P:rayer for Today

A prayer for you today.  (Taken from the book “Lord, Change My Attitude—Before It’s Too Late” by James MacDonald.

Lord, thank you for the priceless privilege to worship and live alongside my brothers and sisters in Christ.  Thank you that each one is known and loved by you and has his and her own story of your grace and goodness in their lives.  Lord, I am like them in that you found me in my sin also.  And you have shined the light of Christ into my life.  Now I am in the process of growing and becoming more like you.  Help me along the way to discern the difference between loving, constructive criticism and the kind of criticism that destroys.  Help me to think highly and graciously about others.  Help me to pray for others.

Thank you that your word has shined into my heart.  Thank you for using it to reveal the price that I pay for my critical opinions.  Forgive me for thinking so highly of myself.  Forgive me fo thinking that my perspective is always the right perspective.  God, I recognize the arrogance in that.  Give me graciousness, love, and forbearance with others.  Thank you, God, that you have made us all different.  Help me to celebrate our differences and not demand that all the world see things exactly as I do.  Give me victory over a critical spirit.  Make me quick to turn from that pattern of thinking so that I might know your fullness in my life.  I pray this in Jesus’ precious name; Amen.

It's All Good

We went to the state fair last Saturday.  Now, that’s nothing spectacular, as a whole lot of folks go to the fair every year.  You may have gone.  We’ve gone to the fair most of the years of our married life, and I attended the fair as a teen with the high school band.  So it’s something we are very familiar with, and enjoy each year.

Of course, there are the old stand-by things at the fair that haven’t changed much over the years.  The Old Mill, Pronto Pups, chicken & noodle dinners, Lake Talbot, Porky’s sandwiches, the vendors under the grandstand; the farm equipment, antique tractors and engines, Kettle Korn and sales pitches; cattle, horses, rabbits, llamas, chickens & ducks…it’s all there.  But there are some newer attractions as well.  The sky lift ride, the talking robot, the zip line across Lake Talbot; all are newer things that have worked well and will probably be part of the fair landscape for years to come.

We, of course, have our traditions.  The train ride, giant slide, Old Mill, ice cream under the grandstand, and other things consume much of our time as we roam the fairgrounds.  The wife likes to look at the quilt exhibits as well as wander through the commercial buildings.  I like to see the antique tractors and engines and look at some of the farm equipment.

This year there was an auction of wood art going on at the arena, so I stopped and watched for about 30 minutes, listening to the cadence of the auctioneers, watching the ring men working the crowd.  I had no intention of buying anything…much too pricey for me.  But I enjoy going to an auction just to see and hear.  It reminds me of the days Dad and I would stop by the livestock auction in Harper where auctioneer extraordinaire Bill Starks would be auctioning pens of cattle and Gerald Smalley was one of the ring men barking out bids along with DeRoy Fields and others from time to time.  Sometimes Dad would buy…sometimes he would sell.  Sometimes he would just observe.  Often he’d talk with one of the other cattlemen there or maybe with Gerald or even Tom Minton, the owner of the sale.

Dad had his own way of buying and selling.  He never wanted to have others know too much about what he did, so he often asked Gerald to put in bids for him up to a certain price.  Sometimes he trusted Gerald and Tom to the point that he’d just tell them he needed so many head of whatever weight and ask them to buy for him what they thought would work for him at a price that was fair.

When it came time to sell, often Tom would call Dad and tell him he needed a few head to fill out a truck load or an order for so many at a certain weight.  And he needed them right then.  So the selling often was a last-minute thing, but the price was always right because of the need Tom had to fill out an order and his knowing that Dad’s livestock were in good shape.

Although that was long ago and far away, those memories are just as fresh as they were 40 or 50 years ago.  Just as the fair itself has within its borders memories of walking the midway, stopping by the Channel 12 booth, and browsing through the commercial buildings listening to hawkers sell pots and pans, knives, cleaning stuff, and goodness knows whatever else.

And hopefully, we are instilling in the grandkids memories of their own that they can call upon and relish in as they grow and mature…memories of cotton candy, the interactive fountains, helicopter rides, the Ferris wheel with Grandma, and the giant log plume water ride with Grandpa.

It’s all good.

State Fair Time

It’s State Fair time again.  Of course, we are attending the fair, as we do just about every year.  And even though there are some things that change from year to year, a lot of what we find at the fair stays the same year after year.

That’s one of the things I like about the fair.  Yes, I don’t mind the newer things, and even wander through some of the buildings in order to cruise past some of the commercial booths.  Mostly, I’m looking for booths that are new that I may not otherwise know about.  I also like to go through the agricultural equipment outdoors and see the gigantic leaps that have been made in agri-technology over the past fifty or so years since I farmed with Dad.  And I do want you to know that I rode the zip line last year.  Don’t know if I’ll do that again or not.

But I also like those things that never change.  The train ride has been at the fair for how long now?  And although some track was rerouted a few years ago, the train is still the train.  I can barely twist myself into the seat and keep my feet and arms inside, but who cares?  The Old Mill ride changes very little from year to year.  The giant slide, the carnival rides, the Pronto Pups, the robot that roams the fair, the clown with the extra-long legs…all are as they’ve been for many years.

And the animals.  I like to take a quick look at the cattle, the hogs, and the rabbits, chickens, and other beasts that have been entered.  Now, that might not float your boat, but as a farmer’s son, I enjoy seeing barnyard animals up close and personal once again.

There weren’t any grandstand shows that we wanted to see this year, so we’re saving some money there.  Otherwise, we’re all in.  We’ll do the slide, the train, the Old Mill.  We will possibly ride on some of the carnival rides, buy cotton candy and funnel cakes, and maybe even a Pronto Pup or fried Twinkie.  We’ll probably have lunch there somewhere, and slurp something to drink.  The grandkids will be with us, so it will be a double treat!

I don’t know what it is about things like the Fair that makes people come back year after year after year.  Shoot, I don’t even know why I go back year after year.  But we do, and we enjoy the respite from the rest of life and living, even if it’s for only a few hours.

So enjoy those things that have become traditional with you and your family.  Embrace them even as you are called to embrace (or at least tolerate) the inevitable changes that come to all of us in our daily lives.  After all, some things NEVER change.

TV and More

Yesterday, I was watching the evening news on TV.  I usually try to watch to catch up on the day’s events, and usually watch NBC.  Yesterday, however, there was a golf tournament on that channel, so I turned it to CBS.

I used to watch CBS news exclusively when Cronkite and company were in charge; however, it took a turn for the worse, I thought, during the Rather years and thereafter.  But I am well aware of the history of CBS news, and to this day believe the Cronkite years are a standard in news broadcast journalism.

On this particular broadcast, there was a celebration of the first time, 50 years ago yesterday, of a ½ hour evening news broadcast (expanded from 15 minutes).  They showed the black and white tape of the opening and the closing of the broadcast, with Mr. Cronkite at the helm.

I remember that broadcast.  I remember them going from 15 minutes to 30 minutes.  And I also remember that the expansion allowed film and tape footage that never would have been allowed in the smaller time format.  News has never been the same.

I also watched, over the weekend, reruns from the Perry Mason movie series that was done in the 1980’s.  Raymond Burr and Barbara Hale were much older, and William Hopper was no longer Paul Drake…he was replaced by William Katt, who played Paul Drake Jr. and was the real life son of Barbara Hale.

I also remember that series when it aired over a long period of time, and I remember the one hour Perry Mason prime time TV shows with Burr and William Tallman along with Hale and Hopper.

The kicker of all of this, however, was the theme song.  I love that music.  Why, I don’t know, but the music brings out memories and emotions that very few other theme songs of any kind do.  I don’t know about you, but I certainly appreciate going back in time once in a while by means of songs, sounds, smells, or sights that are forever imprinted somewhere in the cells of my brain.

So whether it’s the Gunsmoke theme, the Huntley/Brinkley newscast opening, or some other sight, sound or smell that triggers your memory senses, just do it.  Let go once in a while and savor the sensory images and memories that these things evoke.  You’ll enjoy it and you’ll appreciate both the past and present even more because of it.