{"id":259,"date":"2007-06-29T19:09:32","date_gmt":"2007-06-29T23:09:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.irawagler.com\/?p=259"},"modified":"2007-06-29T19:09:32","modified_gmt":"2007-06-29T23:09:32","slug":"advice-rage-and-upbeat-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.irawagler.com\/?p=259","title":{"rendered":"Advice, Rage, and Upbeat Things"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cBut some prayers are hard to pray.
\nWell, some things, it\u2019s hard to say.\u201d
\n—Country music band Sawyer Brown, \u201cHard to Say\u201d
\n___________________________________________
\nADVICE
\n________
\nphoto-2-small.JPG<\/a><\/p>\n

Since this site was launched in April, there has been no shortage of advice, both solicited and unsolicited, mostly the latter. I appreciate all who take time from their busy daily schedules to spend a few minutes reading what I write. I respect those who comment publicly on the Comment section, even when they are critical or, as happens occasionally, overly belligerant or just flat out wacky. However, as the result of some recent emails sent to me privately (which is also OK), I think it\u2019s time to do a bit of housekeeping. <\/p>\n

One such email suggested (among other points, some of which were postive and very complimentary) that I cease wailing so much about the wasteland and try to be a bit more upbeat. “……Most people don\u2019t usually want to hear how bad things are……Any Amish kid can get up in the morning and be depressed\u2026…It takes much more to be upbeat in the face of a desolate landscape,\u201d said the writer. Well, maybe. And any Amish kid can whistle past the graveyard with all the syrupy, upbeat Sunday School mush and goo in the world and fool no one, too. (Now let\u2019s all turn to page 112 in our text, where we notice that we should all be thankful for our blessings every day and smile even when we don\u2019t feel like it. And tell everyone you meet today to have a nice day.) Spare me. <\/p>\n

A basic reminder is in order. This site is a place for me to write. About who I am, where I am, what I think, and the world around me. And what I am experiencing. Whether it’s slogging through the wasteland. Or sailing under clear blue skies. Or anywhere in between. I never know what the subject matter will be from one week to the next. In retrospect, some of the content in my earlier blogs now seems rather naive and silly. But I wrote it. The blogs will remain archived. They are what they are. And I will continue to write. I probably take it a little too seriously sometimes. Occasionally, some of you do too. <\/p>\n

The \u201cWasteland\u201d essay was different, out there, with several dimensions of meaning. It was what I felt. Some may have concluded that I\u2019d lost it. Maybe I had, there for a moment. But it reflected where I was (and still am, mostly), and I couldn\u2019t have written anything else. An upbeat essay that week would have been as fraudulent and disingenuous as a Democrat politician claiming he likes tax cuts. <\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve said many times, I appreciate every hit on this site. Everyone is welcome. Well, almost everyone. But if you don\u2019t like what I write, or my style of writing, there are 50 million other sites. Use your mouse. Go check them out. Meanwhile, I\u2019ll keep plugging along here. I hope you will too.
\n________________________________________________________________________
\nRAGE
\n_____
\n\u201cOppose not rage while rage is in its force, but give it way a while and let it waste.\u201d
\n—William Shakespeare <\/p>\n

rage-small.jpg<\/a><\/p>\n

It was simmering the weekend my parents were here. It had nothing to do with them, so I held it in. Last week’s blog was all about them and Dad’s return to Sidling Hill, and I tried hard not to let the narrative get corrupted by my other emotions. It erupted after they left. Rage. Full blown, black, brutal, cursing rage. Rage so deep it shocked me. It coursed through my veins, flowed through my system like a choking poisonous bile, it clouded my mind, upset my balance, it made me question the very foundation of my philosophy of life, it ripped to shreds the fabric of my existence (what little remained), it left me weakened and sputtering, sleepless and haggard. I had an almost overwhelming urge to smash and destroy, consequences be da***d.<\/p>\n

I fumed and cursed to Patrick, my new boss (and now finally, thankfully, new owner at Graber Supply). I called a close friend or two. I had lunch with a pastor friend. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhere do I go with it?\u201d I asked the pastor after my five-minute opening tirade. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to give it to God,\u201d he said. I rolled my eyes. Spare me again. He hastily continued. \u201cThat sounds trite and simplistic, I know, but it\u2019s the only way. You\u2019ve got to. Verbally. Force yourself, even if you think it won\u2019t do a bit of good. Verbalize it. And keep on doing it until He takes it from you.\u201d <\/p>\n

He paid for the lunch. So I figured the least I could do was follow his advice.<\/p>\n

So I have. I\u2019m still at it. The rage is still rolling and bubbling and pitching around down deep inside. But without hate. The Lord will take it. Over time. I hope.<\/p>\n

I have a new favorite Bible verse: \u201c…… avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.\u201d Rom. 12:19. There\u2019s a whole lotta prayin\u2019 going on reminding God of the promise in this verse. And will be for a long, long time.
\n________________________________________________________________________
\nUPBEAT THINGS
\n______________
\n“There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning.”
\n—Louis L’Amour<\/p>\n

On Saturday afternoon (6\/23), Patrick and I headed down to the Christiana Mall in Wilmington and I purchased something I\u2019ve long coveted, a laptop computer. Not just any laptop, but an Apple MacBook. Patrick, a confirmed Apple aficionado, bought one a few months ago and kept amazing me at the office with the little computer\u2019s capabilities. Now I have my own. I’m very excited about it. It even has a little camera mounted on the front when opened. The picture of me at the beginning of this blog was one of the first I took with it. The picture was taken in the “drawing” (it looks like it’s drawn) mode, and the camera has many more such options. Now I can blog from anywhere, anytime, when traveling. And work on that elusive novel.
\nhome-063-small.jpg<\/a>
\nMe and my new MacBook<\/p>\n

I am becoming moderately concerned about my Braves. They seem to be puttering around with little clear direction or focus. And the lowly Phillies have now crept up and passed them. Or, more accurately, they are seesawing back and forth in the standings. Shocking, embarrassing and completely unacceptable. One small solace I have is that the Yankees (yes, I must say this.) are slobbering around aimlessly as well. I saw recently that pitcher Roger Clemens’ record was 1-3. That means the Yankees paid about $4 million (his pay is just under $1 million PER GAME) to one man for one win. It can’t get much more satisfying than that. <\/p>\n

home-066-small.jpg<\/a>
\nAt peace on the Tucquan Trail <\/p>\n

Last Sunday I attended “church” on the hiking trail again. It\u2019s been more than a month, and I needed to clear my head and think through some things. The Tucquan Trail always has an amazingly calming effect on me, and I ambled along, taking my time and a few pictures. As usual, by the time I circled around and approached the starting point, the Trail was being overrun by couples, children and dogs. <\/p>\n

home-065-small.jpg<\/a><\/p>\n

home-071-small.jpg<\/a>
\nOn the Trail<\/p>\n

home-072-small.jpg<\/a>
\nOld Stone Chimney along the Trail<\/p>\n

home-068-small.jpg<\/a><\/p>\n

home-069-small.jpg<\/a><\/p>\n

After the hike, I stopped by at Steves for lunch. My nephew Gideon Yutzy (son of Alvin and Naomi) from MO was there as well. He was in the area a few days before heading to Granada for five weeks on a group mission trip. His brother Jason Yutzy and wife from MN were planning to be around too, but I guess someone’s good ol\u2019 VW quit chuggin\u2019 away at 30+ mpg and they could not make it. So we can all notice from this lesson on page 3 of our text that owning a car with the highest mpg in the world won’t do a bit of good if the vehicle won’t run.<\/p>\n

WE WELCOME NEW LIFE……..
\nhunter-miller-small.JPG<\/a>
\nHunter Eugene Miller, son of Lowell and Dorothy (my niece) Miller, Kalona, IA.
\nBorn June 9, 2007. Ray and Maggie Marner are the proud grandparents.<\/p>\n

AND SAY GOOD-BYE……
\nBishop Henry J. Hochstetler of Bloomfield, Iowa, passed away early in the morning of June 28, 2007. He was 67 years old. Henry had been afflicted with incurable bone cancer for about a year. He refused treatment and prepared to die. I visited him briefly in January when we were in the area to see my parents. At that time, he was a shell of his former self, but still recognizable. He was glad to see me and said the Waglers from all over the country have been well represented in visiting him.<\/p>\n

Henry baptized me in the fall of 1982 or 1983; I can’t quite remember the exact year. He was widely known throughout the region for the rhythmic, almost rollicking, flow of his sermons and formal church prayers. I can close my eyes and still hear him quoting one of his favorite Scripture verses in German, his calm rhythmic voice rippling over the congregation like a gentle wave:<\/p>\n

He has showed you, O man, what is good.
\nAnd what does the LORD require of you?
\nTo act justly and to love mercy
\nand to walk humbly with your God.
\n—Micah: Chapter 6, verse 8<\/p>\n

To me, that verse defines his legacy. He was a kindly man with common human flaws. May he rest in peace.<\/p>\n

YOU ARE WELCOME TO POST A COMMENT ON THE LINK ON THIS PAGE ONLY.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cBut some prayers are hard to pray. Well, some things, it\u2019s hard to say.\u201d —Country music band Sawyer Brown, \u201cHard to Say\u201d ___________________________________________ ADVICE ________ Since this site was launched in April, there has been no shortage of advice, both solicited and unsolicited, mostly the latter. I appreciate all who take time from their busy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irawagler.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irawagler.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irawagler.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irawagler.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irawagler.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=259"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.irawagler.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7746,"href":"https:\/\/www.irawagler.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259\/revisions\/7746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irawagler.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irawagler.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irawagler.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}