The signs of the Time

I am old, yes let me say it again, I am old. I have always heard that wisdom comes with age and I hope that is true because I do have the age. Life has changed a lot since I was a young boy                        and a lot of it has been good, however not everything is wonderful. Today, social media is the norm and information travels at the speed of light. I was once asked, why do we hear about so many bad things going on in the world, and my response was, "it has always been there media allows us to hear about it moments after it happens. I remember sitting in a hotel room in Chattanooga, TN, watching as the United States military bombed Iraq starting the Gulf War. How is that for up to the minute coverage? “Television, radio and social media allow things to travel at the speed of light. But TV is wonderful, I can remember when we watched Andy Griffin, I love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and Make Room for Daddy. The most frightening show aired on TV was The Wizard of Oz and it did not show brutal killing or a screen full of blood and guts. When I was a child television was black and white and on a small screen housed in a wooden frame box. There were no sexy or steamy bedroom scenes and the only lingerie that was worn was long legged pajamas on both the man and woman. Two single beds adorned the bedroom and the only kissing done was when Dad came home from work and was greeted by his wife. In the evening everyone gathered at the dinner table for a family dinner and you had better not be late.  We carried on a conversation about the day’s activities, we were questioned about what we learned in school and our parents knew who our friends were. There was no back talk from the children and no one worried about being hooked on drugs. Morality was the norm and people didn't live together unless they were married. On Sunday we attended church as a family, we sat together and behaved. When we did step out of line all it took was a look from our Dad and we knew what was about to happen. As I said, I am old and definitely showing my age as I write, but times were good then and we had fun living the good life.

I remember each morning at school, we stood, everyone, and said the Pledge of Allegiance to our country's flag and then repeated the Lord's Prayer and no one was offended. We didn't misbehave in class and we actually learned something from the dedicated teachers who took pride in the job of teaching us to be good and moral citizens. We had Four H club, Red Cross pin sales and a balanced lunch each day to ensure our little bodies grew and stayed healthy. There were Weekly Reader papers with stories on current events allowing us to broaden our prospective of the world and we learned the history of this great nation. We discovered George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and The Gettysburg Address. We read about Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain boys and my favorite, The Swamp Fox, Francis Marion and his band of raiders who happened to be the first to use guerrilla warfare fighting in a war. The Revolutionary War and Civil War was played out in the young minds of the students when we went on the playground at recess, where we were given the opportunity to be what we were, CHILDREN.

In today's world our children are no longer children. They are thrust into a world where they have to raise themselves and fight to stay alive. Young girls, babies if you will, are having babies and have no clue on how to raise them. Abortions are available because it is an easy way to shirk the responsibility of raising a child. Parents (not all) are too busy thinking about themselves and getting ahead in the corporate world or simply doing things to make them happy rather than look after their children. A lot of parents today do not take the responsibility to raise good citizens. When I was growing up a family didn't want charity, even when hard times hit. The Dad and Mom would either work another job or take in laundry to make ends meet. Today it is the government that is depended on to take care of the masses. What has happened to our pride? When I was young we were taught to respect people older than us. We said Yes ma'am and no sir, we called people Mr. and Mrs. My children's friends think it is ok to call me by my first name instead of Mr. Matheny, not that I endure that term Mr. but I beam with pride when my children show the respect they were taught.

What has happened to our American way of life? We were once the envy of every country in the world. People came here for a better life, a good job, a country where they could raise their children in a free and moral society. As I said in the opening sentence of this diatribe, I am old and I long for the return of the country I was raised in. When will the degradation of America cease and we once again put morality, Christianity, and happiness back into our society? I am not so much concerned about myself; I have had the opportunity to live the great American life. I worry about the life and future of your grandchildren and mine. To quote the lyrics of a song from the 1980's, "If we don't stand for something, we will fall for anything."  We need to think about their future and make a stand to commit to returning to the good life America once offered all of us.