About The Lee County ledger. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1978-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 21, 2019)
Page 4A, The Lee County Ledger, Wednesday, August 21,2019 Of Life, Expect Nothing. Of Yourself, Expect Everything Special to the Ledger By Kate Scarmalis There is an ancient Indian proverb tells us, “The crane, hoping to eat dried fish when the sea dried up, wasted away in expectancy.” Too often we are like that crane. Anticipation may be half the pleasure of future rewards, but expectation as often as not becomes the root of all heartache. Through the pink haze of their Disney fantasies, little girls dream of a frog turning into their Prince Charming. In reality, the prince fails to appear. She never notic es. She stays busy in her attempt to force reality to fit into the romantic myth of her younger years. Her notion of ideal love masks the total toad her “prince” has become. Her expec tations leave her with little more than a gassy man, and a lifetime full of warts. Or, she falls into the pitfall of trying to change the immutable rock into the man of her dreams. Granted, it is not only the woman’s frustration that leads to misery. She’s tense, demanding, overworked and maybe has put on some pound age. Either way, the marriage suffers from the same factor on each side: the violation of each spouse’s expectan cies. Many factors feed into an individual’s expecta tions about life’s future outcomes. A good deal of our expectancies have been built around what is known as the Ameri can Dream. Americans enjoy a set of shared values that unite us in a common dream. Hard work and perseverance can lead any individual to partake of success, a secure job, home own ership, and access to a college education. The pathway to success has been tied to getting a good education. In the past, learning could come from different directions. High school students were offered training from two different tracks in our country’s past. One track was known as college prep, the other “vo-tech”. Students for whom Shakespeare held no allure followed a vocational track. The unfounded as sumption that students who signed up for vocational studies were forced to follow a lesser footpath led to changes that failed to benefit individual students. It was under the Obama administration during which the dictum of “college for all” was insti tuted. Sadly, stu dents who may have thrived in a program which offered “vo-tech” are now forced to take foreign languages, advanced mathematics and sci ences. Many find these courses irrelevant to their needs and interests. Shoehorning disinter ested students into a program where they were required to take courses designed for college preparation was the beginning of the end for excellence in our educational system. Sad for the students, but the situation is even sadder for the teacher who must maintain a working classroom environment for students who are apathetic and bored by the subject matter. Our expectations about what constitutes a good education has been co-opted, stolen from us through federal inter vention. Think about it. Individuals pay out the nose in taxes for their child to be educated in the public system. Their expectancies for what constitutes the pathway for their child’s success (whether they want to be a lawyer or a plumber) has become moot. The goal to a proper edu cation has been set by people we have never met, those phantoms in Washington, D.C. whose progressive ideals have pushed schools to adopt a standardized curricu lum of their choosing. The federal govern ment is not around to dry up the tears of a kid who cannot seem to master the concept of imaginary numbers in their algebra class. Yes, imaginary numbers are “real” and must be un derstood by all students - because Washington says so. Students have the right to expect a quality edu cation - one relevant to their future careers. Sadly, it is not only the public school that has languished in recent times. Some time ago, I spent seventeen years of my life preparing for college. College for me was the grand icon of enlightenment of my dreams. I had very high expectations. And I was to be bitterly disappoint- By the late 1960’s our insti tutions were already in flux. Curricula that had been in place for centuries had begun to change - and to devolve into a lesser form. While that might make me seem By Harry R. Martinez, Ph. D Good Relationships, pt. 2 Conflict and trouble are part of life though one may wish it were not so. How well Job knew that! Job was a contem porary of Abraham. Both men had phe nomenal knowledge concern ing God. Scripture reveals... “In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. He had seven sons and three daughters, and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East” (Job 1:1-3 NIV). When disaster truck Job, would he become bitter and curse God as per the advice of his wife? Thankfully, he did not. His friend, Eliphaz, seeking to extend sympathy and comfort to Job in the loss of his children and possessions said ... “Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7 NIV). “But if it were I, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before him. He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted” (Job 5:8-9 NIV). This was wise counsel. Similar thoughts were pressed by the Apostle Peter in his admonitions for hav ing good relationships whether in marriage, school, on the job, or in society. “Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compas sionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inher it a blessing” (1 Peter 3:8-9 NIV). In a previ ous article, this writer examined the first two imperatives given by the apostle; that of living in harmony and expressing like a fossilized hold over from the time of the dinosaur, I must beg to differ. No matter what the era, when a college student signs up for a course in American History, one expects the topic to cover the events in this nation’s past. The professor assigned to teach American His tory didn’t want to, so she didn’t. On Day One, she gave the choice for all students to request a schedule change to an other section, but it was her intent to teach the history of India, China and Japan. And that she sympathy. They were to have a fondness for other believers, one of brotherly love. He urged camaraderie to exist between members of the early local church es. They had come to trust Christ as their Savior, believing that on the Cross He paid their entire debt of sin to a holy God. That made them a distinct people, God’s own possession, a child of God but at the same time, they were now a target of Satan in his continuing attempt to neutralize and render ineffective the spiritual lives of believers. With persecution mounting against Christians in the Roman world, the witness of believers had to extend beyond just words. Jesus said ... “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35 NIV). Their witness of brotherly love toward fellow believers would extend to all men, even to their persecu tors. Rome was about to destroy Jerusalem yet their love for one another had made an impact throughout the empire. Christians were encouraged to ... “Keep on loving each other as brothers (Heb 13:1 NIV). The Apostle Paul wrote ... “I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought” (1 Cor 1:10 NIV). This would require a spirit of kind heartedness and humility. Christians were to demonstrate sensitivity to the feelings and needs of others. Good relationships are devoid of cynicism, coldness, and callous ness. When adverse cir cumstances or conflicts arise, situations should be evaluated carefully, free from assumptions that degrade, threaten, or diminish the relation ship. When wronged, the Christian is to avoid bitterness, or a vindic- did. As a consequence (while my records show two courses in Ameri can History), my studies in history had nothing to do with our country’s past. What I can tell you is that those Indian princes were not only swarthy, but they were hot stuff, according to testimony given by Professor Lois. My college coursework in general was tepid, at best - a watered-down version of what I had already studied in high school. I mentioned this to other students, who were confused by my tive spirit ... “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins” (Mark 11:24 NIV). Therefore, there is no place for holding grudges in the life of a Christian. The common, or American, persimmon, scientific name Diospy- ros virginiana, is a fair ly common tree in our area. Persimmon fruits are actually berries. Persimmons are native to China, where they have been cultivated for thousands of years. They have been culti vated in Japan for about 1,300 years. Wildlife that feed on the mature fruit include raccoons, foxes, coyotes, hogs, skunks, wild turkeys, opossums, fox and gray squirrels, bobwhite quail, and songbirds, including mocking birds. Opossums enjoy this fruit so much that the persimmon is often called “possumwood”. The persimmon fruit has been consumed by humans for hundreds of years. Native Amer icans were using the fruit when the Euro peans arrived. The fruit are bitter until they are ripe. As the fruit ripens, the fruit becomes soft and its skin starts to wrinkle. Persimmons are used in pudding, preserves, beer, brandy, and salads. They can be dried for winter eating. The native Americans complaints. After all, college for them had become a bird’s flight through to a diploma - with party privileges. This was their expecta tion. I learned a lot from college, but mostly about shattered expectations. Having high expecta tions is like feeding a dog its own tail. It will never fatten the dog. Kate Scarmalis retired from teaching in the Lee County School System. She has a B.A. in Foreign Languages, Elementary and Gifted Education, and an M.A. in Forensic Psychology Editor’s note: Dr. Martinez is an ordained minister and was a professor and head of the music department at Florida State University School from 1975 to 2003. He is the father of five adult children and resides in Lee County with his wife, Sara. mixed dried persim mons with crushed corn to make bread. While a few trees are self-fertile, trees are generally either male or female. The American persimmon is not the only species of persim mon. Worldwide, there are 475 species of per simmons. Persimmon trees often bear fruit by ten years of age. Their optimum fruit bearing age is between twen ty-five and fifty years. The persimmon has a very long taproot. This makes it drought tolerant and allows it to control erosion. It also makes it difficult to transplant all but the smallest of these trees. Persimmons are easy to grow from seed. The seed should be cleaned and then kept between 33 and 40 degrees Fahr enheit under moist con ditions. This can be ac complished by planting the seeds during the fall. The seeds should be planted about one-half inch deep. New trees can also be produced by rooting cuttings. For more information, call the Lee County Extension Office at 759-6025 or email me at collinsd@uga.edu The Lcfe County Ledger Established August 24,1978 lcledger@bellsouth.net P.O. Box 715 (126 4th Street) (229) 759-2413 Leesburg, Georgia 31763 USPS 470-310 Official Organ of Lee County SUBSCRIPTION RATES Lee and surrounding counties $20.00 year Elsewhere $25.00 year Publisher Derryl Quinn Editor Jim Quinn Layout and Design Zan Twiggs Advertising Manager Tina Maples (USPS 470-310), is published weekly for $20.00 per year in Lee and surrounding counties, and $25.00 per year else where by its offices at the May Office Building, 124 - 4th Street, Leesburg, Georgia 31763. Periodicals postage paid at Leesburg, GA. POST MASTER: Send address changes on Form 3579 to, P.O. 715, Leesburg, GA 31763. §®p) Printed On member of Georgia Recycled Paper press association ed. Kate Scarmalis Sharing the Word The University of Georgia • Cooperative Extension Service -i :Llm, Persimmons Doug Collins, Lee County Extension Coordinator P utting J^nowledee toWork'j ^ Persimmons are ripening on trees this time of year. Persimmons
