Simple

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

Question the What Not the Who

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

Do Like the Animals Do

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