2- March 7, 2019 Your Hometown Newspaper News Outlook
The.opinion page does not reflect the views of the KyNewsGroup.
Heaven Is
A Lot Like
By Charles Mattox
"By awakening the Na-
tive American teachings
you come to realize that the
earth is not something sim-
ply that you build upon and
walk upon and drive upon
and take for granted. It is
a living entity. It has a con-
sciousness. "
Edgar Cayce, Kentucky
mystic, psychic, and proph-
et.
Spring is just around the
corner, dear reader.
A OUND THE CORI,I
I look forward to it and Maybe it was because Cassidy has an entire I've never heard of any-
I'm sure you do too. I grew up on a small to- doom of toys but does in- one catching more fish
My three and a half bacco farm out next to the de6d love the great out- than my father, either.
year old son, Cassidy, has wild blue yonder, doors and will likely be an I'm not saying it didn t
entered his 'big trucks' Maybe it was because outside kid. . happen, just that I never
phase of boyhood and of my early addiction to I was an outside kid. heard about it.
has become hard-pressed hunting and collecting Na- I played a lot outside.And he was a very low-
to stay clean during his
daily play periods with his
construction toys and the
construction environment
of anything that will sub-
stitute for, well a pile of
dirt.
By all appearances, Cas-
sidy seems to be a typical,
little Kentucky boy, who
likes to play in dirt.
As I recall I had those
exact same tendencies at
his age and well into adult-
hood.
I always liked playing in
dirt as a little boy.
As an adult, whilst
pursuing my duties as a
sometimes investigative
journalist, I have to admit,
I do my best playing on
the dirty end of the field.
Sometimes, I just keep
on digging.
five Am, ericm;. Artifacts,
which I ve always found in
plowed ground across our
region. "
All I know is that I've al-
ways loved dirt;The smell
of it, the way it crumble
or sticks together when
you squeeze agood hand-
ful ofit.
The way a good dirt
clod feels when you test
its weight and balance and
send it whizzing toward an
unsuspecting target.
Dirt seemed more im-
portant to the average boy
back when I was growing
up than it does to some
children today.
Of course, I grew up
back before the computer
age, back when country
boys didn't have too many
of them there fancy toys.
I worked a lot outside.
I hunted and fished a lot
outside, which was a tittle
like playing and a riffle like
working. Well, actually, I
mostly helped dad with
the hunting and fishing
part and it was more work
than play because there
wasn't any lollygagging
around, even on a fishing
trip.
It wasn't about relaxing
and enjoying the beautiful
scenery.
It was all about catching
fish.
We relaxed when
dad said we had caught
enough fish.
To my knowledge, in all
of the years I went fishing
with him, we never once
caught enough fish for
him to actually relax.
tech kind of a fisherman.
He didn't need any fancy
depth finders or space-age
technology.
A broken tobacco stick
or broken mop-handle be-
came part of a 'hogging
hook."
A few feet of old woven-
wire fencing covered in
chicken wire became a
fish trap and so on.
He probably never had
any more than five or sLx
rods n reels his entire life,
and preferred trot lines
and throw lines and good-
old-fashioned cane poles.
He didn't travel to other
states to catch fish and he
rarely fished more than a
few miles from his front
door.
Amber and I love the
outdoors and though we
do not hunt or fish, we
take Cassidy with us on
outdoor adventures when
we look for Indian arti-
facts, metal-detect or walk
the creek banks.
We don't get in a big
hurry and we don't have
much of an agenda, ex-
cept to have fun and watch
our little boy explore and
discover.
The weather has been
so miserable for so long
that Cassidy hasn't got to
enjoy too much outdoor
time in the past eight
months, but hopefully,
that will soon change for
all of us.
You know, maybe it will
go for four whole days in
a row and not rain or
snow or drop to single
digit temperatures.
I know most of us have
cabin fever to one degree
or another.
Spring is just around the
corner, dear reader.
I look forward to it and
I'm sure you do too.
By Cecil Lawson
I see a great many peo-
ple each day S'Lmply going
through the motions, bare-
ly there at their jobs, day-
dreaming, or staring down
into their smart phones,
or worse, stuck in a world
without dreams.
Their souls scream,
"Anywhere but here."
I don't blame them. I've
felt it many times myself.
-.Weo: live: irt- a: st-pace&
anN. ;world ! that, is 'eom-
ing :apar.t at,the seams+ and
its easy to bury our collec-
tive heads in the sand and
hope that someone else
will somehow make it great
again.
The sad trufla is, we
ourselves have made this
world the way it is, and
yet, we no longer recog-
nize ourselves in it.
Local businesses began
dying when we acclimated
ourselves to drive regu-
larly to Wal-Mart, or to the
mega-shopp'mg meccas of
Lexington.
Our roads began crum-
bling and our schools
began ailing when we de-
cided we didn't want new
taxes.
A significant number of
us inadvertently became
drug addicts when we
began accepting without
question the millions of
pain pills prescribed by
doctors who were only si-
lently pushing the market-
ing ag nd pharmaceh-
tical Companies instead of
our well-being.
We chose to sell off fer-
tile tobacco fields for a
quick buck in real estate
instead of helping a new
generation of young farm-
ers find new crops and
new markets.
And we are slowly kill-
ing our communities and
our personal relation-
ships by spending more
time staring at a 6 inches
screen in our hands than
reaching out that same
hand to others.
The list can go on.
I often suspect that
the frequent resenl aent
I hear toward our local
Amish communities con-
tains a recognition of how
our own community is
failing. People complain
about their horse poop
and how their buggies and
wagons "tear up" "our"
roads. They incorrectly
believe thatthey don't pay
taxes and they get spe-
cial treatment from local
banks. And their cynicism
finds the Amish's simpler,
slower way of life a smoke-
screen for greed and con-
artistry.
WORLD
I have come to find the
public's free-floating anger
tiresome as I now encoun-
ter it on a nearly dally basis
anymore. I suspect that
many people have come to
resent the consequences
of the world we've chosen
to live in now, and they are
always on the outlook for
a scapegoat to carry the
burden of their blame and
resentment.
It's hard to look in the
mirror and see who we've
become. "That's not me!"
The hardest lesson to
learn out of this is we don't
have to accept things the
way they are.
We are not bound by
the past, and our future
doesn't have to be laid out
for us if We choose a differ:
ent course.
Each :day is a new begin-
ning. You can do things
differently today and to-
morrow.
If you don't like the way
the community is headed,
you can change it. It won't
be easy, and more than
likely you will be met with
resistance at every step
- there are a great many
people invested in keeping
us all poor, ignorant, and
afraid.
I want a better world
for us all. I want to see
our children have good
schools where "account-
ability" is finally tossed
I,akeviev Communiey Church News
PASTOR EDDIE DENNISON
By Betty Jo Allen Griffin Gate in Lexington.
The Young At Heart will
The first Sunday of meet this Friday, March 8
March brought us some at 6:00. These who are 50
bitterly cold weather and years or older always really
snow all around the area of enjoy a good meal, games,
Cave Run Lake. Inside the fellowship and prayer time.
Lakeview Church warm The Main Dish this cold
greetings of friendliness March weather is Chili. In-
for which the church is teresting sides and always
known, were being ex-
pressed by many. Special
welcomes were extended
to some new comers.
Pastor Eddie's message
Sunday morning was enti-
tled "What do you do when
you lose your Security?"
The choir sang "A New
Name is written down in
Glory" and the Conn Sis-
ters sang a beautiful duet.
Saturday morning the
men met and enjoyed a
wonderful meal, a time
of prayer, and some good
fellowship time at their
monthly Prayer Break-
fast. Several of these are
planning to represent the
church at the 53rd Gov-
ernor's Prayer Breakfast
March 18 at the Marriott
delicious desserts are
brought in by the Young at
Heart members.
The Lakeview Ladies
stay very busy in the ser-
vice of the Lord through
the work they do for their
church. God has blessed
them and continues to
make them a blessing. The
Ladies Fellowship meets
each Tuesday from 10:00
to 12:00 to work, pray, and
study God's Word. The
women and girls have been
busy with a church wide
project. They are making
quilts to donate to the fos-
ter care programs in Bath
and Rowan counties. Re-
member this date: March
14 at 6:00. They will be
putting these quilt pieces
together and soon they will
be in the hands of some
happy children. There is
more cutting, sewing, and
laying the quilt pieces out
in a beautiful way.
Do not forget to set your
clocks forward an hour this
Saturday evening. It's "time
change' time again. Easter
is drawing near. Be sure to
keep Church inyour plans.
A good group is finishing
up the CPR classes this
Tuesday and Thursday.
Classes have been taught
by Diana HeRon and Jason
Mckenzie.
* Every 10 minutes an-
other person is added to
the waiting list for organ
donation
* 22 people die each day
because the organs they
need are not donated in
time
* 83 percent of patients
are in need of a kidney
* 12 percent of patients
are in need of a living
* 3-5 years is the average
waiting lime for a kidney
from a deceased donor
* More than 84,000 cor-
neal transplants help re-
store sight each year
into dustbin of bad ideas
and kids can love learning.
I'd like to see our com-
munities have parks and
recreation areas that ev-
eryone can enjoy.
I'd like to see downtown
OwingsviUe or French-
burg or Carlisle as busy
as older people said they
zations.
I'd like to see more peo-
ple take an active part in
local government instead
of complaining, carping,
and accusing on social me-
dia.
None of this grows out of
nostalgia but rather a look
ahead - there are plenty of
ways to make all of those
things reality. And it's
not just about "having the
money," but rather people
working together and
learning together for the
common good, a step at a
time.
The temptation is always
there to say that this per-
son or that group of peo-
ple stand in the way, but
if you are truly committed
W6r ;to co--unity-building,!
pedlSl ' do tlieir 'shdo iffP, :there iff time to diagnose:
closer to home anff problems and n comes:
port local small business-
es.
I'd like to see people
actively involved in local
civic and volunteer organi-
time to solve them.
We are our own worst
enemies, but when are we
going to become our own l
best friends? !
4
* 1 donor can save up to
8 lives, help restore sight to
2 people, and heal the lives
of more than 75 people
* More than 1.75 million
tissue transplants heal lives
each year
What can you do to in-
crease organ, eye and tis-
sue donation?
1) Register your deci-
sion to be a donor at Regis-
terMe.org
2) Tell your family and
friends about your decision :
to Donate Life
3) Ask others to visit Do-
nateLife.net to learn more
and register
You can find more infor- :
marion today at www.trust-
forlife.org,www.donate:
life.org and www.kyorgan.
org
When an apple a day isn't enough,
call the Physician Referral Line
Matching you to
the right physician
at the right time
is our specialty.
Call today-
the
(;
