Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

4A ®jje 1) eralb <©a?£tt£ Tuesday, May 24,2022 Opinions Ruffin's Renderings: The chaos BY MIKE RUFFIN ruffinml@gmail.com The Bible begins with these words (I’m quoting from the New Revised Standard Version): “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and dark ness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:1-2). In other words, at its beginning, the world was chaotic. Then God went to work on the chaos, step by step bringing order to it. When God had finished God’s creative work, the Bible says that God judged everything that God had created as being “very good” (Genesis 1:31). And indeed, at the conclusion of the seven days of creation as out lined in Genesis l:l-2:4a, one gets the sense that everything is in its place. The world is sound and orderly. There seems to be no chaos. But one might well wonder if the chaos is still lurking beneath the surface. And in fact, in the story of Noah’s ark, the storm that causes the flood is more than just a big rainstorm—it is the return of the chaos: “all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened” (Genesis 7:11). God promises never again to destroy the world by a flood (Genesis 9:11). But that doesn’t mean that some chaos can’t burst forth here and there from time to time. All too often in our nation, the chaos bursts forth in a hail of bullets. According to a Nation al Public Radio story, the independent data collec tion organization the Gun Violence Archive reports that there have been 198 mass shootings—defined as an incident in which four or more people are shot or killed, exclud ing the shooter—in the United States so far in 2022. There were 693 mass shootings in our nation in 2021. It is a sad fact that we have become ac customed to hearing news reports about such incidents of mass vio lence. It is a further sad fact that most of us will give such incidents little thought after the news cycle moves on to some other story. It is an even sadder fact that most of us will not feel compelled to try to do some thing—and to try to get our leaders to do something—about the epidemic of mass shoot ings in our society until one results in the death or injury of someone we love. 1 hope that none of us ever have experienced or ever will experience such a tragedy. But 1 also hope and pray that we will come to care more about those who have experienced such a ter rible loss. The Bible teaches that one of these days, God will permanently elimi nate the chaos. When that day comes, there will be no more sick ness, sorrow, sadness, or grief. There will be no more mass shootings. Until that day comes, we have to deal with the eruptions of chaos. It is natural for humans to do what they can to try to keep the chaos at bay. One way that people respond to the chaos of gun violence is to advocate for putting more guns into the system. I’m not sure they would put it that way, but that seems to me to be the practical effect of op posing any and all efforts to place any kinds of limi tations on gun ownership rights. The irony is that having guns available to just about anyone at just about any time increases rather than decreases the possibility of gun vio lence and of mass shoot ings. (That at least seems logical to me, although 1 guess it is impossible to prove.) Anyway, advocat ing for more guns as the solution to gun violence seems to me to be illogi cal and counterproduc tive. There is a sense in which, when it comes to guns in America, the toothpaste is out of the tube. According to the Pew Research Center, four out of ten Americans live in a household with a gun, and three out of ten Americans personally own a gun. According to that same research, sixty percent of gun owners cite personal protection as the main reason they own a gun. To put it in the terms I’ve been us ing, they own a gun in an effort to protect them selves against the chaos. By now, some of you are thinking that any new or additional gun regula tion will not address the real problem. The real problem, you would say, is a mental, emotional, or even a spiritual one. Until people’s hearts change, you would suggest, we will have tragedies such as mass shootings. Until people’s minds change, the chaos will continue to burst forth. And some of us would add, only God can bring about such a change. I’ve already said that God will one of these days bring an end to the chaos. 1 agree that people need to have their hearts, minds, and spirits changed by God here and now if we are going to see any meaningful reduction in the chaos. 1 would like to suggest one way that we can be open to the change that God wants to bring about in our hearts. Racist and white supremacist beliefs don’t motivate all mass shoot ings, but they clearly motivated the one that recently occurred in Buf falo, New York. Racism and white supremacy are wrong and sinful ide ologies. If we want to be open to the changes that God wants to bring about in our hearts, minds, and spirits, we should avoid racism and white su premacy, but we should do more than that. We should also disavow and repudiate them and anyone that practices, promotes, or advocates for them. Perhaps in so doing we can contrib ute to a world in which racially motivated mass shootings are less likely to occur. It would at least be a step toward lessening the chaos. Mike Ruffin is a Barnesville native who lives and works in Macon. His new book, Praying with Matthew, is available at helwys.com and at Amazon. Kudzu & Clay: Sacred chocolate CHRIS WALTER cwalter@walterfoundation.com Every Christmas as a child I used to get very excited when I heard the grumble of a diesel en gine in the driveway and the door bell ring moments later. It meant some de livery ser vice had dropped off pres ents. Usually, the big gest and best box came from my granny. There would be tons of artfully wrapped presents for us kids, but only one small, rectangular box for my parents with instructions to open before Christ mas. And in this box was a smaller box of specialty chocolates from a choco late maker in Ohio. Now, when I think about chocolate, my mind doesn’t carry me to Ohio, but I guess these particular chocolates hold some regional im portance as that is where my grandmother is from. Every single year my dad would take this package. Open it. Let us look at the chocolates like some sort of ancient treasure. Then immediately close it and put it on the high est shelf in our kitchen or top of our refrigera tor where we couldn’t reach. It used to drive me absolutely bonkers. If we were lucky he would allow us one piece after dinner in a very ceremo nious display, but that was rare. Many years the box just sat on high, col lecting dust, eventually disappearing. Dad would constantly talk about how great the candy was, but would never eat it. I believe, to him, the torture was much more satisfying than the calories. Because of the per ceived rarity of this sacred chocolate, I felt a certain accomplishment when I became an adult and my grandmother started sending these traditional shipments to me. I had crossed over from getting boxes full of plastic toys to becom ing a man and having my own precious box of chocolates...all to myself. Except they weren’t just for me, my wife’s name was on the delivery as well, so I had to share. To this woman I live with, these chocolates were nothing more than a slightly higher-caliber candy. The same kind of stuff you can find on the top shelf of the grocery store candy aisle. She would eat them as if they were any regular old holiday treat (because that’s what they were). But to me, they were something far more. They were constructed from the very ingredients of Christmas itself, each morsel a tiny piece of the spirit and embodiment of the season. Granted, she thought they were deli cious, but as I watched her consume these candies, my candies by birthright, I became jeal ous. I convinced myself she was unaware of the magic they contained, therefore unworthy, even if they were also sent to her. I started hiding them. Rationing them. I finally understood the strange hoarding be haviors I witnessed as a child. My greed and protec tiveness over this choco late started to drive a wedge between her and me. I was regressing into another barbaric habit I picked up from my childhood. This would be another thing she needed to beat out of me in her never-ending crusade to make me a normal person. She became even more baffled when she witnessed this same behavior in my brother. One year she watched him slowly savor a few select pieces from his personal box and carry on about how delicious and special they were. She bet me that he would not be able to tell the difference between the ‘special’ candy if it were to be switched out with a cheap alternative. There was no way. Christmas tastes like Christmas and cheap tastes like cheap. So she went to the dollar store and bought the cheapest box of chocolates she could find. They had been in the store so long the distinct, discount smell of the store had calcified in every molecule of the candy. When my brother wasn’t looking she replaced them all and waited. When he opened the box back up and meticulously surveyed his treasure, picking the perfect candy for that moment, I watched, wait ing for him to spit it out this imposter. He did not, instead, he closed his eyes and savored every moment of it. For the rest of the holiday, it went like that until he had eaten every single piece, never I never knew how im portant reading was until I had my son. My daugh ter was born with hardly any complications, full term, and was always at the top 99% of her age and development. My son was another story. He was born at 26 weeks and five days. He was considered a “micro preemie” because he only weighed 1 lb 11 oz. He was the size of two adult hands put together. While he was in NICU, his doctors and nurses stressed the importance of reading and talking to him on a daily basis, so my daughter would choose a book from their library and read to him every day that we came to visit him. I started to notice how his alert ness to people’s speak ing increased. He would always watch his sister so intently as if he knew exactly what she was saying when she would knowing it was a cheap placebo. After this experiment, I was no longer able to be as protective of the candy because I had been proven wrong. I kept going over it in my head. I realized that a trick like that could work with my brother but not me. Of course he couldn’t tell the differ ence! He didn’t have my read to him. His progress in NICU began to improve each day! Before we left the NICU (we were there from July 10 to Oct. 22), we were asked to fill out a Ferst Readers applica tion at our local health department. I did not hesitate! Since then he has received books on a monthly basis. He is always excited to see an other book come through the mail with his name on it. We read at least nightly and he under stands that reading is a time for us. His vocabu lary has increased and using those vocabulary words in context amazes me every day. We were told that he would possibly have cognitive and develop mental delays but being exposed to reading since he was out of the womb has decreased those negative connotations sophisticated palette. I’ve seen the kid eat snakes before. He was only a few genes away from being a Neanderthal, not the next step in evolution like me. I went back to hiding the candy so as to ensure its survival. That’s when my wife let me know that she knew the trick would work on my brother because she had been doing it to me for years. Kj and instead has given him a step ahead. I am so glad that introducing him to reading has given us a new sense of hope for him. Reading has been a true hero in my home. MRS. FRANCESCA RAINES Learning Support Specialist The importance of reading to my son LAMAR FLASHBACK May 22-28 10 years ago Two old Barnesville buildings which had become eyesores were demolished. The old Peavy Furniture Building at 114 Merchants Way was taken down by city crews. Also getting the wrecking ball was the old Lamar EMC building on College Drive. That 2.87- acre site was designated for commercial develop ment but remains empty to this day. 25 years ago Five local young people were named Youth of the Year by the local Optimist Club. They were cited for commu nity leadership. The five were Jennifer Brown, Tiffany Vaughn, Melanie Brown, Lori Beth Bryan and Matthew Dyal. 50 years ago A bond referendum authorizing the construc tion of the new Lamar County Comprehensive High School passed by a narrow margin after months of fierce debate. The yeas out polled the nays 1148-1039. 100 years ago The sad news was received in the city Saturday morning of the death of Mr. Sol C. Bloodworth which oc curred early that morn ing in Trinidad, Colo rado. The news of his serious illness reached here some days before, and his father, Mr. E. H. Bloodworth, had made arrangements to go to Colorado to see him. Sol represented Barnesville Manufacturing in New York City before moving to Colorado for health reasons. Zi)t Umltr #a^tte barnesville.com 770.358.NEWS P.0. Box 220 Publisher Staff SUBSCRIBE DEADLINES 509 Greenwood Street Walter Geiger Nolan George $30 per year in Lamar and sur- The deadline for public notices Barnesville, Ga. 30204 Rachel McDaniel rounding counties; $40 outside is noon Thursdays; news and 770-358-NEWS General Manager Tasha Webster the local area. advertising before noon Fridays. barnesville.com E-mail: news@barnesville.com Missy Ware Includes 24/7 access to barnesville.com Early submission is appreciated.