Page 4A - Pike County Journal Reporter - Wednesday, January 6, 2021
Opinions
Ruffin’s Renderings: The song of the ruthless
BY MIKE RUFFIN
ruffinml@gmail.com
“The song of the ruth
less” is a phrase found in
chapter 25 of the book of
Isaiah. The full sentence
reads,
When the blast of the
ruthless was like a winter
rainstorm,
the noise of aliens like
heat in a dry place,
you subdued the heat
with the shade of clouds;
the song of the ruthless
was stilled (vv. 4b-5).
The prophet has in
mind a mighty city that
God has brought down
because of its oppressive
practices. The ruthless
oppressors had been
making a lot of noise
and doing a lot of dam
age, but God silenced
and stopped them. In
so doing, God has given
shelter to the poor and
needy (v. 4).
The prophet doesn’t
say what city he is talk
ing about. The best guess
is Babylon, which eventu
ally becomes a symbol
for oppressive empires
(the name Babylon is
used in place of Rome in
the book of Revelation).
But there are oppres
sive forces in every age.
Not all of them are em
pires, but some of them
are. And even those that
may at first glance seem
to operate independently
usually do so with the
approval and support
of entrenched
systems. The
economic, po
litical, and legal
scales are tilted
in favor of the
rich and power
ful. Many of them
will do anything
to maintain their
riches and power
and to acquire
more. If they
must oppress
others to do so, they will.
They do.
Here’s the thing,
though: the consistent
witness of the Bible is
that God isn’t on the side
of the powerful oppres
sors. Babylon, Nineveh,
Rome, and many more
empires throughout
history have eventually
crumbled. Per
haps they col
lapsed of their
own weight.
But the bibli
cal prophets
don’t hesitate
to say that
the power
ful oppres
sors collapse
under God’s
judgment.
They also
don’t hesitate to say
that God will bring down
the powerful and lift up
the lowly. In fact, that’s
what Mary said when she
praised God for the child
she was going to bear
(Lk 1:51-53). Jesus came
to fulfill God’s purpose
of reversing the fortunes
of the powerful and the
weak, of the arrogant and
the humble, and of the
rich and the poor.
The prophet speaking
in Isaiah 25 also looks
forward to the great
banquet that God will
throw when God makes
all things as God wants
them to be. When that
time comes, the song
of the ruthless will be
stilled forever. Their
taunts will cease. Their
revelry will end.
That time is yet to
come. But it is coming.
What do we do in the
meantime, until the song
of the ruthless is stilled?
We sing a more beautiful
song. It is the song of the
redeemed. It is the song
of those who join God on
the side of the poor, the
oppressed, the disenfran
chised, and the marginal
ized.
What do we do in the
meantime, until God
throws the great banquet
in which all God’s people
will be included? We
hold the best and biggest
banquets we can. We
welcome all to our table
who will come. We host
the poor, the oppressed,
the disenfranchised, and
the marginalized.
We live in ways that re
flect the great future that
is coming. We practice
love, grace, and mercy.
Mike Ruffin is a Barnesville native
who lives in Yatesville and works in
Macon. His new book, Praying with
Matthew, is available at helwys.com
and at Amazon.
LETTERS T
THE EDIT
Thank you for helping
save my granny’s life
A hybrid Southern fir is on the horizon
I thank the ambu
lance workers and the
hospital workers for
helping my Granny,
Virginia Brooks, when
she fell.
I also thank Mrs.
The 2021 Georgia
Legislature is about to
start. Here are some
things I think it should
consider.
I would like to see the
2020 Election inves
tigated. Brian Kemp
and Secretary of State
Raffensberger would be
among the first people
that should answer ques
tions. We’ve got to clean
up our election system.
We must stop election
theft and voter fraud.
Its time to help our
senior citizens. Many
are facing financial
problems. The Legisla
ture could help by pass
ing a law that would
exempt seniors from
having to pay county
school taxes. By age
The Pike County Jour
nal Reporter welcomes
letters to the editor.
For a letter to be
considered, include
the writer’s actual
name, address and
telephone number.
Limit letters to 250
words or less. All letters
are subject to editing.
Personal attacks on
Diane Denny and her
granddaughter, Kylie.
They saved my
Granny’s life. Thank you
so much!
SINCERELY, JULIANNA
BROOKS (AGE 8) AND FAMILY
65 most people have
paid more than their
share of school taxes. I
think such a law would
help our elderly. I think
our economy could be
helped since people
would have more
money to spend.
Our elected officials
need to think about term
limits. Term limits would
allow more people a
chance to participate
in government. New
people in office would
bring new ideas that
would help our state. I
don’t think it’s good for
people to spend their
careers living off the tax
payers - like Joe Biden
and others.
private citizens, political
endorsements or letters
that are racially divisive
will not be considered.
Drop letters by the
office on the court
house square, mail
them to P.O. Box 789,
Zebulon, 30295, fax
them to 770.567.8814 or
email them to news@
pikecountygeorgia.com.
BY DR. MARK A. CZARNOTA
University of Georgia, Griffin
In the United States,
during the Christmas
holiday, more than 20
million cut Christmas
trees are sold every year.
Unfortunately, growers
cannot meet the needs
of consumers, and every
year, there is a shortage
of trees. The main reason
for the tree shortage is
due to the incredible
losses of susceptible firs
(Fraser, Balsa, Canaan,
etc.) to the root fungus
Phytophthora. Georgia
and other southeastern
states import more than
50% of their fresh cut
Christmas trees. The
fresh cut Christmas trees
that Georgia growers
currently provide include
Leyland cypress (X Cu-
pressocyparis leylandii),
Arizona cypress (Cypes-
sus arizonica), Red Cedar
(Juniperus virginiana)
and Virginia Pine (Pinus
virginiana).
In the early 90s,
attempts were made
to introduce Momi fir
(Abies firma) which is a
heat tolerant fir, that can
grow in the southeast.
Furthermore, Momi fir
has proven itself over
the last 25 years as the
only known fir species
resistant to Phytophthora
root disease and could
make a good Christmas
tree / ornamental / timber
species. In North Caro
lina, because of the more
desirable Christmas tree
characteristics of Fraser
fir, many growers have
been grafting Fraser fir
(Abies fraseri) scion
wood (shoot wood) to
Momi fir rootstock. This
enables the grower to
harvest Fraser firs that
are on Momi fir root stock
in Phytophthora infested
soils. Although, grafting
can be used to provide a
solution to this situation,
grafting can be problem
atic. Grafting is very labor
intensive, central leader
scion wood is difficult to
attain, and grafting suc
cess can be elusive. Many
people have attempted to
grow Momi fir as a stand
alone Christmas tree spe
cies, but selections for
desirable Christmas tree
characteristics would
have to be made.
Unfortunately, it is
difficult to get Momi fir
seed and it is difficult
to germinate. A more
reliable source of Momi
Fir was needed. In 2017,
with a grant provided by
the USDA, research was
begun to rescue embryos
from Momi firs growing in
Georgia. Embryos rescued
from these trees could
be cultured to produce
100,000s of seedlings in
less than 6 months if this
propagation system could
be developed. In mid-
2019, a research team (led
by Dr. Mark Czarnota at
the University of Georgia,
Griffin campus) was able
to created embryonic cal
lus from rescued embryos
of Momi Fir growing in
Georgia.
In the near future,
thousands of Momi
fir seedlings could be
made available to grow
ers for root stock and
stand-alone Momi fir.
As mentioned, there are
several characteristics to
the Momi fir that make it
undesirable as a Christ
mas tree, and they include
picky foliage, off green
color and lack of a center
leader. However, if Momi
fir could be crossed with
other firs (Fraser (Ab
ies fraseri), Balsa (Abies
balsamea), Cannan (Abies
balsamea var. phanero-
lepis), Nordman (Abies
nordmanniana), Turkish
(Abies bornmuelleriana),
Guatemalan fir (Abies
guatemalensis), etc.),
hybrid embryos could
be rescued, cultured into
embryos and matured
into seedlings. If a hybrid
could be developed, it
could provide an endless
supply of a Phytophthora
resistant hybrid fir tree
for the Christmas tree,
ornamental, and forestry
industry in Georgia, and
the southeast. This could
open up fantastic financial
opportunities for all of
these industries in Geor
gia and the southeast.
In order to create these
hybrid firs, Momi fir trees
growing in Athens, Griffin,
and Terrytown Georgia
will be observed for
female cone development.
Once immature female
cones (seed cones) are
observed, they will be
covered with pollen bags
to prevent from being
pollenated by other Momi
firs. When male cones are
observed releasing pollen
on Momi fir (early spring),
covered female cones
should be receptive, and
would be pollenated with
pollen of Fraser or other
desirable fir trees. When
mature embryos are ob
served, hybrid cone em
bryos will be harvested
and cultured to produce
embryos and eventually
seedlings.
With any luck, these
hybrids will be Phy
tophthora resistant,
and forever change our
abilities to grow firs in
the Southeastern United
States - Wish us luck!
Dr. Mark Andrew Czarnota Ph.D., is
an associate professor and extension
specialist in ornamental, small fruit
and Christmas trees as well as a
weed control specialist. He lives in
Williamson and works at the UGA
Griffin campus.
Reader: Seniors should be
exempt from school taxes
SINCERELY,
MARTIN COLLINS
Letter printing guidelines
Pike County
Journal
Reporter
www.pikecountygeorgia.com
P.O. Box 789
16026 Barnesville St.
Zebulon, Ga. 30295
770.567.3446
The Pike County Journal
Reporter is the official
organ of Pike County, the
cities of Zebulon, Molena,
Meansville, Williamson
and Concord. It is
published weekly by
Hometown Newspapers
Inc. Second class
postage is paid at the
Zebulon, Ga Post Office.
Publishers: Walter and
Laura Geiger; staff:
Jennifer Taylor,
Brenda Sanchez and
Rachel McDaniel.
PSSSST!
WANTYER
COVIC-SHOT
NOW?
i v% % %% viM/i/wi n
ssssmMP n
I.YYYH liWkU YY V. WlV.l 1 YV.1V. ■
NOTICE:
VACCINE
N0THEKE
VET!
AT PIKE
BY DWAIN W. PENN
100 YEARS AGO
January 7, 1921: Dr. D.L. Head bought the Frank
Underwood place in Concord and was soon at home
there where he would practice his profession. He
had his practice 12 months prior to moving.
75 YEARS AGO
January 10,1946: Pike schools closed due to
impassable roads, yet to recover from December
rain and ice; one bus was stuck on a hill in sight of
Zebulon. Schools were scheduled to reopen Jan. 14.
50 YEARS AGO
January 7, 1971: Pike’s bookmobile librarian
Kathryn Huff said the service only goes to Molena
once a month but can be every two weeks if need
ed. Unlike Zebulon, with many readers, very few
used the bookmobile in Williamson and Hollon-
ville. The service catered to all levels of readers.
25 YEARS AGO
January 10, 1996: A wintry mix of sleet and ice
started over the weekend glazing roads and drive
ways in Pike posing no serious problems. Bitter
cold temperatures greeted residents returning to
work Monday morning.
