Kenneth Marple

In 1397, the guilds in Cologne persuaded the town’s government to ban a machine to make heads on pins because it would cause unemployment. Anthony Muller invented a more efficient weaving machine and was put to death by a local mayor who feared widespread unemployment and unrest. Ribbon-making machines were banned in Holland and smashed in England in 1676. Henry Ford wrote, “Businessmen go down with their businesses because they like the old way so well they cannot bring themselves to change” (My Life and Work, 1922). Change is tough to accommodate wherever and whenever it occurs. Change is a threat to comfort, safety, and predictability --people will generally resist it. Change means learning new things. Even the word “change” invokes feelings of stress! People have always resisted change.

As a high school boy, I was once stranded at the Roseville Market with no way home. As it turned out, a friend happened along with his 1954 Mercury convertible and offered me a ride. The two miles home proved to be unforgettable. We quickly moved up to about 100 MPH, slowing to perhaps 70 MPH for Copp’s corner. I was scared! I also became a lot more careful about who I ride with. Of course, Mom was quick to say, “You won’t be riding with him again!” My friend didn’t seem scared; but, then, he had the steering wheel. It is an interesting thing that people who suffer from motion sickness rarely have a problem as long as they are piloting the boat or driving the car. The passenger is vulnerable because the passenger lacks control.

Robert Bly has always struck me as an interesting curiosity with his sometimes drum-beating, male-bonding seminars. My male-bonding was always more straightforward --like rebuilding a car, truck, or farm tractor with Dad, or helping our son or sons-in-law put additions on their homes. When Dad got to 85, we stopped doing such projects together. Yet, we did keep talking about the old ones. The primary ingredient for male bonding has always been grease --roll up your sleeves and get elbow-deep in grease under the hood of a car with your son in the side yard. Or in my case, our daughter, Connie. If you want to help me build a barn, I don’t care if you’re a boy or a girl.

Both psychology and the Bible provide information for daily living, as well as information on how people can be expected to think and behave over a range of various circumstances. This fact has produced conflict between the two disciplines. A good question might be, how much of the conflict is built on reality, and how much of it is a turf battle?

It’s no small wonder that so many people bad-mouth mid-life; mid-life sends out its report cards when you least expect it. You haven’t stopped worrying about the kids, and your parents are already starting to take-off for heaven. The girl you married is having hot flashes --or worse yet, doesn’t have them anymore! Your best friend just had a heart attack; your belt is much too tight; you realize you’re within sight of retirement; and it dawns on you that you’re not going to be the next president of the company --or the next president of anything.

With North Korea, as well as India and Pakistan being added to the list of nations who have gained nuclear weapons, and thus the incredible power to destroy their neighbors, the old Soviet Union is beginning to look like she was a very honorable and worthy foe. Then, there is the “New Putin-Russia” -with threats at every turn. In the 50-years-plus of the cold war (pre-Putin), no one ever actually blew off one of those things. Well, that is, except in the desert or underground. Come to think about it, we’re the only people who have ever used them on other people. You can bet that other nations do think about that. The dictionary has many definitions of power, including: the might of a nation or organization; a person or group with great control over others; forcefulness; the ability or capacity to perform or act effectively. When we look at the various definitions, it becomes clear that power itself is neither moral nor immoral; it is amoral. Power is “just power” –it can be used to heat your home.

There was state forest land, there was federal land, there was Crown Zellerbach land, Bosie Cascade land and Weyerhaeuser land. There was fish hatchery land and county forest land; there was even school forest land. We lived in a land of “plenty of land.” That is, plenty of land, but not much land left over for the people themselves to live on. Once you left the confines of our little Washington State towns and villages, there was little or no land to be bought. Forest companies and farmers needed their land for business; they couldn’t and wouldn’t let go of it.

Peer Influence is thought to be a “teenage” problem; however, we all struggle with it. All of us worry about what other people think! Still, a recent poll indicated that 75% of the teenagers thought they were influenced more by their peers than by their parents. If this is true, parents must be ready to reckon with a very powerful force.

“I never thought I would be able to forgive somebody for murdering my mom,” Chris Singleton, former minor league baseball player for the Chicago Cubs, told USA TODAY about choosing to forgive Dylann Roof for gunning down his mother, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, at a prayer meeting on June 17, 2015, at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Yet, along with others, he did. In all, nine people were killed.

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