Pratt: The failure of egos too big to learn
Who would have thought an extremely hot summer would bring cool, misty days and badly needed rain in August on our near-desert plains?
But life-long West Texans know the normal pattern here is a hefty mixture of weather conditions, including more rain than we know what to do with just about the time we think nothing will ever grow again on this wind-swept plateau we call home.
We can go from surprise snow or ice storms and brown-outs in mid-winter to warm spring temperatures overnight.
Storms that bring hail and tornadoes are not unusual here, but hurricanes sometimes rage 900 miles south of us, where the Gulf of Mexico provides usually fine beaches and more temperate weather.
Climate change? We can tell you about it. I remember when we even tried “seeding” clouds to make it rain.
We have the Davis Mountains, Rio Grande River and Big Bend areas that border Mexico on our southwestern side. No wonder the few times I traveled with friends through the Eastern Seaboard states, I never knew when we moved from one state to another. Some of those states are not as far across as Texas counties.
Every Texas region has its particular culture, differences that relate not only to climate and how much population density it can support, but also to religion, education and primary industry.
Even though our mothers taught us not to brag, Texans are often critiqued for the size of their egos, which tend to swell the further they get from home, or so I have been told.
We see it as pride of heritage, even though our Sunday school teachers, or perhaps it was our wise grandparents, warned us the Bible says that “Pride goeth before a fall.”
Today's all-out effort by people bent on rewriting our history as a nation are touting false narratives about a Socialist-Marxist paradise, which fails everywhere it is tried because the goal is to put all power in the hands of the few to rule the many.
The scheme includes eliminating the influence of religion in the lives of people who might resist such control. Religion must serve the state is the rule of dictators – check the Nazis and today's Communist regimes or actual record of failing nations throughout world history, including in biblical history. Religion too, can morph into dictatorial waters.
Candice Millard's book “Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President” tells the story of James A. Garfield, assassinated in 1881, four months after he was inaugurated as president.
The attacker's known insanity reminds me of the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan – the essential difference in Reagan's survival was today's medical care quickly available.
Garfield's selection as presidential candidate by those aware of the political corruption of the day was a huge surprise because he was present to nominate someone else. But others believed Garfield could and would fight the fast-developing political corruption after the Civil War.
The shooting involved only the insanity of one man, but it also illustrates the failure of egos too big to learn. The attending physician had earlier rejected European Joseph Lister's medical discovery of invisible “germs” as the cause for sepsis, or infection, a new concept in American medical circles. Weeks later, Garfield died of the infection.
Chester Arthur, vice president, assumed the presidency, surprisingly rising to the challenge, according to historical records.
Our nation has weathered many storms, but always another is on the horizon challenging the next generation.
The climate of faith, too, wavers as we chose in times of difficulty whom we will serve, God or man.
Beth Pratt retired as religion editor from the Avalanche-Journal after 25 years. You can email her at beth.pratt@cheerful.com.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Pratt: The failure of egos too big to learn
