Downhomer Life’s devestations make us who we are today
Lately there has been blogs on several different news stations about the 1937 flooding of the Ohio River. These reports speak of the destruction of towns that were built along the banks of that river, starting at its headwaters at Pittsburgh to where it empties outinto the Mississippi River at Cairo, Illinois. Not least in those reports is a recap of the lives that was lost. I still remember when that deluge hit Ashland. I was 7 years old at the time, was in the 2nd grade at the Charles Russell Elementary School which was on a hilltop at the dead end part of Blackburn Avenue in Ashland. For some of us, that school’s play-ground became a good observation post where we could look down the hill to where the waters were swallowing up Winchester Avenue far below.
School buses did run in those days, but children living close enough to the school to walk, did so. My family lived on 45th street which made a long graceful rising up from Winchester, winding its way in a half moon kind of circle to Blackburn which continued on after it’s right-handed turning to that eventual dead end in front of the school.
The buses did not service all the meandering streets around this school in Ashland, and many children did indeed walk. As I say, the school was in a relatively safe area, but many of its students and their families lived where it would not have been so safe.
One of my best friends lived down the hill the school was built on, her home actually fronting onto Winchester. I don’t know whatever happened to her family, where they might have relocated, but I don’t remember that she ever came back to school when everything was over.
In the early days of the flood it was very dangerous for those who lived in the low lying areas to come to school, even for those who were not actually in the flood plain. In an added danger, children are not to be trusted to stay away from the enticement of running water, not hindered by any thought of a threat, but see only the excitement of any out of the ordinary event.
So as the flood waters of the Ohio River crept closer and closer, the school cancelled classes. It was of course, a wonderful vacation for those of us who went there, but even the child that I was had to have heard about the devastation that went on around us because of the flood, and had to have wondered about how far the water might come. Forget about trying to go to see family in the Catlettsburg area, forget about visiting anyone at Greenup; forget about a trip to Boons Camp to see my maternal grandparents. Instead, those of us who lived on 45th Street as I did, on Blackburn as the school did, were relatively safe. Even so, to all intents and purposes, many of us were marooned not by the flood waters, but by the proximately of our location to them.
I remember when some on us went out to walk up 45th street to Blackburn so that we could go to the top of the hill to see how high the waters were. That was probably when it finally sank in to me that this was actually an astonishing thing, not at all like the usual rising of our small creeks but a flood; a big, honest to goodness flood, maybe not one as big as that one Noah lived through, but a mighty overflowing flood just the same.
I still remember that particular spilling over of the Ohio River, and I remember how glad it made me feel to know I lived above the edges of the water‘s path.
When this flood happened, I was very young, so childlike I didn’t worry overmuch about all the people who lost their homes, for mine was safe. I didn’t dwell on thoughts about all the people who drowned, for they were strangers to me. it’s a fact that things which touch us personally means more to us that anything that might happen to others, it being a case of better you than me. However, and like it or not, we are none of us an island, unaffected by the rise and fall of the circumstances of those around us. Even Noah when he first went into the ark to ride out his storm, did grieve for those who were on the outside trying to get in. Eventually, he and his family had to settle their minds to not think about the losses around them but to focus on the assurance of where by the Grace of God they themselves were.
Nowadays when I remember the flood of 1937, it reminds me that like Noah I need to be content; to bask in the glow of the sun when it shines. For the rains do come, falling on the just and the unjust alike. Prolonged raining may at times cause flooding. We live and we perish. We sleep and rise up in the hopes of a better day. But it takes a lot of an infilling of God’s Grace before we can know that no matter what might happen, with the Lords help, we can survive. Education and Common Sense The seven deadly sins
We Protestants have not heard much about "The Seven Deadly Sins" that our Catholic friends have learned about in their catechisms from a young age. I read an editorial by a man named Michael Prell, who asserted that the attitude of most of the American people today was one of envy. He said envy was the attitude of hating someone who had more than we, and expecting them to divide with those who had not been willing to work for it or fortunate to have been a descendant of one who did earn it.
He quoted the Bible :" Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thy neighbor's wife, or anything that is your neighbor's." He suggests,"If talk of Biblical commandments make you feel uncomfortable, then let's call them 'Ten Helpful Guidelines.' "
After reading Prell's article, I thought about envy and whether the government's emphasis on everybody's getting "our fair share," and whether that amounted to one of the seven deadly sins our Catholic friend have delineated.
Fortunately, the Internet has made research easy. No longer do I have to go to my set of encyclopedias, figure out which volume, find in the index --"S for SINS, Seven Deadly" and hope that is the right topic. I can just click on "Google," and type in "Seven Deadly Sins," and presto! There they are!
This is what I found:
PRIDE is excessive belief in one's own abilities that interferes with the individual's recognition of the grace of God. It has been called the sin from which all others arise. Pride is also known as Vanity.
(I thought about what happened to Lucifer when he wanted to become greater than God.)
ENVY is the desire to have others' traits, status, abilities, or situation.
GLUTTONY is an inordinate desire to consume more than that which one requires.
LUST is an inordinate craving for the pleasures of the body. (Most people think of sex in this context.)
ANGER, also known as WRATH, is manifested in the individual who spurns love and opts instead for fury.
GREED is the desire for material wealth or gain, ignoring the realm of the spiritual. It is also called AVARICE or COVETOUSNESS.
SLOTH is the avoidance of physical or spiritual work.
Most of us, if we look closely, can find an "Ouch" or two in that list, but in this column, perhaps we should also look at the seven virtues that counteract the deadly sins. First, HUMILITY is desired to neutralize PRIDE; then come CHARITY,KINDNESS, PATIENCE, CHASTITY, TEMPERANCE and DILLIGENCE.
When our government decides how much money is enough for each of us, and proceeds to tax the people who have worked hard and been fruitful, is that not making a virtue of envy?
It is right and proper for me to work hard and be frugal and try to emulate some rich person, but I believe it is wrong to FORCE him to share his wealth with me. Jesus encouraged those who had two coats to share with someone who did not have any coat, but nowhere did he suggest that the government should MAKE that person share his extra coat. He gets no extra brownie points for being made to share.
I think is it wrong to teach our children that they are entitled to part of someone else's money when they did not do anything to earn it. Already my sources say that 44% of the people in the United States live off the government. I don't know whether that includes everyone who works for the government or not, but it seems to be an intolerable burden on the other 56%.
A Mr. Tyler who was a writer in the early days of the Republic wrote that whenever the public found that they could vote themselves largesse (money) out of the public treasury, then the Republic would collapse.
Do you think that envy, greed, gluttony, pride and sloth have taken over our country, and can we hope for charity, temperance, humility, and dilligence to once more get the upper hand?
Or is Tyler's prophecy about to come true?
Smile Awhile Proud to be an American from Johnson County
Last week, one of the things I wrote about was my remarkable mother-in-law, Iris Blair, and how active she is for her age. I get dizzy thinking about all the things she accomplishes before I even get out of the bed in the morning. It's mind-boggling! What I failed to mention is that she has played the piano at the First Baptist Church in West Van Lear for over 50 years.
One of the most difficult things to do is to try and express your admiration for a person without appearing to be "brown nosing" if you will. But talking about a person such as Iris does not constitute dropping to that level. Everything about her is above board as she never stoops to pettiness or pretension. People such as she are rare and should be cherished.
I speak of this because this week (because of all the things that are about to take place along the Country Music Highway corridor) I am reminded of my heritage and how proud I am, not only of my family, but of the family in which I married.
Ronnie says he met me at the SIPP when he was 13 and I was 11. He professes that I sat down next to him and preceded to talk throughout the entire movie. I don't dispute the talking aspect, but I don't remember him at all. But after I did meet him, I soon became aware of how smart and talented he was on so many levels.
Not only is Ronnie an artist, he is as an actor, singer, songwriter, and writer. Clyde Pack once told me that " the only thing Ronnie did better than draw was write and he was so right. (How many times can you put write or right in a sentence?) I am constantly amazed at his many talents, not the least of them being his ability to video and then edit a product as he does as the director of Hometown TV. While it is a job, it is a labor of love for him to be able to capture the history of Paintsville and Johnson County on film and preserve it for future generations; a visual and oral history of our lives. While recording City Council, Fiscal Court, and Utility meetings, seems to be mundane tasks, their place in our history is just as important in the grand scheme of things as a ballgame or political election.
Which brings me back to why I started writing this article anyway. I suppose I was simply trying to express my gratitude to all the people who read this column and have supported me throughout the years. The people of Johnson County and Paintsville have all been a part of everything I write and many of you have been the subjects of some of the articles whether willingly or not. I thank you for this. I am so proud to be a part of this community, so while I have the forum to express this I just wanted it to be noted.
As Ronnie says in the song he wrote about his grandfather, Asbury Ward, "He'd rather grow a red ripe tomato than find a ruby in the sand. And he'd prove to you that a simple squirrel is smarter than any man. Sometimes he knew just a little too much and was stubborn as they go, but all in all Asbury Ward was a mighty fine man to know." He obviously was because Iris and Ronnie are the products.
Just proud of their heritage which in turn is all of our heritage.
Have a great week! And don't forget to Smile Awhile.
Poison Oak Just waiting on my bologna
I wasn’t exactly eavesdropping. Anyone within earshot could have heard the same conversation that I did. And besides, the two women talking likely wouldn’t have cared who was listening anyway.
Last week in one of the local grocery stores, I stood waiting for my bologna to be sliced and the two women were waiting for a cake – apparently to celebrate someone’s wedding anniversary.
What struck me about what they were saying was that anybody other than someone from this part of the world might have had difficulty understanding what they were saying.
The conversation went something like this: “Have they been married that long? Lord, I can remember when they started going together.”
”They went together for years. If you’ll remember, they claimed each other all the way back in the sixth grade.”
”They run off, didn’t they?”
”That’s right. It seems like they went to Tennessee, or someplace.”
“They said her daddy cut one of the awfulest shines that ever was when they set up housekeeping.”
Although the two ladies were speaking perfectly good English, a visitor from, say, the Northeast – somewhere like Maine or Connecticut or some other New England state – might actually have needed an interpreter.
For example, “Going together,” simply means “dating.” “Claimed each other,” means they considered themselves boyfriend/girlfriend. “They run off,” means they eloped. “Cut one of the awfulest shines that ever was,” refers to the father’s being upset; his ranting and raving. And finally, to “set up housekeeping,” means they bought some furniture, moved into a house, and began living alone.
Although we don’t much appreciate people from other parts of the country reminding us, we have indeed developed a language all our own . I mean imagine trying to tell somebody “from off” that a certain person had put his pants on “hind part afore,” or that someone was “heavy set.”
To take it a bit further, try telling them that you keep your coat in the press or that they should wear a ‘boggin when it’s cold outside. You’ll really have them scratching their heads when you tell them your wife cooked up a mess of leather britches and boiled half a dozen roshineers.
All the above verbal expressions are just part of our everyday conversations. But to someone who might be just a little Eastern Kentucky dialect-challenged, the conversation I overheard while waiting for my bologna, might have proven to be an extremely difficult linguistic puzzle.
Education and Common Sense A mother’s heritage
I was delighted to read a story by Kentucky Baptist writer, Shirley Cox, in a message on a Baptist site on the Internet. Ms. Cox shared a story about a friend of mine who is a Mission Service Corps volunteer in Georgetown, Kentucky, named Garnet Jones. Garnet is the sister of my friend Eileen Mullins, who was directed by God to build the Haven of Rest, a hospitality house for the relatives of the incarcerated ones in the Big Sandy Federal Penitentiary in Martin County.
Eileen and I have spent the night with Garnet at her home in Georgetown several times when it has been handy for us to attend meetings in that area.
I knew the story about Garnet's good works, but was glad for Shirley to write it for everyone to hear.
The news story is entitled " Missionary Profile: Pastor's Widow Starts Ministry to Internationals." It begins: " While some Kentuckians perhaps were viewing the influx of Hispanics to Kentucky with a wary eye, Garnet Jones placed a large sign beside the front door of her white frame house in Georgetown which read,"bienvenidos, amigos" (Welcome, friends.)
Cox writes that Garnet Jones was a pastor's wife for 36 years, when her husband, Clarence, died suddenly. Garnet was left alone.
She says, "God moved me to study Spanish at age 67."
After three summers spent as a summer worker in Ecuador, she became a Mission Service Corps worker . (That means self-funded, but under the auspices of the Southern Baptist Convention.) She started having English classes in her home in Georgetown which developed into a school and a center for Hispanics. She says," The Hispanic women brought their children and we studied English in the kitchen."
She would approach internationals in grocery stores and other public places and ask if they needed help. "In 14 years, I never had an international that was not receptive."
Gradually the ministry has expanded to other internationals as well as Hispanics, and her meetings are usually in churches. She says, "A Congolese who comes to the United States may have a university degree from South Africa, but he has never used an ATM machine or had a bank account. I teach them practical ways to get along in our country."
She translates for people at the doctor and dentist office.
Approaching ninety, she is still going full speed ahead. "I don't see anything in the Bible that we are supposed to retire, " she said, "Jesus was compassionate about people's needs. There are people all around us who are hurting."
Her sister, Eileen Mullins is also a remarkable woman who is a Mission Service Corps volunteer who has brought the Haven of Rest from a zero to a million-dollar facility by listening to God's voice.
Both of them have worked hard. I wondered how two in the same family would have had that much faith and zeal.
I remembered that Mrs. Mullins had told me that her mother had been an actress before she married. After she was converted she saw that all of her children went to church when the door was open, and she was a Women's Missionary Union worker and a prayer warrior all her life.
I met her once when she was a nursing home resident in Northern Kentucky. She was still lucid, and praying for missions all around the world.
Eileen's other siblings have all banded together to help Eileen in her endeavors.
No telling how much good has come from that mother's heritage. Thank God for praying mothers.
