended, the lives of those around him changed forever.

There are many more.

Many times I have heard ; “Oh it’s just a stinkin grass fire…nothing to worry about.” On every fire there are many things to worry about. We must learn to take the time to do things right on every fire. Safety can not be compromised. We can go for ages and not have anything bad happen. It only takes once, and it happens very quickly, and there is no changing it once it happens.

Learn to think ahead. Where am I now? What is the fire doing? Where will I be in the future? What will the fire be doing then?
Look at the Indices for the day. Know what the expected fire behavior is. Anticipate what the fire behavior will be in the future.

Don’t underestimate the fine fuels.

“Fire is not prejudice…it will try to burn anything.”

Until next time Stay Safe! Tex
008

One Step Ahead of the Jones

2010-01-25T12:17:00.000-04:00

January 25, 2010

Tex’s Thought Provokers 008

One Step Ahead Of The Jones

Monsters, Goolies, and Spookables come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. They are cleverly disguised at times but we all encounter them.
From the time we are very small to the time of adulthood they never go away, they just change their characters and make us think they are something other than what they are.
What lived under the bed or in your closet as a child, went through a metamorphosis and now resides with the banker, the hospital, the offspring that needs braces, the boss’s closet, inflation, crime in the streets, and so on. They are still monsters none the less, there to be dealt with.
Stress is a monster that is strangling the life out so many folks today. No wonder, it’s environment is a perfect place to live.
It is my firm belief that one day, those in the world of science will be able to link stress to even more illnesses than they have discovered thus far.
There is good stress and bad stress. We need the good stress to stay motivated and to feel the sense of accomplishment at the end of a task. The bad stress though, we can do without. This ugly form of self devouring scourge is at the root of a lot of sickness.
People say that some of the stress that they have is out of their control. “There is nothing I can do about it.” Or could it be that we have convinced ourselves that there is nothing we can do about it? Perhaps we could say that we humans have caused a lot of this stress our self. We live in a world of status. It has always been that way. “Oh…look he drives a Lincoln, he must be important.” “Look…this man has over one hundred camels along with many goats and sheep…he must be important.” “Say….now he has a sharp suit…it must have cost a great deal…he must be important.” “Wow….did you see her dress and coat and shoes…she is walking in high cotton.”
We have all driven ourselves to the point of no return with what used to be a “keeping up with the Jones” attitude, which manifested itself into staying “one step ahead of the Jones”. We want and need this feeling of power over other people. We want to be noticed. We love to have people think we are important. And we think that a fancy home, car, and other perks, will do it for us.
Once this drug like disease takes a hold of us, we are willing to do almost anything imaginable to maintain this status we have achieved for ourselves.
People take it to limits that are simply mind boggling. And it is not just with money and the things it can buy alone. We see it in many other forms as well. “Look at him hit that ball….where would that team be without him?” “Say… listen to her voice…. Its like an angle sent to earth.” This causes us to become so envious we will stop at nothing until….well you know.
Sadly we have all seen examples of those who think themselves to be better Christians than the next guy just so they can feel important about themselves.
Its not just about money, this monster of a disease has been around a long time, and I suspect it will be around for many years to come. Like I said, it is clever, in as much as it can manifest itself into many shapes and sizes.
The best way to deal with a disease, or any kind of problem, is to first and foremost identify the problem, and then the cause. Now that we know what the problem is, the next step is to admit it to ourselves. Just this alone, is a huge step toward recovery. If we become blind to it, then this means, we likely don’t think we have a problem, denial.
Perhaps we should ask ourselves if it is time to do a little self evaluation again. In this I mean myself as well. Some of the questions I should begin with asking myself are:
· Is my home warm and comfortable? If so, why do I think I need a new one?
· Does my car get me to the places I need to go safely? If so, why do I think I need a new one?
· Are my clothes clean and warm with not too much sign of wear and tear? If so, why do I think I need new ones?
· Am I getting lots to eat? If so, why do I think I need to eat steak every night?
· Is my television still showing me a good picture? If so, why do I think I need a new one?
· Do I catch myself feeling better than another? If so, why?
· Do I find myself feeling jealous of another? If so, why?

The list goes on and on. The media in the form of commercials inundates us with a constant barrage of new and better, more expensive, things for us to buy. Convincing us all that we need to have them, we just can’t survive without them. Our friends and neighbours constantly show us things that they have, and if they can have them, then why can’t we?
Then what about all those so called beautiful people selling things to make us all beautiful? False beauty that is what it is. I can tell you, there is only one real way to be beautiful, living as best as we can like Jesus. Forget about the vanity. To me, vanity for the most part, causes uppitiness, very unattractive, to say the least.
I will give you an example of smart marketing and sound “gottcha” principles.
It is not important to state the name of the company, because you will all know it when I speak of it anyway. In the video game world there is one company that is by far and away the leaders in sales. They had and have a very clever market plan. They introduce a new system, zeroing in on our kids, on purpose, because they are an intricate part of the plan. The kids see the advertisements, hear their friends that have them, and they just have to have it. So us being the good hearted parents we are, we go out and we get the new system.
Some of us even get sucked into playing the system as well. Thus the situation becomes worse.
Just when we as parents think surely we have satisfied our kids, the company then introduces a new and better system and we just have to have it. We find that the games are more expensive and that we can’t buy games for the old system any longer.
This has happened to me four times. And yes I am one of those who got sucked into playing the games as well. I know…I’m a big kid. Aw…to know me is to love me though. (Whoops, there goes that braggy side to me again).
Bigger, faster, more colourful, more life like, we just have to have it. It is the world we live in. A rat race, filled with the stress of trying to stay one step ahead of the Jones. In so doing the monster down at the bank and the credit card company grows.
There are some folks that are in positions to do this with no stress at all. For them the toys are just bigger and more expensive, so same thing only different. The other down side to this is some families are not in a position to do this for their kids as easy. Yet they still do it, thus the credit card monster eats them alive.
Then we all fall into the trap of living for earthly non important things.
So how do we deal with this? Like I said, first we have to admit to ourselves that there is a problem. Then we must take steps to correct the situation. Then it is my belief that we have to go to the bible.
The answers to all of life’s problems are in the Word. We have to put our faith in the Lord to change us from the inside out. We have to trust in Jesus. And we have to trust in his word. Especially the words in red.

15 Then Jesus said to them, “Be careful and guard against all kinds of greed. People do not get life from the many things they own.”
Luke 12:15

5 Keep your lives free from the love of money. And be satisfied with what you have. God has said, “ I will never leave you; I will never run away from you.” Deuteronomy 31:6
Hebrews 13:5

7 “When you are living in the land the Lord your God is giving you, there might be some poor people living among you. You must not be selfish. You must not refuse to give help to them. 8 You must be willing to share with them. You must lend them whatever they need.
Deuteronomy 15:7-8

4 The greatest person in God’s kingdom is the one who makes himself humble like this child.
Matthew 18:4

12 People who think they are better than others will be made humble. But people who humble themselves will be made great.
Matthew 23:12

48 Then he said to the followers, “Whoever accepts a little child like this in my name is accepting me. And anyone who accepts me is also accepting the one who sent me. The one among you who is the most humble—this is the one who is great.”
Luke 9:48

17 Give this command to those who are rich with the things of this world. Tell them not to be proud. Tell them to hope in God, not their money. Money cannot be trusted, but God takes care of us richly. He gives us everything to enjoy. 18 Tell those who are rich to do good—to be rich in good works. And tell them they should be happy to give and ready to share. 19 By doing this, they will be saving up a treasure for themselves. And that treasure will be a strong foundation on which their future life will be built. They will be able to have the life that is true life.
1 Timothy 6: 17-19
What it all comes down too, is we have too much. We want too much. And we are willing to do almost anything, including selling our soul to old “Spineless Slim”, all dressed up like a credit card representative.
When we read things such as; “In the west, you measure a man’s wealth by his possessions. In this country, we measure his wealth by his friends.” (Ethiopia)
John Ortberg, “When The Game Is Over – It All Goes Back In The Box” Chapter 2, page 30.
We get an eye opener. If we begin to do a bit of research, we find that compared to many other parts of the world, including even some parts of our world, that we choose to ignore, we are very fortunate people. We have so much; we are all so very rich. And we take it for granted every single day.
How many of us are going to bed hungry? Do we set and wonder if we will be blown up if we go to the store? When we walk down the street, do we think of perhaps being shot?
How many junkies have we seen living in a cardboard box on our sidewalks? In the evening do we see our streets lined with prostitutes? How many drive by shooting have happened in the past week? How many teachers have been beaten and left for dead do we know?
When you are sick do you go to the hospital, what if you could not afford it?
How many times have you really been persecuted because of your faith?
(The above statements are based on my area)

See, to me part of our problem in this area is, we hear and see these terrible things on TV, or we read about them. We feel truly sorry, but we are so far removed from this that we just comment on how terrible it is, and then get on with our lives. After all it is someone else’s problem. And it is far far away from our world.
Those that went on the trip to New York seen things to a certain degree, and the one that comes to mind is the man that went to the streets everyday, and boldly approached people. Putting his life at risk every day for other people’s souls.
Well folks, I can tell you, that these types of hideous living environments with all the craziness that goes with it, is getting closer to us every day.
Once we start to put things such as this in perspective, we begin to change from the inside out. We find ourselves looking, searching, reading, asking, what we can do.
I can tell you one thing for certain sure and with all that is in me. Turn your eyes toward Jesus, because he is our only real hope.

7 Each one of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give. You should not give if it makes you unhappy or if you feel forced to give. God loves those who are happy to give.
2 Corinthians 9:7

35 I always showed you that you should work just as I did and help people who are weak. I taught you to remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘You will have a greater blessing when you give than when you receive.’”
Acts 20:35

There are many things to give besides money. Your time, your gifts that the Lord has blessed you with, your help in anyway you can.

In closing I will leave you with this to think about. If you have gifts, they came from the Lord. Remember what has been given to you. The number one thing is the gift of life ever lasting from Jesus. The greatest gift ever given. How blessed we all are!
Until next time, may the Lord bless you with a heart that is hungry for Him, one that is willing to go where He leads you, and one that strives to do what He wants. In Christ’s love Tex

Fire Weather Index and Fire Behavior Prediction

2010-01-24T08:26:00.001-04:00

Fire Thought For The Day 007

Fire Weather Index and Fire Behavior Prediction
Ask any successful athlete, businessperson, or any professional what it is that makes them successful and they will undoubtedly tell you, hard work, perseverance, knowledge of their field, and practice to be the best they can be at what it is they do. Never being just satisfied with something enough to get by. Always striving to be better at what they do.
We all know people that seem to always get that big Buck every year. Why is this? First they take pride in being the best they can be. They have the right tools. They don’t take a pellet gun to shoot a Deer. Just as a Firefighter would not have much success fighting a 10 000 kw fire with a 1 ½ inch hose line. They also try to learn as much about the habits of the Deer as possible. It is like this with everything. You get out of something what you put into it.
Another example; any law enforcement officer that is heading into a dangerous situation needs to know as much about the situation ahead of time as possible. This tells them what they are up against, what tools they need, how many people they need, what the danger level is to themselves and their people. After all, they know that enforcement work can be very dangerous, as we are all grimly aware since the loss of four young RCMP in Alberta.
The goal is to get the job done and have everyone come home.
Fire fighting is a very dangerous job too. Just recently, two firefighters were lost in Yellowknife. We can sit in judgment, as we as humans tend to do. We can say well should have, could have, would have, all we want. The fact still remains; these losses, in either case, can not be reversed.
We can say that this will never happen here on a wildland fire. Friends, we are kidding ourselves by saying this. It can happen, it has happened. We tell ourselves it won’t in order to lessen the fear and danger that hides inside us. There are others that say it won’t happen because they can’t be bothered putting forth the effort to be the best they can be. There are others that simply laugh at it as way of dealing with it. Others say why should I bother to put forth my best effort, no one cares, I won’t get paid anymore.
Well, you still go to fires. It is part of what you do. Whether you are there because you have to be or not. It still is a very dangerous job. You still need to take the time to do things right. It is your life and the lives of others around you that you are dealing with. I have heard things such as; “Our little fires…they are just a joke.” “Oh don’t listen to him…he is a crazy old fart…I have been doin this for years…and I’ve never seen any of the things he talks about.”
When a fire blows up unexpectedly it is no joke, when people get trapped it is no joke, when people get hurt it is no joke, when people die it is no joke. And I might well be a Crazy Old Fart, and you may well have never seen a blow up, and you may well have worked at this for years. Remember, it only takes once, and it can happen in a heartbeat, and there is no coming back, there is no changing something once it has happened.
New Brunswick has a weather data collection system that is second to none. The Fire Weather Index System (FWI) is complied and sent to the Regions each day at 13:00 hours. The FWI is complied using weather data collected from the many weather stations from around the province.
This information is sent out because it is important. It helps us make better plans. It lets us know more about what kind of situation we might be facing. Why? Because the more information we have going into a dangerous situation the better prepared we can be.
All of us are initial attack people. We all need to know what we might be facing on any given day. You know the saying, “The More You Know.”
Now then, the FWI is good if you know what the numbers mean. If you don’t and no one shows you, you likely will read it once and then say, Goobel-dy-gook, and never look at it again. This is where the fire behavior forecast comes in. It is based on the Fire Behavior Prediction System (FBP). It takes the FWI, which has numbers that are relative measures, and allows someone such as myself to make quantitative predictions of expected fire behavior. In other words, it puts things in terms that people can understand.
We have these things at our disposal. I wonder why some of us don’t take the time to look at them. I wonder why some people are not getting them at all. Are we waiting for a tragedy to occur before we take it serious? I wonder.
It seems we take the time to do things right in other dangerous situations. We seem to take the time to be the best we can be at something like sports or hunting, or enforcement work. Yet, we can’t seem to take the time to be the best we can be when it comes to wildland fire. And it being one of the most powerful forces in nature. It being one of the most dangerous work environments in the world. Go figure!
Perhaps we really are waiting for a tragedy. Perhaps we really have more in common with the events that led up to the Westray Mine Disaster than we choose to admit. God it is my prayer that this is not true, however, in my heart I know it likely is. I have a hard time accepting this and so should you. Why should someone have to get hurt or die in order for us to change the way we do business? Why can’t we learn from other mistakes in other places?

The fire season will soon be here. Please take the time to look at the FWI. Ask for a fire behavior forecast, especially on mid to high fire hazard days. Remember, it is your life and your people’s lives. We only get one chance. Take the time to do things right. Be the best you can be. Be prepared as best as you can be.
“Fire is not prejudice….it will try to burn anything.”
Until next time, above all else, Stay Safe! Tex

Everythig Old is Everything New

2010-01-21T16:07:00.000-04:00

January 21, 2010

Tex’s Thought Provokers 007

Everything Old Is Everything New

This one folks will require some very deep thought. At least, it is my hope that you will all take the time to think about it. It is my hope as well that you then go back and read very carefully the first six.
Jesus had a way of telling a story, the stories were many times parables. Am I comparing myself to Jesus? Not now, not ever, not even remotely so. For I am in competition with Paul, he claimed to be chief of sinners. In my heart, I feel that I am in the running for such a claim.
In my writings, I know by now that some of you, if not all, are finding a negative tone. It is far from my intention to be negative. Yet, each time I go to write one of these I ask Jesus for his help. I ask that he guide what I say. Each morning I ask my Lord to walk with me, and be with me though out the day. When the day comes to a close, the last thing I think of is Jesus.
Does this somehow make me better? Not in the least, for everyday, even though he walks with me, I mess up. I ask him for his forgiveness and I keep on keeping on.
Now that I have given a bit of an explanation, again it is my hope that you read this writing very slow and thoughtfully. Then I pray you go back and read the first six, with the same thoughtfulness.
Because you see, there is a message in these writings.

9 All things continue the way they have been since the beginning. The same things will be done that have always been done. There is nothing new in this life. Ecclesiastes 1:9

Back in the summer of 1991, I was on a bad wildland fire at a place called Mosquito Lake. A fire does not have to be extremely large to do a lot of damage, or to be very dangerous. There is a list of common denominators on tragedy fires or near miss fires. In nearly every situation, the fire where some one lost their life, or some one had a close call, the fire had been small, or a small portion of a larger fire.

This fire was only 800 or so hectares, or, 1977 acres. Believe me, this is not a large fire as far as wildland fires go. There were a lot of serious close calls on this fire, and I know, that the good Lord was with us all, that was what kept us safe. At least I know this now.
It is not the intention of this writing to give an account of the details as they occurred. If anyone is interested, I will gladly sit down sometime over a cup of go-go juice (coffee) and tell you.
I discovered something on this fire though, that I found to be of great interest to me.
The fire burned very rapid and extremely hot in the first few hours. Most of the damage it caused was in those first few hours. By dark of the second day, we had the fire contained. It was far from being out, but it’s spread was being held.
It took us another thirty days or so to call it out. I was there for sixteen of them.
A fire, just as a living thing, goes through stages. It has a birth, it breaths oxygen, eats and consumes fuel, it starts very small, it grows, it reaches maturity, then it wavers and starts to decline, then it dies.
I am not saying that it is a living thing, but it does have a close similarity. And, there have been many times when I thought the thing could think, for it has many times, tried to out flank, or out think me.
My discovery was in the declining stage of this fire on what we call mop up. I had my troops in search mode; we were looking for those small smoldering would be monsters that we call sleepers. They like to hide in the ground, in the very top of trees, in old fallen trees. Any place where they can just hide with the hope that all seekers will leave before finding them, will do nicely. With the hope that once all the fire fighters have left the area, they can spring to life and gain monster status once again. For all fires seek to become monsters.
It was during our march through the black on about day twelve; I noticed some new ground vegetation emerging up through the ashes.
In the days that followed, this new vegetation would attract a host of creatures at the bottom of the food chain. Thus these new creatures would further attract some middle management critters that prey on the lower animals. The new vegetation would further attract some larger mammals that eat the young and tender shoots that were produced. Then even more middle managers would be attracted to these creatures. A brand new cycle of a process of eating and being eaten had been born.
All part of God’s perfect plan. A plan that did not just happen; it is a perfect plan created by the supreme perfect being, God.
Some seeds can lay dormant for hundreds of years before germination takes place. In some cases, fire creates that perfect set of circumstances that produce this rebirth.
Early Indigenous peoples knew this. They would set a fire in a forest that had reached maturity, where very little wildlife lived. They did this so they could then in a year or two move their encampment close to the burned area, which by that time would be teaming with wildlife.
So then, not all fire is bad, and not all fire is good, it is just how we perceive it.
Shakespeare once wrote, “there is nothing completely all good, or completely all bad, it is our mind that makes it so.”

A very dear friend and I had a discussion recently, and I said. “Ya know….there is something that has been troubling me.” He smiled and said lovingly. “With you, I am almost scared to ask…what is it?”
I had been thinking very much about this. I wondered. “In the bible we surely see a lot of miracles… in the old testament…and the new. Folks kept askin fer proof…I wonder, how much more proof did they need ta have? And then….it states a whole bunch of times in the new testament…that them there Pharisees and law makers…and evil leaders such as that there He Rod feller… was scared to do anything ta Jesus…on account they was scared of an uprisin by the people…cause they all knew that the people loved Jesus. What troubles me the most…is…where da ya spose all them there folks followin after Jesus went to…when he needed them ta stick up fer him? I mean…they was thousands from all over the place…an when push come to shove…they up an freed that there Barabbas feller.”
My friend, who seems to like the way I talk, smiled and said. “Well…I wonder about that too…perhaps they were only following Jesus to see what they could get…to use him…and as soon as they seen that the end was near…they wanted to back a winner…or so they thought. But all through out the bible, it shows one example after another of their character. They seemed to be a very fickle people.”

That is when Ecclesiastes jumped into my head. It just so happened that at that time, I was reading that very book of the Old Testament.
9 All things continue the way they have been since the beginning. The same things will be done that have always been done. There is nothing new in this life. Ecclesiastes 1:9

Now I have been thinking a lot lately, or more than usual. Scary… ain’t it? Anyway, I have been, and I got to thinking over my life and the things I do, my family, the people I know, the things I believe, my work, and I have tried my best to do as Jesus has instructed me too.
I like to watch folks not for bad reasons, but to learn. And I have come to a conclusion about all of us human beings.

16 “What can I say about the people who live today? What are they like? The people today are like children sitting in the marketplace.
One group of children calls to the other group, 17 ‘We played flute music for you, but you did not dance; we sang a funeral song, but you were not sad.’ 18 Why do I say people are like that? Because John came, not eating like other people or drinking wine, and people say, ‘He has a demon* inside him.’ 19 The Son of Man* came eating and drinking, and people say, ‘Look at him! He eats too much and drinks too much wine. He’s a friend of tax collectors* and other sinners.’
But wisdom is shown to be right by what it does.” Matthew 11:16-19

Be dinged if ya do…and be dinged if ya don’t. People are never content and never satisfied.
Words….leave life long scars. Words…..can sometimes hurt more than anything that hurts us. If I break my arm…it hurts….but the pain subsides… at some point. But words…sometimes the hurt never goes away.

It would appear that verse 9 of Ecclesiastes 1 is right. Proving yet again, the word of God is good for all ages.

We talk of unity….unity of what….the church? The church is the body of Christ. Jesus is the head of the church…no one else. The church building is just that, a building.

12 When you enter that home, say, ‘Peace be with you.’ 13 If the people in that home welcome you, they are worthy of your peace. May they have the peace you wished for them. But if they don’t welcome you, they are not worthy of your peace. Take back the peace you wished for them. 14 And if the people in a home or a town refuse to welcome you or listen to you, then leave that place and shake the dust off your feet.15 I can assure you that on the judgment day it will be worse for that town than for the people of Sodom* and Gomorrah.* Matthew 10:12-15

Friends…brothers…sisters…people I love… I would never claim to be a profit…I am nothing more than a simple man…. But I know that soon, Ecclesiastes will become relevant.

For as long as I am able, I will continue to write and send these writings to those that want to receive them.

In closing, I will leave you with these.

26 “So don’t be afraid of those people. Everything that is hidden will be shown. Everything that is secret will be made known.”
Matthew 10: 26

2 Everything that is hidden will be shown, and everything that is secret will be made known. 3 What you say in the dark will be told in the light. And what you whisper in a private room will be shouted from the top of the house.” Luke 12:2-3

Do not put off until tomorrow…what you can do today.

I am a better person for knowing each one of you. I love you all. Go with Christ in all that you do.
Until next time.
Tex

LACES

2010-01-20T01:20:00.001-04:00

Fire Thought For The Day 006

LACES
Every time we have a tragedy we say never again. We create new rules and guidelines so that it should never happen again. Unfortunately it does happen again. Whether it is because of complacency, carelessness, over confidence or whatever, it still seems to happen.
LACES has been adopted by DNR New Brunswick. I feel that this is a very good thing. LACES, if put in place really sums up all of the watch out and standing fire firefighter orders. This is not to say we should never look at these watch outs or orders, we should. It is just so much easier to implement LACES.
LACES is also very easy to remember. Get in the habit of repeating what LACES stands for every time you put on your boots. Say them out loud, people hearing you will wonder if you have lost your mind. This will spark a conversation about LACES. They likely will still think you to be a bit off center. What the heck, we all likely are if we think about it.
Lookouts
Anchor Points
Communications
Escape Routes
Safety Zones

- Always post at least two Lookouts. If you need more post them.
- The Lookout must be one of your most experienced, trained, and trusted individuals. Remember they are responsible for warning you of impending danger in enough time to prevent you and your folks from harm.
- Always action fire from good save Anchor Points.
- Always maintain Communications with everyone. This is a must.
- Always have two marked and timed Escape Routes. Remember to constantly reevaluate them.
- Make sure every one in the crew knows where the Escape Routes are.
- Always have at least one Safety Zone. Make sure all know where it is.
- Always implement LACES on every fire, no matter how large or small.
- It is one thing to say that we will, it is another to actually do it. Remember practice good habits.
Did You Know?
It is a proven fact that if you do something every day for 15 days at the same time, you then start to do this thing without thinking. In other words it becomes a habit. Example, do you think about brushing your teeth when you do it? Do you think about shaving when you do it? You likely are like me and just do it without thinking about it. Wouldn’t it be great to automatically implement LACES without even thinking about it? Practice good habits.

Until next, above all else Stay Safe! Tex

Faith

2010-01-18T22:57:00.000-04:00

January 18, 2010

Tex’s Thought Provokers 006

Faith

It has been said that we know that an atom is there, we can’t see it, but we know it is there. We can accept this because of science and it’s being able to prove the existence of these invisible parts of mater.
The same goes for germs and other tiny organisms that are not visible to the naked eye.
It seems that we humans have trouble accepting something unless it has been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. However, when we see things proven before our eyes, to me that is not accepting them through faith.
Jesus did many miraculous things, and many times he told the people not to say anything about the miracles. Now that for some folks is like giving them a green light to go and tell the world. One of my thoughts on this was that Jesus knew that if he said don’t tell anyone, that it would be the best way to get the word out, knowing the nature of people. Then I had another thought. I got to thinking that Jesus wanted us to believe through faith rather than hard proof.
There is a big difference in believing through proof and believing through faith. When we believe through proof, we can easily start to take our belief for granted. We become nonchalant about it because we know for a fact that it is there. Now if we are honest, unless we are in danger of the unseen atom or germ, how often do we really think about them? On the other hand, when we believe through faith, we are constantly thinking about it because faith and hope go hand in hand.
As an example

10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. He said to those who were with him, “The truth is, this man has more faith than anyone I have found, even in Israel.* Matthew 8:10

There are many more examples throughout the bible where Jesus exemplifies great faith.

Our Lord wants us to have great faith.
In this world of technology, immoralities, and a constant barrage of non-believers doing and saying everything imaginable that inevitably cause us to doubt, the struggle to stay strong in our faith is tested every day.
This is why prayer is vital. Talking with the Lord on a regular basis is a key to staying faithful. Reading the bible every day is just as vital to remaining strong with the Lord. Being with other believers as much as possible is yet another key. Reading what other believers have written in books is also very helpful for me. Just plain meditating in faith is also a very important part of what I do a lot of. Regular worship, bible study groups, prayer meetings, are all important as well.
When we constantly make the Lord a part of our lives, putting Jesus first in our thoughts, and first in the things we do, we go a long way towards keeping our faith strong.
The Lord also reminds us to never be ashamed of our faith.

32 “If you stand before others and are willing to say you believe in me, then I will tell my Father in heaven that you belong to me. 33 But if you stand before others and say you do not believe in me, then I will tell my Father in heaven that you do not belong to me.
Matthew 10:32-33

Jesus tells us to let everyone know about our faith.

20 Jesus answered, “You were not able to make the demon go out, because your faith is too small. Believe me when I tell you, if your faith is only as big as a mustard seed you can say to this mountain, ‘move from here to there,’ and it will move. You will be able to do anything.”
Matthew 17:20

The above passage is very interesting. Essentially Jesus is saying that if our faith were as good as it should be we could do anything. Some of the non-believers would say “what a load of hooey.” Well, to them I say, if this is what you believe, then my heart aches for you.
You see, to me science has only limited knowledge about what the brain is really capable of. There is proof that we only use a small portion to do the things we need to do each day. I know….there are some of us that seem to use a lot less than others, myself included.
But what if we could learn to tap into what we are really capable of doing? What if we could simply block everything out that causes us doubt? What if we could completely accept our faith in the Lord and really believe with all that is in us? What if…….

3 Then he said, “The truth is, you must change your thinking and become like little children. If you don’t do this, you will never enter God’s kingdom. 4 The greatest person in God’s kingdom is the one who makes himself humble like this child. Matthew 18:3-4

The little ones believe with all of their hearts. Why? Because we tell them too. Children have a way of accepting what those they trust tell them. In their innocence, their minds are open to a world of wonder. They have not had the chance to see and hear the awful terrible things that happen in this world. We do our best to shelter them from all these horrible things.
But have you ever watched a small child, while they listen to something like a story they are interested in? Have you ever really looked at their eyes and the expressions they make?
The above passage for me makes perfect sense. As well it should because it comes from Jesus. Yet for me, after much thought, I have come to the conclusion, that if we were to accept things like believing in the Lord with the same enthusiasm of a child, our faith would be such that we could do anything.
Unfortunately, especially for me, because I really wish it were true, I don’t think this means we have to start playing tidily winks in the pews on Sundays. Although…..no I won’t say it.
But I do think that Matthew 18:3-4 does really make a lot of sense when you apply it to faith.

17 The Good News shows how God makes people right with himself. God’s way of making people right begins and ends with faith. As the Scriptures say, “The one who is right with God by faith will live forever.” Romans 1:17

Paul speaks about faith often in his letters. Above, we can see no better example of how it could be put than the way he says it.
To me this is good news!
So how do we continue to remain strong in our faith? As I stated earlier, there is no better way than to pray every day. And pray simple away by yourself. There is no need to make a big production of it. The Lord loves it when you just talk with him. I find myself talking with him now even when I am in a crowded room filled with people. I am doing it in my mind, but I can tell you that he listens. He answers. He guides me in everything I do. Without him I am nothing. With him there is no end to the things I might achieve.
Then read his word. Don’t just read it, but listen to what it is telling you. We have heard many times that each persons walk with the Lord is a very personal one. This I totally believe. What one person reads and gets from a passage and what another person gets from the same passage may be different. But if you really concentrate on what is being said, you will come to understand what the Lord is telling you. Just relax and let it happen. Put away the doubts of the world and just read and listen.
In my heart I know that we can face anything if we face it with the Lord. Jesus will see us through. Why? Because we have great faith.

13 So these three things continue: faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love. 1Corinthians 13:13

Faith is one of the three key things to a life with the Lord. Love is the greatest, yes, but faith is there as well. And we must do whatever we can to help each others faith grow and continue in strength.

26 So, brothers and sisters, what should you do? When you meet together, one person has a song, another has a teaching, and another has a new truth from God. One person speaks in a different language, and another interprets that language. The purpose of whatever you do should be to help everyone grow stronger in faith.
1Corinthians 14:26

16 That is why we never give up. Our physical body is becoming older and weaker, but our spirit inside us is made new every day.
17 We have small troubles for a while now, but these troubles are helping us gain an eternal glory. That eternal glory is much greater than our troubles. 18 So we think about what we cannot see, not what we see. What we see lasts only a short time, and what we cannot see will last forever. 2Corinthians 4:16-18

1 Faith is what makes real the things we hope for. It is proof of what we cannot see. Hebrews 11:1

3 Faith helps us understand that God created the whole world by his command. This means that the things we see were made by something that cannot be seen. Hebrews 11:3

7 Noah was warned by God about things that he could not yet see. But he had faith and respect for God, so he built a large boat to save his family. With his faith, Noah showed that the world was wrong. And he became one of those who are made right with God through faith.
Hebrews 11:7

18 God tested Abraham’s faith. God told him to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. Abraham obeyed because he had faith. He already had the promises from God. And God had already said to him, “It is through Isaac that your descendants will come.” But Abraham was ready to offer his only son. He did this because he had faith. 19 He believed that God could raise people from death. And really, when God stopped Abraham from killing Isaac, it was as if he got him back from death.
Hebrews 11:18-19

25 Moses grew up and became a man. He refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose not to enjoy the pleasures of sin that last such a short time. Instead, he chose to suffer with God’s people. He did this because he had faith.
Hebrews 11:25

Above we see some passages that show examples of faith. All of Hebrews 11 speaks of faith.
The one that really is interesting is Hebrews 11:18-19. Yes it shows a good example of great faith. Imagine, if you can, what it would be like to have so much faith that you would offer as a sacrifice your only son. Yes Abraham had great faith. And he passed God’s test.
Now then, thanks to a good friend and sister in Christ, I see something else here in these verses. She informed me of something more than faith in these verses.
I wonder, can you see it too? Perhaps it could be an interesting discussion some time.
So we have talked about faith and how we should try to keep it strong. We have looked at several pieces of scripture.
So I will leave you with this:

2 We must never stop looking to Jesus. He is the leader of our faith, and he is the one who makes our faith complete. He suffered death on a cross. But he accepted the shame of the cross as if it were nothing because of the joy he could see waiting for him. And now he is sitting at the right side of God’s throne. 3 Think about Jesus. He patiently endured the angry insults that sinful people were shouting at him. Think about him so that you won’t get discouraged and stop trying.
Hebrews 12: 2-3

Until next time, may we all work together helping one another’s faith grow strong and stay strong. And know that through Christ all things are possible.
Tex

2010-01-18T21:35:00.000-04:00

Fire Thought For The Day 005

Power Lines

Power lines are very dangerous to especially firefighters. The structure lads are more in the know about this topic than wildland people. We need to make ourselves more aware of the perils.
- Water and power lines do not mix. Never attempt to spray water from a hose anywhere near power lines.
- Never touch a wire that is down.
- Always consider a down line to be charged even if there are no sparks.
- Do not touch power lines with objects such as a stick either.
- Do not touch anything including a person that is in contact with a power line.
- Keep other people away, and always inform your supervisor and others of the situation immediately.
- Downed phone lines sometimes look the same as power lines. Trust no line. Do not take any chance. Don’t guess that it is a phone line. Let the power experts deal with it.
- Don’t go near a vehicle with power lines on it. Keep the folks inside calm and tell them to stay put. If car is on fire and they need to get out now, tell them to jump clear away from the line, then bunny hop away. Keep others away and let the experts deal with it.
- Do not drive over downed power lines.
- Do not attempt to try and cut or remove a tree laying on a power line. Let the power folks do it. Keep people away.
- Do not park under power lines on a fire. Do not refuel anything under power lines.
- Electric charges can follow smoke to the ground from power lines.
- The best bet is stay away. Have the Power Company unhook the power and be sure it is unhooked.
- Take the time to do things safely and right.

Until next, above all else Stay Safe! Tex

Exceptions

2010-01-18T02:01:00.000-04:00

Exceptions

Once a very long time ago, in what seems like another life, my section of our class at Maritime Forest Ranger School were out standing on this Peat Bog. Now we were a fine bunch out there standing; this not like out standing in our field, we were out standing in our bog. It is much different than if we were out standing in our field.
It was a cold and wet rainy day, the kind that penetrates deep into your very soul, thus taking three days huddled next to a panting wood stove just to bring the feeling back to your self proclaimed walking corpse. I don’t have an inkling as to why, but it seemed that these were the times that our learned mentors decided it was time for a lecture. So it was, this day not straying from the norm, which found us all trying to concentrate on what was being said by the most learned of the learned Mr. Williams (not his real name).
“So folks…here we are then….on this lovely fall day; out on this beautiful bog full of natures wonders for us to experience.” He said, while bouncing up and down on his toes, with his hands on his hips. His face bore his usual light hearted expression with the familiar twinkle in his eyes.
He went on as we huddled together, closer so as to hear him. “Tell me then folks….what do you all see here…don’t be shy speak up.”
These kinds of statements always made me nervous, for one never knew what answer he was looking for. Mr. Williams was a man of great knowledge. I always felt him to be smarter than a whole room full of geniuses at a think tank on how to burn water. By and by, as always, there would be some daring soul that would offer up a statement. This time I began to hear, slowly at first, then faster, things like; White Birch, Eastern White Cedar, Tamarack, Black Spruce to name a few. All seemed to meet with the approval of Mr. Williams. These were all species one could expect to see in association with wet areas such as the bog we were standing on. Yet, he kept saying “what else” as if he were hoping that someone would notice what he wanted to zero in on. Lord only knew though, what that might be.
The answers began to trail off and the look of anticipation mixed with mystifying wonderment was painted on the faces that surrounded me. I think they might call that fear. “Come now folks…look around…what else do you see?” He said with a bit of frustration in his voice.
So then, there we all were looking around like ostriches in a snow storm, trying to figure out what he wanted us to see. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, a huge Newfoundlander, that I will call Jim, spoke up and said. “Yes bye…there’s an Eastern White Pine standin right ear be ind me there is.” A huge smile came to the face of Mr. Williams as he bobbed up and down with more vigour, he said. “Very good Jim…marvellous…now then Jim…can you tell the class what the Silvics of Eastern White Pine is?” By this Mr. Williams basically meant where does Eastern White Pine achieve its best growth. With hardly any hesitation Jim answered. “Yes Bye…it achieves its best growth on the well drained sandy soils it does” Jim answered, with the look of a Rooster surrounded by Hens. He was glad he was able to answer Mr. Williams.
“Very very good Jim!” Mr. Williams said with a great amount of excitement; he went on. “Now then Jim…would you say that this tree is healthy…has it achieved good growth?”
At this point I was reminded of people watching a tennis match from a grand stand, for we were doing the same, first to Mr. Williams, then back to Jim.
Jim turned and looked the tree all up and down, then he reached over and touched it as if he expected it to say something to him. He then turned back toward Mr. Williams and said; “Yes Bye…she’s got grand height an good girth she does…er top looks good n elthy it does…I would ave ta say she as achieved very good growth.” To which Mr. Williams excitedly said. “Very good then Jim…but can you perhaps see anything else that might be a bit different about this tree?”
The Rooster look was fading, as Jim looked at us hoping to be rescued, then back at the tree then he turned back to Mr. Williams and said; “well…alls I kin sees is she as er feet wet.”
Mr. Williams was bouncing even faster still and smiling brighter, he said. “Very very good Jim…Excellent!” Jim’s Rooster developed brightness again. Mr. Williams went on. “ Now then Jim…if you will…could you explain to the class…the reason.” There was a slight pause. “I mean if the Silvics of Eastern White Pine is well drained sandy soils…why is it that this tree…with it’s feet very wet…has achieved very good growth?”
The Rooster once again fell faint from Jim’s face. While we all glared at Jim, just to ensure he knew that we were interested in what he had to say, which I am sure made him feel ever so comfortable. Jim’s Rooster was now turning reddish in color as he shifted his weight back and forth several times from one foot to the other. Then after taking another look at the tree, with the hope that it just might talk to him yet, he slowly turned and looked at Mr. Williams with the look of a defeated goal tender after the third period of overtime, and said. “Yes Bye…I am sure I doesn’t know…but I am sure you are gonna tells us.”
After the chuckling subsided, Mr. Williams said. “That’s okay Jim…and you are right I am going to tell you.”
Mr. Williams went on to explain to us that the book indeed says that the Eastern White Pine does achieve its best growth on well drained sandy soils. This tree was growing at the edge of a Peat Bog in conditions anything but well drained and sandy. The tree had achieved good growth and was doing well, and there was a reason. He said the tree had not read the book.
You see he went on; there is always an exception to the rule. The seed had fell in this place and was given two choices, adapt and grow, or die. It chose life and even though the conditions were not the best for this tree to achieve greatness, it overcame the adversities it faced simply because it didn’t know otherwise. It didn’t read the book.
Mr. Williams was no longer smiling; his face had hardened as he wanted to ensure we got this lesson. He told us that we would be graduating soon and going out to various places throughout North American and perhaps even the world, to pursue our careers. Many of us would some day become supervisors. In this world there is little room for people who simply set at a desk and never go out and see what is going on. They make decisions every single day based on the book. A lot of the time the book is indeed right. However, there is always an exception to the rule. Don’t let me ever hear tell of any of you ever not believing something one of your people tells you based on the book and what it states. Keep an open mind and go and see for yourself. Better still, allot time to go out and explore no matter how busy you might be. Nothing takes the place of hands on. Go and see what your people are up against before they have to come to you with a reason why a task can’t be done.
When you find a special problem, involve everyone. Many people looking for an answer to a conundrum are better than one. Always listen to your people. Help them to grow. Help them to become innovative and come up with non book answers. And always remember there is an exception to every rule.
This was one lesson that I have never forgotten. Without even thinking I find myself implementing this type of leadership whenever the need arises. Experience has also taught me that Mr. Williams really was telling the truth. Exceptions to the rule do not just exist in the forest; they can be found everywhere, in every aspect of our everyday life.
I have learned that in order to approach any kind of task or problem, there are a few things to keep in mind. Below I will list a few.
- You don’t know it all. You are not perfect. There is no such thing. Listen and keep your eyes open and stay focused.
- Pick everyone’s mind. Each of us views things from a different angle and different perception.
- Ask questions. This prompts others to think.
- Keep everyone involved informed as best as you can.
- Be fair and show equality.
- Have clear understood objectives that are realistic, measurable, obtainable, and flexible.
- Be willing to be flexible yourself and welcome positive change for the better.
- Encourage people to use their imaginations.
- For the most part, if someone is asking for a tool, in all likelihood they need it or they would not be asking. Acknowledge them and either get them the tool or explain why you can’t.
- In every way show folks that you care, because if you don’t do this, you really don’t care. It is very hard to try and fool people. Be sincere and be truthful, it will gain you respect, trust, and dedication. People will see through false fronts very quickly, thus believe in what you are doing or don’t do it.
- Don’t be too serious; take time at the proper times to laugh.
- Show appreciation for work well done, and when someone has tried their best.
- If you don’t believe in it, how can you expect the folks following you to believe in it? And if no one believes in it, they are just going through the motions. For example, if you tell people that your first priority is safety, don’t just say this because you have too. Say because you mean it.
Ask yourself if you don’t really believe in it, then why are you doing it? Perhaps you need to move on to something you do believe in rather than stay for a pay check. You really are not being fair to yourself or to others if you are only giving just enough.
- And always remember, there are exceptions to every rule.

These are only a few of the life lessons I have learned. There are more, many more. I think for this writing, I have covered enough. I will in the future write some more for those of you interested enough to read them.

Until next time, above all else, Stay Safe! Tex January 18, 2010.

Site Indicators

2010-01-17T02:14:00.001-04:00

Fire Thought For The day 004

Site Indicators

The father of fire intensity George Byram identified blow up conditions on wildland fire a long time ago. Atmospheric Stability is the ability to resist vertical movement of air up wards. An unstable atmosphere is conducive to blow up conditions on a fire. Very bad things can happen on a day that seems to present no apparent signs of impending danger. Lets learn to look a bit closer and then reevaluate the day’s conditions.

- Fair weather clouds, Cumulus, the puffy cotton ball like clouds, are indicators of an unstable atmosphere.
- Gusty winds are indicators of an unstable atmosphere.
- Dust devils are indicators of an unstable atmosphere.
- A very clear sky without any presence of cloud is an indicator of an unstable atmosphere.

Thunderstorms can also present danger on a fire. They cause, of course, lightning. They also cause down draft and up draft winds, micro-bursts of wind. Remember that lightning can reach as far away from the main cloud as far as 15 to 17 kilometers, a shot out of the blue.
If you see towering Cumulus clouds, they indicate CB’s or thunderstorms are likely later on in the day. Cumulus clouds period are indicators of the likely hood of thunderstorms later in the day.

Very high towering smoke columns are indicators of an unstable atmosphere.

Once on the fire if you see fire whirls, heads up. If you see spotting across the control line early in the morning look for control problems later in the day. If you see individual torching or candling of single trees or small groups of trees early in the morning, this indicates very serious control problems latter in the day. These are speak up signals, make your supervisors aware of what you see.

Learn to think ahead. We are all very good at reacting. However, we need to get more proactive. Ask your self where am I and my crew now, and what is the fire doing, where will we all be in five minutes, two hours, 6 hours etc. and what will the fire be doing. Learn to look at everything around you and what it is telling you. Assess and reassess your situation constantly.
I have developed what I call Tex’s systematic rule of ten. It is a system for assessing your situation on a wildland fire. If you would like a copy I will gladly send it to you. Remember, like all things my rule of ten has its limitations. It is provided as an aid to assess firefighter danger levels. It is not meant to replace sound judgment or common sense.

Until next time, Stay Safe! Tex

2010-01-15T23:52:00.000-04:00

Fire Thought For The Day 003

Common Denominators
Some of you have heard me ramble on about common denominators on near miss and tragedy incidents. Why do I constantly harp about these? The answer is very simple. The common denominators speak volumes. There have been several studies conducted, their findings are consistent. Below are a few key ones to think about and remember.
- The fire was small or a small part of a larger fire.
- Steep slope was involved.
- Unexpected erratic winds, changing winds.
- No regard for the Fire Weather Indices.
- No regard for predicted potential fire behavior.
- Just before the event happened, the fire did not seem threatening in any way, or the fire was in the late stages (mop up). Then something changed very quickly and unexpectedly.
- Over confident attitudes.
- Action with no safe anchor point.

These are just a few. Think about ways to prevent these things from happening in the future. Don’t let complacency be the rule. Don’t say that it only happens some where else. It has happened here. Let’s not relearn, over and over again. Let’s learn from the past.
One of my very learned mentors once told me: “Strive for perfection. You know that no one is perfect. Perfection is unattainable. However, if we try to strive for perfection, we will truly do our best.” Try to be the best that you can be.
Perhaps we can go for years and never have anything bad happen. Sometimes a person can work their entire career without serious incident. Remember, it only takes once, and it can happen in a heart beat.
Ask your self, when was the last time I witnessed extreme fire behavior? When was the last time I was on a fire of any kind? Have I fought fire in all fuel types, in all types of terrain, under all types of weather conditions? Do I look at the fire weather indices when they come in? Do I know what the numbers really mean? Do I really know what kind of fire behavior I can expect for today’s burning period?
Perhaps your answers will lead you to reexamine your practice of the past. Perhaps your answers will lead you to change the way you think about fire. Perhaps your answers will lead you to gather more knowledge.
Perhaps your answers will lead you to practice.
This is your life. You get one chance. This is your people’s life. This is their one chance. Think about that for a while. It is never too late to change the way we think and do things. Start today to become the best that you can be. Your life and the lives of your people may depend on the decisions you make in the future. Don’t let production overshadow safety. To quote Justice K. Peter Richards from his review of the Westray Mine Disaster of 1992 where 26 people lost their lives: “Never let the Risks out weigh the benefits.”
Until next time, above all else Stay Safe! Tex

My Dog is Not Insane

2010-01-15T23:41:00.001-04:00

January 15, 2010

005 Tex’s Thought Provokers

My Dog Is Not Insane

It has become clear to me that my dog is not insane. I base this on Einstein’s definition of insanity. “Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result.”
At this point, I feel you need some background information. A few years ago, my daughter found out that in a near by shelter there was a young dog that was slated for a needle, thus he had the crossing of the long swamp to look forward too. We already were the proud owners of a pure bread German Sheppard, who by the way, I think probably was a bit insane, so I had my reservations as to whether we needed another dog.
But having the luxury of being wrapped around my daughter’s finger, I had no choice. I had to concede; otherwise I would have to live with the guilt of being the reason for the dog’s demise for the rest of my days. Trust me, my daughter is a very strong willed person, she never would have let me forget it. So it was off to the rescue.
Now then, upon arriving with my family of troops, bent on saving the day, my reservations were elevated to the next level when I first saw this half Siberian Husky and half German Sheppard. First, he was rather big. Second, he was older than I had thought. Third, he had two different colored eyes, one brown and one turquoise, which kind of creeped me out. Fourth, we already had one very large dog. Fifth, I went to pet him and his head went immediately down, with his ears pined back. I looked at the manager of the shelter and said. “This dog seems to have been abused!” The smiling woman said. “Oh yes…he was…but he is still a very nice dog…and besides…he should grow out of that…he really needs a nice home.”
I just looked at her, as my thoughts were dwelling on a key word in the statement she had made. The word should, was causing me to have serious doubts.
But then, throwing caution and better judgment to the wind, over ruled by a look from my daughter, who’s eyes resembled Cindy Loo Who from Dr. Seuss’s “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” it was off to Meiko’s new home.
As it turned out, Meiko has become a fixture at our home. Despite some rather annoying traits that he possesses; and despite the fact that my insane dog Tango, who unfortunately, made the journey across the long swamp, due to a stroke, was a bit put out with the invasion at the time; and despite…well you get the picture.
Meiko and my daughter Sommer fell in love with each other the very day we saved him from the big sleep. He is spoiled to the core, and I guess if I admit it, I have come to accept him…. ok, love him too.
Now then, by this time you are wondering to yourself, where in the name of tarnation is this Yoyo going with this. Perhaps you are entertaining thoughts as to my stability?
I will try to explain.
Meiko has a problem he can’t seem to get over. He learned this at a very young age, and no matter how much love and kindness he gets, even from Sommer, he still cowers every time we go to pet him. His head drops and his ears go back. Then once we pet him, and he sees that we are not going to hit him or hurt him in any way, he is fine.
This is why I say, my dog is not insane. You see, according to Einstein’s definition, he does not expect a different result from being approached by a human.
I contend that animals are anything but dumb. They are wonderful creatures made by God to be part of the perfect balance he created.
We can learn, and we have if you think about it, a lot from the animals.
I will explain further. To me Einstein’s definition has close ties with hope. Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting the same result, is acceptance. In some cases it could be classed as a habit. It could also mean you have fallen into the comfort zone, your comfort zone. However, it could also mean that you have lost hope. If this is the case, you don’t expect anything different because you have given up, due to all the time you have spent expecting something different and it hasn’t happened. It could further be a result of the comfort zone barring any acceptance of change.
The fact is that everything, save one thing, changes. We live in a very dynamic world. There is very little that is static, that is if we expect anything different. You can say I am doing fine and I will not change. That might well be. But what if you are joined by a group of like minded people? What if together your resistance to change is barring others that grew up in a different time with different attitudes and different ways of achieving the same goal, from entering in to your fold?
I am certainly not saying that anyone here is evil or that anyone is intentionally barring people. But what if you are perceived by others that way? What if they are misunderstanding what they see and hear? What if they are thinking…?

Matthew 23:13
13 “It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees! You are hypocrites*! You close the way for people to enter God’s kingdom.* You yourselves don’t enter, and you stop those who are trying to enter.

I know for a certainty that if many of the people in this world thought that this was what they were doing, they would be aghast.
However, there are many good loving people that are doing this and they do not even realize that they are.
I spoke earlier about one thing that does not change. The language might indeed change, but the word of the Lord and his intent never changes. It was good a very long time ago and it will be good until he comes again. And even then, his word will never change.
The world changes, the sea changes, the universe changes, and yes we are constantly changing whether we like it or not. Nothing remains the same except the word of the Lord and he himself.
People will say to you I don’t know how to change. Or is it that they are in their comfort zone, and they simply do not want to change. People have told me time and time again, I am scared of change. Or are they really using the word fear as an excuse for staying the same, safe and sound in their comfort zone?
Others have said, I am too old to change! Well what about Zechariah and Elizabeth?

Luke 1:7
7 But they had no children. Elizabeth could not have a baby, and both of them were very old.

Luke 1:13-20
13 But the angel said to him, “Zechariah, don’t be afraid. Your prayer has been heard by God. Your wife Elizabeth will give birth to a baby boy, and you will name him John. 14 You will be very happy, and many others will share your joy over his birth. 15 He will be a great man for the Lord. He will never drink wine or beer. Even before he is born, he will be filled with the Holy Spirit.* 16 “John will help many people of Israel* return to the Lord their God. 17John himself will go ahead of the Lord and make people ready for his coming. He will be powerful like Elijah* and will have the same spirit. He will make peace between fathers and their children. He will cause people who are not obeying God to change and start thinking the way they should.” 18 Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I know that what you say is true? I am an old man, and my wife is also old.” 19 The angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, the one who always stands ready before God. He sent me to talk to you and to tell you this good news. 20 Now, listen! You will not be able to talk until the day when these things happen. You will lose your speech because you did not believe what I told you. But everything I said will really happen.”

Well indeed, Zechariah and Elizabeth did have a son and they did call him John. And Zechariah got his voice back. And it certainly was a change for them and for the world. Because John changed a lot of people. And he did lay out a path for the one who is the greatest.
In my mind, change is a part of life. I hope I never get to a point where I am done changing, because for me this will be the day I am done learning.
I will tell you right up front, I am not comfortable, with many things. When I get up to speak before people, even though I have done it many times, I still get nervous. I may have learned how to hide my nervousness, but it is still there and very real. The same thing happens when I get up to play guitar and sing. In other words, I am not comfortable. If I become too comfortable, then I really do not put my all into it. I know when I am on the verge of comfort, because I begin to say, oh…this is not the best…but it will do. When I am trying to glorify the Lord, I want to always do my best.
If I get too comfortable, I will fall into the realm of those resistant to change. Then I fear, me being who I am, I would begin to lose hope. If I lose hope, then what do I have left?
I will admit that there are some things about us that are very hard to change. Some things we do not want to change. Like the older hymns for example. They are beautiful and they still bring praise to the Lord in a wondrous way. So the point here is, why should we change something that we love and something that has worked very well all these years? I agree that they should never be done away with. I agree that they have worked well for all of these years. I agree we should maintain them.
Yet, there is something else that we have to think about. By not changing the way we think, we are really going back to Matthew 23:13. Not because we are trying to keep people away. Because we are not willing to accept any kind of change, thus in essence we are doing the same thing.
Adopting the “my way or the highway” attitude is really an example of Matthew 23:13.
Now before you label me an anarchist or some sort of evil communist, or being in cahoots with Old Fungus Face, what if ……
what if we didn’t have to lose the older Hymns and the older style of worship, which for many has worked so well? What if we didn’t have to lose something that we love so much?
What if we were to compromise? What if say….we had a service at 800am for an hour of tradition hymns and message? Then we could go to the kitchen and have a coffee and a doughnut and share some fellowship. Then we went to Sunday school for an hour as usual. Then we had a contemporized type of service for an hour? This might include plays, messages, testimonies, music of today, all sorts of things.
It might be very surprising to many, as to how many would gladly and willingly go to both services.
The way I see it is this, not to sound like a broken record;

25 Jesus knew what the Pharisees were thinking. So he said to them, “Every kingdom that fights against itself will be destroyed. And every city or family that is divided against itself will not survive.”
Matthew 12:25

We can decide to not compromise, and we can simply adopt the “my way or the highway” attitude, and we will become a house divided by it’s self and we will all lose out.
We can continue letting the world see us as described in Matthew 23:13. Whether we are doing it on purpose or not is irrelevant. We can go on doing the same things as we have always did, all the while expecting a new and different outcome, and no, I am not saying that anyone is insane, other than myself. With everyone losing in the end.

Or we could all be people of good will and compromise so that everyone wins, mostly including the Lord. Even if we were to try it, even if we were to try something like it. What if were able to bring one person to the Lord because of our compromise, would it not be worth it?
To me, we have to be thinking all the time of ways to spread the good news, ways to bring more and more people to the Lord. I for one am not comfortable while I know there is more I could be doing to spread his word and more I could be doing to help gather souls for Jesus. It is my hope that for as long as I live I am not content to ever be comfortable. For when I find that I am getting comfortable, I will seek change. Until next time, may the light of Jesus shine on your face, and may you never be content with comfort.
Our comfort awaits us in Glory in the future.
God bless you all.
Tex

Grace

2010-01-15T08:22:00.000-04:00

January 15, 2010

004 Tex’s Thought Provokers
Grace

As many of you know, I have been reading a lot; one of my favourite topics is grace. I have learned that there are many different meanings and views as to what grace is. Further, I have learned that if you were to poll the people, there would be a host of different answers if you asked them what they felt grace is.
Some of you have heard me say that we as humans like to complicate things. It is our nature.
To me grace is not really all that complicated. I look at the message of the Lord the same way. We can make things as complex as we want, yet the facts of the matter are, the basics are what matter. The root of the tree, the solid foundation of a building, the people at the so called bottom, all the simple and basic things are what make things work.
With out the root the tree will fall over. The same can be said for a building’s foundation. Think about this one; the people at the so called bottom implement the work, without them as a foundation, nothing would get done, and there would be no need for the so called important people above them, the supervisors or the bosses.
So it is very basic to me, the foundation is where we need to look for the most important part of anything.
To me grace is simply this; love, compassion, mercy, forgiveness, tolerance, and patience, for those that do not deserve it. That to me is the true measure of what grace is. It is very basic, and I believe the foundation of grace.
The hard part is being able to show grace to those that hurt us. To those that we don’t know, but we know have done a terrible thing. To those that don’t deserve it. This requires a lot of help from the Lord. We have to ask that he give us the strength to carry out this act of showing grace.
The best examples I can think of, that exemplify what grace is, is when the Lord our Father gave his only son to die for everyone one of us. He knew he was sacrificing his son to save a bunch of undeserving beings. He could have stopped it from happening with a mere breath. But he didn’t, and I am thankful, and filled with awe as to how he could do this for the likes of us. But then he is God. Then there is Jesus himself, the son of man. Knowing what he was born for, knowing all the while what he would have to go through. To allow himself to be persecuted and tortured, again for the sake of the likes of us, and knowing that he could have stopped it as well, with the snap of his fingers, is nothing more than grace at it’s ultimate.
To love someone that has really hurt you, is likely one of the hardest things we can face. To forgive them is even harder. Yet Jesus tells us that we must do this.

44 But I tell you, love your enemies. Pray for those who treat you badly.
Matthew 5:44
Now then in the Lords Prayer (below), Jesus tells us what we should say when we pray. We can see that verse twelve is devoted to forgiveness.

9 So this is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, we pray that your name will always be kept holy.* 10 We pray that your kingdom* will come — that what you want will be done here on earth, the same as in heaven. 11 Give us the food we need for today. 12 Forgive our sins, just as we have forgiven those who did wrong to us. 13 Don’t let us be tempted, but save us from the Evil One. Matthew 6:9-13

14 Yes, if you forgive others for the wrongs they do to you, then your Father in heaven will also forgive your wrongs. 15 But if you don’t forgive others, then your Father in heaven will not forgive the wrongs you do. Matthew 6:14-15

In the above passage it is clear what Jesus says, we must forgive or not be forgiven.

31“So I tell you, people can be forgiven for every sinful thing they do and for every bad thing they say against God. But anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit* will not be forgiven. Matthew 12:31

22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, you must forgive them more than seven times. You must continue to forgive them even if they do wrong to you seventy-seven times. Matthew 18:22
So as we can see, Jesus makes it totally clear, we must forgive. There is another reason why I think that we must do this. Yes it shows grace, but something more too. If we do not forgive, we will become bitter, then our heart turns black, and we carry around this burden in the chambers of our hearts. Old Wart Face sees this and takes full advantage of the situation. He will spread the weight of this bitterness like a cancer. Sometimes without us even knowing, and soon the bitterness consumes us. We become as bad as the person that hurt us, if not worse.

7 Great blessings belong to those who show mercy to others. Mercy will be given to them. Matthew 5:7

Above we see one of the Beatitudes. It deals with mercy, which to me is part of grace.

14The Word became a man and lived among us. We saw his divine greatness*—the greatness that belongs to the only Son of the Father. The Word was full of grace* and truth. John 1:14

Above in John we can see that Jesus is full of grace and truth.

How can we even begin to talk about grace and not mention Saul the Pharisee, self proclaimed chief of sinners. Saul was to become Paul, one of the great Apostles for Christ. Yet before this, he held coats, and watched as Stephen was stoned to death, and he agreed with it! He did many other things against the believers. Horrible Things.
Then on the road to Damascus, Saul was brought to his knees by Jesus. Act9:1-6. Then we see Saul turned to the belief of Jesus and begin to spread the good news. This is a wonderful story in Acts, one well worth reading, to me, it is a prime example of forgiveness.
In Acts 13:9 we see Saul also called Paul.
In Paul’s letters we find that he constantly speaks of grace. Paul’s letters are filled with teachings.
The more we read the Bible and the guides to a good life here, the closer we get to the wonderful life we are heading for, the life that never ends.
An eternity is a very long time; can you imagine if the Lord let us all live with no rules, no morals, no grace, forever? I think they call it hell.
So then, to understand grace and what it is, I think it is clear, we need to be filled with Love, compassion, mercy, and forgiveness. We need to be able to show this to everyone, especially those who deserve it the least.
Jesus goes to great length to tell and show us all what the things are that make up grace. We have talked about a few important ones here in this writing. There are others that can be found throughout the bible. I think the beatitudes in Matthew 5, is a great place to start.

I will close this writing with a verse from Paul’s letter to the believers in Rome.

21 Sin once used death to rule us. But God gave us more of his grace so that grace could rule by making us right with him. And this brings us eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 5:21

And for those of you who have not yet read Philip Yancy’s book; “What’s So Amazing About Grace?” I would highly recommend it.

Until next time, may the grace of the Lord be with you all always.Tex

CBC News - New Brunswick - Toddler dies after drinking methadone

2010-01-14T09:57:00.000-04:00

CBC News - New Brunswick - Toddler dies after drinking methadone

You Be The Judge

2010-01-14T00:17:00.000-04:00

January 14, 2010
003 Tex’s Thought Provokers

You Be The Judge!

If we really think about it, one of mans greatest struggles down through the ages has been the fight between good and evil, right and wrong. All my life, for as long as I can remember, I have heard don’t do that it is evil. Don’t do this it is evil. By all means do this for it is good. From the time when we are small children, first learning about life, when everything is fresh and new, seeing things for the first time, we are learning right from wrong.
When wars are fought, it is always about who is right and who is wrong, fought by the righteous against the immoral. In nearly every case each side claims that it is the righteous side. So how do we know for sure that one side above the other is righteous and the other wrong? We make up our minds I guess based on what the actions are of one side or the other.
Have you ever been wrong in your determination? I know that I have many times. In the cases where I have been wrong, it is when I go by what I have heard from someone rather than what I have seen first hand. Or, it is when something has been hidden for a time, and then comes to light. At any rate, it has nearly every time gotten me in trouble, or at the very least, made me embarrassed.
The bible says do not judge. If we do, we will be judged the same way that we judge. Don’t we all judge? If we are really honest, I think we all make judgments every day. Decisions I think, made based on the best information is a bit different than judging. Yet, every day we also make judgment calls in our minds. So where does it become the harmful type of judgment? I think it is when we point the finger at someone and in our mind we say that person is wrong. Sometimes we don’t even keep it to ourselves, we come right out and say to another person, I think what you are doing is wrong.
Now then, this is a very fine line, because there are some things that are blatantly wrong. Like breaking a law for example. When we break a law we are just wrong. If we do not agree with a law, we should work to change it, we should not break it.
That being said, is there any of us, that does not break some sort of law every day? Did you completely stop at the stop sign? Did you always obey the speed limit? Did you follow too close to a slower vehicle? Did you pass on a solid line? Did you wear your helmet on your four wheeler ride? Did you catch seven trout instead of five? On and on it goes. Yes I think we all break laws all the time.
I know, these seem like small trivial laws, laws that do not make much difference. The courts call them Misdeeds.
So to justify things in your mind, do you say well…going over the speed limit is not really all that big of a deal. After all, everyone does it right? Then it becomes your standard rather than what the courts say. Where is that you draw the line? This I think is key; where each of us draws the line is what determines how good or how bad we really are.
You might well go over the speed limit, but you would never ever steal anything. You might commit several small misdeeds that really don’t hurt anyone….but you have never ever claimed anything false on your taxes….or taken cash for something with no record… and you don’t have to claim it as income. Oh, I know, that is like …your money, after all the government has swindled it out of you over the years….sure why not…I mean everyone else does it right?
Standards, which we all set for ourselves, to heck with what the courts say, after all…I deserve it right? So then it is really not wrong….right? Yes, in your mind it is not wrong. In the courts mind if you get caught, well…they view it a little more ridged than you do.
So then, it comes back to who is right and who is wrong. One thing I have learned is that if you find yourself getting away with breaking the little unimportant laws, you will find it much easier to break a more serious law. I am not saying everyone, but we all know this is true.

Whoever can be trusted with small things can also be trusted with big things. Whoever is dishonest in little things will be dishonest in big things too. Luke 16:10

Now folks, I am not trying to say any of you are public enemy number one. So don’t think for a minute that I am accusing anyone. I am just rambling like normal.
Let’s look at this from another perspective.

22 You should keep your beliefs about these things a secret between yourself and God. It is a blessing to be able to do what you think is right without feeling guilty. Romans 14:22
It is time for self evaluation, this includes me.
Have you ever thought to yourself, when you see a person, oh let’s say… dressed in a certain fashion, or smoking a cigarette, or hanging out with what we call a bad crowd, or coming out of the convenience store with a six pack of beer, or an over weight person eating a lot, or any number of things, that person is just bad and what they are doing is wrong, I would never dress like that. Have you inside your mind felt like this? I know I have, and again I am a work in progress, and I am continually trying to improve.
We all judge, and we all have standards of what is right and what is wrong.
Judging people is a part of life that is a bit ugly if you ask me. I wish we never had this trait. Some judge more than others. But we all do it, even though the bible says we should not judge, for if we do we will be judged.
Not very long ago I was feeling frustrated and I asked a question of a couple of friends and I know I was judging the minute I asked the question. I felt bad about this, so I asked the Lord to forgive me. But I know the minute I asked it, I felt that I was judged. Not by the Lord, but by my friends. I don’t know if I was or not, but that is how I felt. This was guilt, plain and simple. Paul goes on in Romans to say a lot about what feeling guilty tells us. I love to read Romans, and yes, Paul’s letters are one of my favorite things to read.
We are told that if we feel guilty about something, then in all likelihood it is wrong and we should evaluate ourselves, and then try to make it right.
Now then, judging another leads to feeling better than another. And when you feel better than another, you judge even more. Your standard of right and wrong goes to another level. Then you start judging people on more serious things, in your mind, and then you get to feeling even better about yourself than ever before. This leads to becoming holier than thou. And then you’re just about better than everyone. Oh yes you have a few friends, but you are even just a bit better than them. All of a sudden, you can do no wrong at all. You get to a point where if anyone dares to confront you or challenges you in any way, even if you only perceive this in your mind, you become very defensive and sometimes even evil acting.
This is yet some more handiwork of Old Greasy Face. He sneaks these feelings into a good person’s life. So subtle and so cleverly that the person does not even realize that they are acting the way they are.
The person may have been living for the Lord for a very long time. And in their mind there is no possible way that they could be doing anything that would be anything less than Christian.
Then there are the folks that are just plain evil right from the get go. They let on like they are good, and they have very evil hearts. They have a hidden agenda.
So how can we tell if a person is good or bad? Who do we trust? We have to live life and do the best we can. We can’t go through it being suspicious of everyone.
I say it is up to us to try and treat everyone the same as best as we can. That is what the Lord meant by giving us the second greatest law. Love others as you would have others love you. But we will get hurt. Yes we will, many times. Yet I think it is up to the Lord to be the judge of others. Sometimes, this is very hard to do. However, I think we should try our best to do as the Lord tells us.
Can we ever really know another person? Can we ever really know for sure if a person is good or bad?

15 “Be careful of false prophets.* They come to you and look gentle like sheep. But they are really dangerous like wolves. 16 You will know these people because of what they do. Good things don’t come from people who are bad, just as grapes don’t come from thornbushes, and figs don’t come from thorny weeds. 17 In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, and bad trees produce bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 You will know these false people by what they do. 21“Not everyone who calls me Lord will enter God’s kingdom.* The only people who will enter are those who do what my Father in heaven wants. 22 On that last Day* many will call me Lord. They will say, ‘Lord, Lord, by the power of your name we spoke for God. And by your name we forced out demons* and did many miracles.*’ 23 Then I will tell those people clearly, ‘Get away from me, you people who do wrong. I never knew you.’ Matthew 7:15-23

You see the answer is in the bible, just as all of life’s questions are.
It is a very confounding thing, this holier than thou thing. How can we tell the person without confrontation? How can we help this person if the person refuses to believe they are wrong? How can we reason with the unreasonable? It says that many will call me Lord on that day but I he will refuse them. The bible says the first shall be last and the last shall be first.
30 Many people who are first now will be last in the future. And many who are last now will be first in the future. Matthew 19:30
So again, how do we help a person that is blind to what he or she really is?
I think we need to pray for that person a lot. I think that we need to show that person love. And I can tell you that this will not be easy, yet I think we must try our best.
Another tool that Old Crusty Drawers takes advantage of is the fact that we have so much. When is it that a person really accepts the Lords help? When they are really broken. We all have our everyday problems. But when a person is really broken, when they have lost all hope, that is when the Lord really comes alive and his light can be seen by all who choose to look. Perhaps this sounds like I am being mean spirited or even hateful, I certainly don’t mean to convey that, but I think we need to pray for brokenness for those among us everywhere that are holier than thou. Then when the Lord takes over the person can be saved.
And so again, we need to really concentrate on ourselves, me included. We must self evaluate to ensure we are not becoming too judgmental, because it can lead to bad things.
One way we can do this is to have a very close friend tell us when we are slipping. A person we can trust. A person we call a friend. We should make an agreement with this friend that I will look after you and you look after me. Together we will monitor our standards that we develop. These folks are rare in a person’s life. I am speaking of a person you would trust your life too. And I am talking about people, really other than your immediate family. Yet, sometimes it might be a family member. At any rate, if in our short lifetime here on earth we can but find one person that you can do this with, you are fortunate. And you should cherish that person always.
I’m talking about a person you would not hesitate to give up your life for.
I was very fortunate; it was about this time last year. I found just such a person. Now my wife is by far and away my best friend. I trust her and love her completely. What I am saying, is a person you call a dear friend that you are not related too. Because my father means big bunches to me too. So do my offspring.
No, these are people that you develop a relationship with outside the ones you live with.
Again, I must stress that these types of relationships are rare and if you are blessed with one, work to keep it alive. Never take it for granted.
I have said a lot about the holier than thou.
But what about a person that shows in everything they do and say that they are truly a good person. First that person never has to say it about themselves. They just plain show it. Are they prefect? Far from it. Even though we are told to be Christ like in all we do. To me there is only one person of perfection….Jesus!
To me trying to be Christ like is not about being perfect or thinking you are. It is about trying our best to stop and think before we say and do, “what would Jesus do?” I know it is an old saying, but it is true.
I have known a lot of folks in my time. I have known both good and bad. It is my great pleasure to say that this person I am fortunate enough to have had come into my life, like I said about this time last year, has a heart the likes of which I have never seen. Immediately, I felt the caring and love that this person had, not just for me, but for all of us at our church and beyond.
Like my Dad always said, there is a reason for everything. There was a reason that this person was brought into my life. The Lord directed that one in every way.
Like I said it is rare to find such a person. They are not common. Every waking minute this person is putting the Lord first, his family and others next and himself the very last. In all he says and does his heart comes out in him.
Garth, I love you brother. Thank you for you and your good heart.

45 Good people have good things saved in their hearts. That’s why they say good things. But those who are evil have hearts full of evil, and that’s why they say things that are evil. What people say with their mouths comes from what fills their hearts. Luke 6:45

So you can tell whether a person is good or bad from what comes out of their mouth which comes from their hearts. Some can hide what is truly in their heart. But if they are bad, then at some point there will be bad come out of their mouth.
So until next time, may your hearts all be filled with the Lords goodness.
In the name of Christ….Tex