Monday Morning Rant 26

It’s a beautiful day in the Ozarks! There's actually a break in the cloud cover. I find it difficult to find fault and support a “rant” when the promise of spring is in the air. I will do my best even though I am in an exceptionally good frame of mind. Good preachers do that for me.

As a constant critic of government schools and a fulltime endorser of home schooling, my opinions on this next matter are constantly reinforced. I watch Jay Leno, the first twenty minutes at least, nearly every night. As I listen to the nuance in the humor based on the day’s news I deduce trends which I don’t always catch in standard opinion pieces. Careful listening will reveal what is an implied truth and what is just there for the laugh. The humor is not limited to one political party. This is followed by a “feature” segment with headlines, bogus interviews, or my least favorite, “Jay walking” and the “Jaywalk All-Stars.” If you are not familiar with it, he goes down to the open mall in Burbank or another city closeby and interviews folks on the street.

He asks extremely simple questions about history, politics, current events, and holiday themes of a random mixed demographic with no preference for race or gender, but normally fairly young people at least of voting age. The results are astonishing and totally embarrassing. As a general rule, their command of the language is atrocious, their knowledge of rudimentary history is appalling, and even though supplied with broad hints, they still cannot seem to assemble anything close to the actual correct answers.

The other night I listened to three separate people muff the question: “Who lives in the Vatican?” Two of these were college students and one was a CNA (certified nurse assistant.) None were able to place Jefferson Davis and his presidency. Nor were they able to properly identify a picture of John McCain. Obama fared better when one finally was able to put a name with his image. When asked about our opponents in the Revolutionary War, I have yet to hear a proper response. Don’t even ask about questions on the US Constitution, either the ship or the document. It’s not just history, world affairs and politics; they come up with equally inane responses on science, physics, and math.

Granted, the producers no doubt cherry pick the morons for exposure on this weekly feature. However, keep in mind; these are still drawn from a pool of high school graduates and college students. There has only been one golden moment in the last few years of watching this series.

A while back Jay interviewed and questioned a black family, four of them on holiday, and they all blew question after question. He then turned to the gray-haired grandfather who quickly fielded about 8 or 10 toughies in a row on the Federal government with flawless accuracy. I was so happy I almost cried. I was blown away by his immediate and accurate handling of each and every question. To hear an actual informed American with a keen knowledge of his country and government made me proud.

This indictment of our schools is anecdotal. Continued conversation with our young people will reveal, if you take the time for it, more surety of their failures. In fifth grade as a kid, I would have put any routine subscriber to the “Weekly Reader” up against any of these excluding the grandpa. These people vote. God help us all!
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It’s pretty hard to plan a ten day bus tour without including at least one Sunday. This creates the necessity of finding a service which is appropriate to the group. This means Catholic for rank and file Milwaukeeans, Lutheran for Germans, Baptist for Northsiders, or whatever the travelers requested. We even scheduled Western trips to be in Salt Lake for mid-week practice of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. As a result I found myself in many denominations’ houses of worship.

I came to enjoy these uncritical experiences and the obvious necessity demonstrated by the participants. Although the traditions and the rituals varied, the spirit of seeking a higher power didn’t alter much. Plus, what congregation wouldn’t welcome a bus load (40 to 44 people) of visitors? We always gave advance notice of our intention to attend and were universally showered with warm welcomes. The additional weight of the collection plates didn’t hurt, either.

Although I don’t drive and plan tours for a living anymore I still enjoy going abroad and experiencing other congregations of believers whether of my specific faith or not. It is rare to come away empty handed (hearted?) with a feeling of disappointment. Having done this in recent months I have managed to pull quite a few jewels from the remarks of some of the preachers manning the pulpits. You have surely noted some I have mentioned. My conclusion is that there are a whole lot of Christians out there and they are, thankfully, working their fingers to the bone to promulgate the word of God. I applaud them for their efforts and wish them well.
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One of the really great “big band” leaders, Les Brown, gives us our thought to ponder:

“Live out of your imagination instead of out of your memory.”

It’s easy as we age to rely on experience for our direction. While it has its up side, it also leads to repetition of limited accomplishment and also, not always, mistakes. I would also remind you that as age advances, memory flags and sometimes what we remember might not be exactly the way it was. Maybe imagination is the right way to go.

In His abiding love,

Cecil Moon