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4A ®[)£ Im'alti <©a?£tt£ Tuesday, June 8,2021
Opinions
Ruffin's Renderings: Let's face it
The Bible doesn’t offer
an objective account of
the events it narrates. It
doesn’t intend to do so.
Its presentation of those
events is agenda-driven.
Those who passed
along, preserved, wrote,
edited, and compiled
what we have in our
Bibles believed that
God was involved in the
stories they recorded.
God’s involvement in the
history of ancient Israel,
in the life, death, and
resurrection of Jesus,
and in the establishing
and development of the
early church is the sub
ject matter of the Bible.
As the Gospel of John
says about its contents,
“These are written so
that you may come to
believe that Jesus is the
Messiah, the Son of God,
and that through believ
ing you may have life in
his name” (20:31). What
John says of Jesus, all
of the biblical writers,
editors, and compilers
would say about what
they produced: “We have
said these things in these
ways so that you might
believe that God involves
God’s self in the world
and in our lives.”
This doesn’t mean,
though, that the biblical
writers aren’t willing to
tell about the negative as
pects of the story. Their
conviction that God is in
volved in the story they
are telling doesn’t lessen
their awareness that God
chooses to work in and
through frail
and fallible
human beings.
And human
beings can and
do sometimes
make a mess of
things.
Take the
Bible’s portray
al of David, for
example.
According to
the Old Tes
tament, David was the
greatest king Israel ever
had. God chose David
to be king, judging him
to be a man after God’s
own heart (1 Samuel
13:14). David conquered
the city of Jerusalem
and made it his capital.
By moving the ark of the
covenant into the city,
he also made it
Israel’s religious
center. He more
or less united
the twelve
tribes of Israel
under a central
government (I
say “more or
less” because
the unity was
far from per
fect). Through
the prophet
Nathan, God even
promised David that his
descendants would reign
forever, which turned out
to be about four hundred
years, so the promise
came to be interpreted
messianically—a de
scendant of David would
establish God’s eternal
kingdom. Christians
understand Jesus to be
the fulfillment of that
promise.
But according to what
biblical scholars call
the Succession Narra
tive, which is found in 2
Samuel 9-1 Kings 2, the
great king David made
some serious errors and
committed some scandal
ous sins. He committed
adultery with a woman
named Bathsheba, and
when she became preg
nant, he arranged to have
her husband Uriah killed
so he could marry the
widow. David also failed
to deal with serious
problems in his family,
inaction that resulted in
the path to his successor
being shrouded in scan
dal and violence.
So,even though the
biblical writers’ agenda
was to show how God
was actively involved in
ancient Israel’s history,
they still reported the
negative elements of that
history.
This seems to me to
be a good example for
any nation to follow. It’s
understandable that a
nation wants to celebrate
the positive aspects of
its history. But a wise
people is willing to name
and deal with the nega
tive parts of its story. A
wise people is willing to
tell even the truth that is
painful to face.
Mike Ruffin is a Barnesville native.
His new book, Praying with Matthew,
is available at helwys.com and
Amazon.
4 il
Ruffin’s
Renderings
Kudzu & Clay:
Dead man's beer
We used to go
on a week-long
beach vacation
every summer.
My entire family
on the paternal
side that is, sans
my Grandfather
who passed away
before the tradi
tion could start.
There is enough
material from
these trips to fill
countless novels,
but I am remind
ed of one in particular
every time the grocery
store is out of my favor
ite brewskis and I have to
settle for a cheap alterna
tive.
Since my grandfather
passed on at an early
age, there have always
been elderly characters
of varying degrees of car
nival folk resemblance in
orbit around my granny.
I do not know what their
purpose was to her and
I do not care to know.
Most of the time these
fellows scattered from
the woodwork when
the family would come
around, but one beach
trip, one of these charac
ters decided to show up
out of the blue. Unan
nounced. Uninvited.
I had just come up
from the beach and
there in the kitchen of
the rental house stood
this slender, elderly
gentleman, emitting a
strong smell of cheap
aftershave and tobacco.
I don’t know if it’s true
or not but I could have
sworn he had on cowboy
boots and a bolo tie. He
was drinking a beer and
chatting with my granny.
I didn’t think anything of
it—I had brought friends
on vacation before—why
not her?
The next morning
while we were drinking
coffee, I noticed this
fellow bypassed the
coffee carafe and went
straight to the liquor
cabinet to pour Scotch in
his coffee cup. When we
went out to the beach he
joined us with a case of
beer. Instead of wearing
sunscreen, he wrapped
a towel around his head
and left a small hole
for his mouth where he
would insert a cigarette
and then put a five-gallon
bucket over his head to
light it, over and over
and over again.
Don’t get me wrong,
he didn’t look out of
place. Instead of buying
an umbrella like normal
people, my dad would
set up a makeshift refu
gee camp on the shore.
He erected a shelter
with a tarp the size of
an Olympic swimming
pool and bamboo poles
with an intricate array of
jute twine to hold it up.
Instead of kid-sized buck
ets and shovels
to make sand-
castles, my Dad
would haul the
entire contents
of his garden
shed down
there, tiller and
all. So to say this
fellow looked
out of place
with a towel on
his head and a
cigarette stick
ing out, not so
much.
I’m not sure if it was
the Scotch in the morn
ing, the towel around the
head, or maybe some
thing else, but it all came
to a head about halfway
through the trip. We sat
down for dinner one eve
ning and this fellow was
nowhere to be found. A
search party was formed
and he was located
sound asleep on the floor
of a bathroom. It wasn’t
long after that he was
politely asked to leave.
He had obviously failed
his interview as granny’s
gentleman suitor.
That was that, and
nobody thought much
about it until we got
home. Before we went on
these trips it was cus
tomary to pack the entire
contents of our kitchen,
so when we got home
we had to reintroduce
all of our items into their
native habitat. Somehow
it seemed we picked up a
hitchhiker in the form of
a six pack of the elderly
man’s cheap, cheap beer.
My dad, as frugal as he
was, could not throw it
away. He put it in an out
door refrigerator as an
insurance policy, on the
off chance he ran out of
Sunday beer and didn’t
want to drive the fifteen
minutes to civilization.
A week to the day the
old cowboy was excused
from our vacation, my
grandmother got a phone
call. Apparently, the old
man drove home, sat
down on his sofa, and
died. Surely he had a cor
nucopia of preexisting
conditions, but I like to
think he died of a broken
heart because he was so
in love with my granny.
Either way, the beer
we put in the fridge
transformed into some
thing else. It was no
longer cheap beer or
backup Sunday beer. It
became known as dead
man’s beer. And there
it sat to remind us what
happens if you fall asleep
on a bathroom floor,
or fall in love with my
granny.
Chris Walter is a writer, artist,
and Barnesville native. He has just
published his first book, “Southern
Glitter”. You can find more informa
tion about his art and writings at
kudzuandclay.com
ft.
KUDZU &
CLAY
Chris Walter
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Friends of the Library says thanks
The Friends are so
grateful for the response
to our membership drive
from many Lamar County
families and individuals.
Special thanks and
recognition is given to
these donors: Mary Sun
day School Class of the
Barnesville First Baptist
Church, Piedmont Green
Power, State Farm Insur
ance (Phillip Bell), Attor
neys Smith,Welch, Webb,
& White, Lamar County
Farm Bureau, Southern
Rivers Energy, The Her
ald Gazette, David and
Lynn Rumfelt, Glenna
Waller, Britt and Ginger
Lifsey, Bob and Gale
Taylor, Linda Olivier and
Merle Childs in memory
of Jule Ann Garby.
I think we have one
of the best libraries in
Georgia because of your
tremendous community
support.
SINCERELY,
ANNE HAINES,
President, Friends of the Barnesville-
Lamar County Library
Local Girl Scout adopts old cemetery
Sharon Robinson,
member of Girl Scout
troop 13360 in Barnes
ville began cleaning the
abandoned Aldora Cem
etery June 27, 2020. After
a lot of research, among
the 30 people buried
there, a grave was found
of a 31st Infantry World
War I soldier, Leonard J.
Boggs. Sharon felt this
was a worthwhile project
and wanted to earn her
Gold Award with Girl
Scouts. Though GSGATL
didn’t think the project
qualified for the Gold
Award, Sharon continued
to work tirelessly clean
ing out weeds and ivy,
raking and spraying weed
killer. She even met and
interviewed the great
granddaughter of James
A. Burke, another person
buried in Aldora Cem
etery.
Thank you Tim Turner
for helping with some of
the history and names,
the Old Jail Museum
for more history and
a special thank you to
Balamo Building Supply
for donating all materials
for the Aldora Cemetery
sign Sharon installed.
The cemetery is in need
once again of love and
care. We hope others are
inspired to take care of
Barnesville’s small pieces
of history.
DONNA ROBINSON
SHARON ROBINSON
• Midway Baptist
Church, located at 158
City Pond Rd. will hold
Vacation Bible School
now through Thursday,
June 10 from 5:30 - 8 p.m.
nightly. The theme for
the study is Destination
Dig... Unearthing the
truth about Jesus.
• Midway Baptist
Church, 158 City Pond
Rd. will hold homecom
ing on Sunday, June 13
beginning with the 10:30
a.m. worship service
featuring gospel singe
ing by youth, adults and
the entire congregation.
Lunch will immediately
follow in the fellowship
hall.
• Barnesville First
United Methodist Church
invites you to worship
at 10 a.m. in the Sanc
tuary, no reservation
required, with overflow
in the Fellowship Hall.
Services are still offered
online Sunday mornings
streamed on YouTube
and on Zoom. Come
early or tune in early for
the pre-service music at
9:45 a.m. At 11 a.m. the
worship service is re
broadcast on Facebook.
• Rock Springs
Church: log on to rock-
springsonline.com and
watch live services
Sundays at 8 a.m., 9:30
a.m. and 11 a.m. Wednes
day evening activities at
7 p.m.
• Compassion Car
Ministry offers trans
portation to medical
appointments for Lamar
County residents who
have been diagnosed
with cancer. Drivers will
pick up the patient and
take them to physicians
offices, treatment centers
and the airport for out
of town treatment. For
info call 770.358.2353 to
schedule a trip.
June 6-12
10 years ago
Local leaders were
skeptical of a plan that
would run a toll road
for big rigs from Pauld
ing County around the
west side of Atlanta and
through Lamar County to
reconnect with the inter
state here. David Austin,
chairman of the Paulding
County commission, was
pitching the plan which
died a bureaucratic
death in Atlanta.
25 years ago
Dr. Virginia L. Haisten,
a Barnesville native and
professor of music at Sa
lem College, was selected
to present a series of 12
organ recitals as part
of the Celebrate Faith
and Freedom Festival
in conjunction with the
1996 Olympic Games in
Atlanta.
50 years ago
Russell’s Restaurant
in Griffin offered two
dinner meal deals: sir
loin steak for $2.25 and
speckled trout for $1.95.
Afterwards you could
stop by the Iris Drive-
In and see a double
feature of ‘Hell’s Belles’
and ‘Born Losers’. The
next film on the sched
ule was Disney’s ‘Son of
Flubber’.
100 years ago
Mr. Jackson G. Smith
and Mr. G. C. Cornell
will leave today for
Hot Springs, Arkansas
to remain about three
weeks. Mr. Smith has
several times visited
this famous place and
has received great
benefit therefrom. Mr.
Cornell has long been a
faithful employee in the
business of Mr. Smith
and will be making
the trip as Mr. Smith’s
guest.
Zi)t 2|graft <£a)gttg
barnesville.com
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