Viewpoints

To the Editor:

Just to let you know, Christmas and winter are not Catfish Annie’s favorite time of year. Expectations and disappointments abound as we all pretend we are not having them. Also, this year the truth about climate change has been screaming at us, and we are afraid of trying not to ignore it.

What a strange beast we humans have become. We want to live, but don’t seem to care about what we are going to live on or for how long. I would suggest we try living one day at a time for a while, well maybe just for a week or so. It’s likely to be exhausting as we try keeping our current mode of living out of our heads. However, this is not about our heads. It’s about the heart, the human heart, that has lost so much and gained so little as a species.

To the Editor:

The election is over but Trump needs our support and prayers more than ever. I’ve had many people say Trump was a godsend.

Both the Democrats and Republicans spent millions to downgrade Trump in every way they could, yet Trump won by a landslide. The Democrats have dumbed down people to a point where almost every city is a tinder box waiting to explode.

I feel really sorry for those people, they need jobs but who’s going to hire them? Can Trump create a program that would enthuse them to work? If he can, he will truly be a hero. He will have to raise their morals and respect for fellow citizens before they are employable.

It’s really sad how many people get rich dumbing down these helpless people - people like Sharpton, Jackson, Reed, Pelosi, Harkin, Hillary and Billy - all are scammers. Hillary and Bill have scammed our people and got very rich - from broke to millions.

To the Editor:

I want to acknowledge and express my appreciation to the Quilts of Valor Foundation and to all the ladies who worked so hard to see that all Veterans have a quilt. I also appreciate the teachers that had everything organized and the artwork the little children made and passed out at the Waterville School on Veterans Day. I am also grateful to Post 722 for their presentation.

Earl Jones
Harpers Ferry

by Dick Schilling, "Editor Emeritus"

... that just typing in as the tag line for this column, for December 7, caused a bit of reflection.

That’s particularly true ... I almost wrote “in the wake of the past election” except for some the election apparently is still not over. The attack by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor that day in 1941 signaled the official start of World War II, which I maintain was the last war in which all of us were invested on the same side.

Contrast that to today, after a very divisive election which seemed to result in the election of Donald Trump by virtue of Electoral College totals, even though his opponent, Hillary Clinton, racked up a higher popular vote total.

Clinton said right away: “Trump is going to be our president. We owe him an open mind and a chance to lead.” But maybe not so fast.

To the Editor:

I am sure there are some people that celebrate Christmas with the idea that Yahshua, better known as Jesus, was born December 25. Yahshua is the only begotten Son of the most high living God. His name is Yahweh. The letters of his name in the Hebrew alphabet are YOD Hay VAV HAY. There is no “J” or “G” sound in the Hebrew alphabet.

Yahshua was born in a little town in Israel by the name of Bethlehem. How can we be sure when He was born? Your Bible will tell you when. In your Bible, the book of Luke will verify what you are about to read. There is much greater information there.

An angel appeared to Zacharia, a priest who belonged to the priestly division of Abiyah, assigned the 8th course of temple service, the 10th week of the biblical year. The angel told him his wife Elishevah, better known as Elizabeth, would bear him a son and his name would be Yahochanon, known by you as John, John the Baptist.

... that a friend loaned me a book about a month before the election, and I dearly wanted to quote some things from it, but did not at the time lest I be accused of trying to influence voters.

As if that could happen!

Anyway, the name of the book is An Accidental Life: An Editor’s Notes on Writing and Writers. It is by Terry McDonell and was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 2016. McDonell was editor of a number of well known publications, and he discusses them and many of the writers with whom he dealt.

He quotes David Carr on what it takes to be an editor: “Educate yourself and then pass it on.”

What an editor needs is best covered by the French word sang froid, that is, cold blood - calmness, composure and coolness but also audacity in order to handle pressure, he suggests.

To the Editor:

Just two short weeks ago billions of people around the world watched with great interest as the people of the United States of America elected their next president.  I was among both groups.  After observing months of campaigning and casting my own ballot the election of Donald Trump did not surprise me.

Though concerned, I resolved to quietly observe our president elect preparing to assume his awesome responsibilities in order to understand how his persona might change post-campaign. Just two short weeks later the answer is abundantly clear:  We the people have gotten exactly who we voted for (or against).

To the Editor:

Things are looking up for the USA. If our president-elect can raise the morals of this country, things will turn around.

The devil has become too strong in our country. The law that prohibits ministers and priests from participating in political policy, the outlawing of the Bible and Ten Commandments in schools and public buildings, the placing of condoms in schools, etc. Please, Mr. Paul Ryan, place an order before Congress right now, don’t wait.

Its simple, and I’m sure Congress will forward it to the president’s desk. Repealing the law forbidding priests and ministers from being active in political policy, as well as the law removing the Bible and Ten Commandments from schools (local option). Two simple laws, but that are important. A straight-up vote, no attachments.

These two laws should go through Congress with no delay or debate. Our present president probably will not sign it, but you can reinstate again January 20, 2017.

by Dick Schiling, "Editor Emeritus"

... that a couple readers in the days after the election, noting that I had made some comments about the election over the months, asked what I was going to write about now that the election is over.

I really had no ready answer, but today, a week after the voting, I can say I have at least a few more election comments, because as of today, a certain segment of the population continues to riot in the streets in opposition to the result of the election, and others are advocating a change in the way we elect a president.

That first group is easy to deal with. In the immortal words of one of the recent presidential candidates, “what difference does it make at this point?” The president-elect will become the president in January, if the republic survives.Who are the rioters? A demographic study shows most of them are very young, teens to early 20s. There are a few professional organizers leading them.

“Oh give thanks unto the Lord for He is good. For His mercy endureth forever”  (Psalm 106:1).

How appropriate it is for us say these words of the Psalmist as we sit down to eat a meal. It is an acknowledgment that the food we are about to eat is a gift from God. Even though we work hard to earn money to buy the food we eat, yet in the end it is God who gives us our daily bread. The money we earn is only the means that God has given us to purchase our food.

There are many people in the world today who work much harder than we do and receive much less for their work. In his farewell address Moses said to the Israelites as they were about to enter the land flowing with milk and honey: “You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth.” (Deut 8:17-18).