We were talking about the rocketing inflation, trucks not running to make crucial deliveries, and the second wave of pandemic measures sure to compound the problem and all I heard was that it is in God’s hands, there is nothing we can do about it. I have made my living throughout my life, working in the wake of disasters, hurricanes, earth quakes, plane crashes and ships sinking, fires, wars, and I have never witnessed people just giving up and waiting for the next shoe to fall. What has happened to our country? My Grandmother, during the great depression, lived in a shack with five young children while my grandfather travelled looking for work of any kind. She burned their meager furnishings and possessions during an ice storm to keep her children from freezing to death because there was no wood. They planted gardens and raised pigs. Purchased staples were limited to flour, meal, salt, baking powder, and a little sugar. Milk was bartered for, sometimes a little honey. Wild game and fish were eaten, nothing was wasted. The thought of spending their meager earnings on plastic bags to store trash that someone else was paid to carry away and dispose of was unimaginable. Shoes were made to protect their feet while working and having special pairs of them to go with an outfit or for running or dancing was reserved for those that were wealthy. School clothes were laundered and mended and were never worn to play in. When Television came along, it was for watching Walter Cronkite telling us what was happening around the world and maybe an episode of Gun Smoke before bed. Canning jars and lids were more important than an ice maker on the fridge or even owning a refrigerator and if you had a telephone, it was a party line and seldom used for non-emergencies. Automobiles and farm equipment were manufactured to last and was easily repaired and maintained with the simple tools you owned or borrowed from a helpful neighbor. Folks gathered in Churches to pray and sing but more so, to talk and share a meal and find out who needed what to survive. The thought of using your earned assets to pay for air conditioning was laughable. You cooked in the early part of the day to keep from heating the house up too bad and dinner was usually a garden salad and left-over bread, maybe a glass of milk or canned tomatoes and some cornbread. Diapers were washed and dried on a clothes line and babies absolutely knew what titties were meant for. Tools were more important than warranties and nothing was bought that was disposable. The idea of just going to the supermarket every day wasn’t even conceivable. Toys were made from bits of cloth or string, my favorite incorporated an old leather shoe tongue to launch rocks, first from a pair of strings then later from a forked branch with a pair of rubber strips of old inner-tube. The family gun was a tool, it was for dispatching a rabid dog, a venomous snake, a marauding weasel, or some squirrels for dinner. Walks always involved looking out for poke sallet, black berries, mulberries, asparagus, dandelion greens, maybe sassafras or a bee tree. Fishing holes, ponds, creeks, wooded lots with hickory were noted for catching some fish, swimming, or squirrel hunting. The deer population was nearly wiped-out by depression hunters and had yet to recover in my childhood. They are much more common today but will be wiped out again when store shelves are empty. Bicycles were a primary mode of transportation, not an exercise toy. They were used for both riding and for carrying loads. Everyone had their work to be done and those that didn’t work were labeled ‘Shiftless” and best avoided. Music was played at home on guitars, pianos, banjos dulcimers, families sang in harmony on the porch in the evenings. Sometimes a melon was cut and shared or simple ice-cream made from a fresh snow-fall. Peas were picked and shelled on the back porch. Juices, tomatoes, beets, cucumbers, onions, jams, jellies, and preserves were canned in pressure cookers and carried to the root cellar for long-term storage. Slop buckets were placed in bedrooms because nobody wanted to get up on a cold night and journey to the outhouse. Store-bought toilet paper was sort of a joke. Cows were milked, the cream separated, butter churned, cheeses made. Pigs were killed, scalded, cut, ground, smoked, cured in salt. Trees were felled for firewood or lumber. Building materials were gathered, stored, and protected until enough were accumulated to build something useful. Barter was useful, a few hours on a garden hoe could earn you a decent meal but if no work were exchanged, you were a hobo and told to leave. Pennies were dropped into the cans of blind people on corners but never to a healthy standing man with a sign saying he was traveling and out of gas. If you wanted work, it was available if you weren’t too picky. We practiced hunting and fishing skills, always on the lookout for a stand of suitable cane for fishing poles. It was an honor to present the table with fresh game or fish. Bows and arrows always started with sticks and strings but eventually into something that could actually bring home some rabbits. Slingshots, fish spears, frog gigs, casting nets, trot-lines tied and stored for deployment in wooden coke cases, their hooks dangling from notches around the outer edges for easy baiting. Catauga trees with caterpillars were a valuable source of trotline bait. We knew where to dig worms, catch grass-hoppers, crickets, minnows; a good source of fish bait was worth nearly as much as the fish caught. Well, I guess I can’t disagree that it is in God’s hands. He created us and gave us the means to survive by strength, will, and fortitude. He gave us the tools and the earth to harvest. Don’t expect me to sit around complaining that I can’t afford a frozen TV dinner because the shelves are empty, it doesn’t work that way.
@Seacowboys Very well said! "...and all I heard was that it is in God’s hands..." People saying this is fingernails on the chalkboard for me because most of what happens is in our hands and is a result of our doing or not doing. I consider people that throw their responsibility at God's feet to be nothing but lazy, worthless, scum that you cannot count on or trust for a damn thing and we all would be better off if they were out of the gene pool. I truly believe that 'God helps those that help themselves.' Anyway, talk about something that sets me off... And, I am not saying that there aren't situations that aren't in God's hands but most the time it's in the hands of people, 'cause and effect,' do or not do. This so-called pandemic is another one. Was it caused by God? No, as it is looking more and more like it was caused by a Chinese laboratory funded by American dollars. Were you in God's hands if you contracted it? Yes and no. You could take and do things to help your immune system to fight it off so it certainly wasn't all in God's hands as he gave us intelligence to help us survive and prosper. Could you still die even if your took steps? Sure! You can die from the flu too or a dozen reasons this very second. Anyway, enough ranting...nice write-up Seacowboy!
Good one Seacowboys. Was told very early in life that God helps those who help themselves.The thing that bothers me the most is to see the canned food at the dump and the yard sales where the grand children and children are getting rid of all the "old junk" that the old man had in his cellar and garage. The hoes, garden forks, axes, hand saws, planes, wheel borrows etc that would have him continue to live with his garden and heat with wood if all else failed. Of course they don't trust home canned food, it might kill them, and wood is dirty and too much work.
Very well said.... life was hard, we had fun, family and community worked together..... life did not hand anyone anything, but an opportunity for the next day.
Life is a blessing meant to be lived, and we are owed NOTHING, and only by the sweat of ones brow do we ever have a chance to succeed! As long as we live as free men, living the golden rule, not taking from nature more then our share, all will be right in our world! I leaned an important lesson while lying on my back in the back of a helicopter, don't ask God for things you are capable of your self, ask god for strength to keep going, keep up the fight, and keep breathing! God doesn't answer pitiful wants, selfishness, or prideful things, God helps those who actually need his help, the trick is first knowing how and when to ask, and knowing how to listen when he answers!
Some people are actually afraid of asking God anything because they don't want to do anything He might ask. Many people know the right thing, knowing the things Jesus taught, but look for another more convenient answer. Believing in God is far more than acknowledgment. Satan acknowledges God, but Satan's rebellion divides the relationship. I acknowledge to God that I need His help and guidance every day, and desperately seek His guidance because I know His love for me and those that love Him that need his intervention. Oft times my actions are a part of that intervention for others. Oft times God has moved in the hearts of others on my behalf without their knowledge. IMO this is believing. Jesus said," I only do what my Father tells me." That is the example I endeavor to follow. IMO this is believing. Though I seek His guidance, sometimes I am left to figure things out on my own and act on that information, but I am flexible enough to be stopped and change gears as well. Just as people are capable of changing their minds, so the need for my involvement gets changed as well. The tapestry of time is not set in stone but as fluid as the oceans themselves. Somethings are inevitable due to the rebellious nature of man in general. To the OP The things I do and store are not done purely for my self, but for those put under my care when the time comes. Can you imagine standing before God on that day and giving account for the things done or ignored here on earth?
The one thing my old man pounded into my noggin early on The helping hand of the Lord is screwed onto the end of your own arm. Use it!
