Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

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.