One of the blessings of my Appalachian home is that there’s always some little treasure to find. I’m the guy who always seems to be drawn off the pathway to examine whatever might be in bush. Insects, small flowers, animal tracks and odd shaped stones are irresistible to me. There are little treasures everywhere. We just need to slow down and find them.
The image above was taken in Jodie, West Virginia, Fayette County.
There are many crossings in this world. Places where one leg of life’s journey ends and the next one begins. Human beings are a funny lot. We dream about moving forward into adventure but don’t want to leave the familiar behind. We can’t wait to graduate from school but spend the rest of our lives in nostalgia.
I occasionally pull out a playlist of music from the 80s and play the roll of a silly middle-aged man for my twenty something and thirty something coworkers. I recount the days and tell the stories of the times that formed who I am today. It’s entirely for entertainment purposes. The truth is that our glory days are ahead of us not behind us. We need to take the next step if we want to achieve our full potential. We need to trust the bridge and cross over into that new territory.
The image above was taken at Hawks Nest State Park in West Virginia.
As humans, we tend to be a reflection of our friends and family. We absorb into ourselves the perspectives of those around us. I’m not certain where the quote came from but I’ve heard it said that, Just as water conforms to the vessel which holds it so does a man conform to his peers.” This why it’s important to surround yourself with people who have the right outlook on life.
If you surround yourself with people that constantly negative then you will eventually become negative yourself. But, if you can find those people who rise to the challenge then you yourself will began to rise. Subconsciously you will reshape yourself to fit the group.
I’ve been blessed with the best peers that life can offer. And I appreciate each and every one of you and I hope that I reflect you well!
Tonight’s image is on the Kanawha River. Looking out over Kanawha Falls in Glen Farris West Virginia.
A country Sunday is special thing. So with tomorrow being Sunday I thought I would share some memories with you. It starts with a quiet spot, a cup of coffee, a Bible and in the old days a copy of The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, also known as Strong’s Concordance. (When I was a kid I used to think that it was the “exhausting ” Concordance. That book seemed to weigh slightly less than a 1973 Ford LTD. Carrying it to the table was an exhausting task.) After studying the morning lesson and having a hardy breakfast you go to the church for Sunday school and then preaching. After services are finished everyone gathers outside of the sanctuary and visits for few minutes. These days we head out to restaurant but it wasn’t always that way. Back in the day extended family would go the home of the patriarch and have a home cooked meal. The afternoon was spent with those who mattered the most. That’s how we kept the world small in the days before the internet. During the warm season the kids would have a change of clothes ready. After dinner we would climb trees or throw rocks at old cans. Sometimes we would start a game of touch football (American Football for my international friends) that would quickly become a full contact game complete with muddy clothes and skinned knees. Soon the familiar sound of mothers calling out to their sons would end the game. After a mild scolding for getting your clothes dirty the family matriarch hands out packages of leftovers and everyone goes home.
But it’s not a time to be sad. When the work week ends, Sunday will come again.
If you haven’t guessed by now my dear readers, I really crave quite places and time to think and reflect.
Our modern world is full of artificial concerns, pressures and deadlines . Sometimes we just want to collapse and think about nothing. The word amusement literally means to stop thinking. However, I believe it’s more fulfilling in these quiet times and places to push back those modern world concerns and contemplate deeper levels of thought. It’s not that our world suffers from too much thinking, we suffer from the lack of free thoughts.
It’s more than just learning the structured teachings of learned masters. It’s more than equations and mathematical prowess.
cogito, ergo sum ( I think, therefore I am) – René Descartes
The popular phrase was one that we learned at a very young age. I have forgotten if it was in history class or literature class. But it wasn’t until recently that I began to realize the full implications of what seems to be a simple concept.
If my thoughts are what makes me then what happens if my thoughts are not my own? What if I allowed my thoughts to be influenced by distraction from the media, or peer pressure, or any number of competing ideas? Like a virus, some ideas can come in from a outside source and replicate themselves in our hearts and minds. If our thoughts are no longer our own then we are no longer ourselves. We become a copy of whatever ideas are planted.
“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.” – Proverbs 23:7
This is why it’s so important to be able to take time and contemplate the ideas we are exposed to. Our minds have a natural filter that must be cleaned and refreshed on a regular basis. If bad ideas are allowed to linger for too long without active examination they can be absorbed by the subconscious and work their way into our hearts.
Take charge of your quiet time and don’t get so busy that you forget to check your filters.
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