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Page 4A - Pike County Journal Reporter - Wednesday, February 3, 2021 Opinions Ruffin’s Renderings: Count your blessings BY MIKE RUFFIN ruffinml@gmail.com had a stroke. I know this for several reasons. First, as 1 type this on January 28,1 am just one day removed from sitting in a room in the stroke unit of Navicent Health (which will always be the Medical Center of Central Georgia to me). Second, that’s what the MR1 and other tests reveal. Third, it will take ten times lon ger than it should for me to type this column. The good news from my perspective is that my mental faculties seem to be more or less intact. That means that 1 should be able to continue to write this column. 1 know this pleases some of you. The further good news is that the medical professionals are confi dent that, with the help of physical therapy, I should be able to recover most of my lost functionalities (I could have just said “function,” but I wanted to demonstrate that 1 can still use a word like “functionality,” thereby proving the intactness of my mental faculties). The main function 1 need to recover is the use of my right hand. It’s hard to use what you can’t feel. Also, when 1 tell my brain to do something with my right hand, it responds as if it were a stub born four-year- old child—no is its favorite word. 1 am count ing my bless ings and nam ing them one by one. 1 am blessed to live in a time when tests can be done, medi cines can be prescribed, and therapies can be ap plied to identify and treat strokes. 1 am blessed to live near a major medi cal center and teaching hospital. 1 am blessed to have health insurance. 1 am blessed to have a solid support system made up of people who care about me and stand with me. 1 am blessed to know that the Lord is with me no matter what happens. 1 am blessed that our Sleep Number Bed replacement remote arrived the same day 1 got home from the hospital. That one probably needs explain ing. Our remote had stopped working a few days before my expected trip to the hospital, so we had to order a new one. Meanwhile, our bed kept getting flatter and flatter. Now, as you may be aware, hospital beds such as the one 1 had just spent three nights on aren’t comfortable. So having our replacement remote awaiting us when we returned home was a blessing. The blessing was tempered by my in ability to get the remote to work. But then a nice lady we reached in cus tomer service walked us through the process, so the blessing was restored Yes, 1 am counting my blessings. They are nu merous. But 1 can’t help thinking about people who aren’t similarly blessed. 1 especially can’t help thinking about peo ple who don’t have good access to quality medi cal care and to health insurance. Since 1 often try to address current issues in this space and would prefer that even a column as personal as this one not be all about me, let me say that access to quality health care is a human right and that every American should have access to affordable health insurance. Blessings are more fun to count when everybody has them. 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. Ruffin’s Renderings LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ON THE AN CIENT PATH Thank you President Trump Somewhere, Somehow, Someone BY ALLEN (THE MAILMAN) OLIVER Somewhere in a cemetery Somewhere south of town Somewhere in a mortuary Somewhere underground Somewhere in a vase, or urn Somewhere out to sea Somewhere in some casket Somewhere they’ll bury me. Somehow when its over Somehow when its done Somehow when its finished Somehow its just begun Somehow in that moment Somehow 1 am free Somehow that ole casket Somehow cannot hold me. Someone had to do it Someone who held the key Someone who was strong enough, to save someone like me Someone who often called me Someone 1 just ignored Someone the world calls Jesus Someone 1 now call Lord. Reader: Tough times are ahead with new president in office 1 have voted in every Presidential Election since 1968. Many times the selection of presi dential candidates we had to vote for, our choices were limited. We had to select the one who lied the least, or stole the least, or was the least ignorant, or the least slick, or you name it. Tough times are ahead with Biden as President and the Democrats in control. It seems to me Biden is working hard to make our country a Social ist nation. Biden has already done away with over one million “energy” jobs. This also means a loss of over 60 billion dollars in tax revenue. All levels of government are spend ing money as if there is no tomorrow. The federal government is about 28 trillion in debt. President Biden and the Democrats will give us more inflation, higher gas prices and higher taxes. President Biden talks about unity. He is going to give us more deficits and more division - not more unity. SINCERELY, MARTIN P. COLLINS BY BEVERLY BRISENDINE beverly.brisendine@gmail.com Listed below are only a small number of the actions taken by President Trump: Under his leadership ISIS lost most of their territory and have been largely dismantled. Their leader, Abu Bakr Al- Baghdadi was killed. Trump directed the Education Secretary to end Common Core in the schools and promoted school choice. The U.S. Embassy in Israel was moved to Jeru salem. Trump signed an order that allows the govern ment to withhold money from colleges deemed to be anti-Semitic. The Abraham Accords were signed by Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and the United States. Other nations were expected to join this peace agreement. Trump had three con servative Justices to the Supreme Court confirmed, An order was issued prohibiting the U.S. gov ernment from discrimi nating against Christians or punishing expressions of faith. Trump opened up the Keystone Pipeline which brought oil from Canada to refineries in Texas causing us to become fuel independent for the first time in our nation’s history. We also became a natural gas exporter for the first time since 1957. A wall over 400 miles long was built on our southern border to stop caravans of people piling into our country expect ing entitlements. A record number of regulations were elimi nated that hurt small businesses. Manufacturing jobs grew at the fastest rate in more than 30 years. New trade deals were made with South Korea, China, Vietnam, and others which brought us billions and billions of increased income. Because of Trump’s pressure, NATO allies increased their defense spending. Trump was able to get so many hostages freed, including those who were not freed by Obama. Welfare reform is now requiring able-bodied adults who don’t have children to work. Under Trump, the FDA approved more affordable generic drugs than ever before. Median household in come hit the highest level ever recorded. A new “Ready to Work” initiative was launched to help connect employ ers directly with former prisoners. The stock market reached record highs dur ing his administration. President Trump was the first President to speak at the March for Life celebration in Wash ington. He ordered a halt to U.S. tax money going to international organiza tions that fund or perform abortions. You may not have cared for our former President but each and everything he did was for the good of our country and its people. For a brief period of time he was truly making America great again. Galled out of darkness into his wonderful light BY CHARLES WHATLEY cbwhatley@hotmail.com 1 remember someone saying “there is no such thing as darkness; there is only the absence of light.” Darkness is not a thing; it’s the absence of light. Have you ever heard anyone say, “Turn on the darkness?” The only way to turn on the darkness is to turn off the light. According to NPR.org, one of the darkest places on earth is a remote northwest ern corner of Nevada approximately six miles from Oregon. Massacre Rim is America’s largest and newest “dark sky sanctuary.” That’s an official designation by the International Dark Sky Association and land managers are required to preserve the night sky. There are only 10 dark sky sanctuaries in the world and four of them are in America. Massacre Rim, more than 100,000 acres is the largest. There is another dark sky sanctuary in Flag staff, Arizona and it was the first International Dark Sky City. Pluto was discovered by the nearby Lowell Observatory. In fact, Flagstaff protects the observatory with a ban on commercial searchlights enforced by a $300 fine and 90 days in jail! (Fivethirtyeight.com) Chaco Canyon Nation al Park, with its ancestral Puebloan ruins, is an other Dark Sky Sanctuary where many of the build ings were likely built with celestial events in mind. Big Bend National Park in Texas has the least light pollution of any other na tional Park in the lower forty-eight states and you can see 2,000 stars with the naked eye. Death Val ley and Bridges national parks are also Dark Sky sites. Across the Atlantic Ocean, still another “dark sky sanctuary” is the Galloway Forest Park in Scotland where you can see 7,000 stars and planets with the naked eye. Or you can travel to one of the darkest places on our planet in the Namibian Desert in Southern Africa where you can stay in the Sos- susvlei Desert Lodge for $84/night. The lodge has its own observatory and there is a resident astronomer available to answer your questions and identify the planets and stars. The first Interna tional Dark Sky Re serve in the Southern Hemisphere, Aoraki Mackenzie Internation al Dark Sky Reserve lo cated in New Zealand, is also the largest, span ning nearly 1,700 square miles. Years ago, we lived in Washington and the city wanted to see if light would affect crime. So they installed bright lighting along a crime- ridden street and there was a significant drop in crime. It seems evil loves the darkness and runs from the light. The Bible often talks about light and dark and good and evil, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belong ing to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his won derful light.” (1 Peter 2:9) Charles ‘Buddy’ Whatley is a re tired United Methodist pastor serving Woodland and Bold Springs UMC and, with Mary Ella, a missionary to the Navajo Reservation in Arizona. Pike County Journal Reporter www.pikecountygeorgia.com P.0. 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. AT PIKE BY BWAIN W. PENN 100 YEARS AGO February 4, 1921: Commissioners approved an order to make Feb. 28 a special election day. The board was looking for someone to fill the vacancy left when Morgan Howard resigned in January. 75 YEARS AGO February 7, 1946: The U.S. War Department of ficially declared 1st Lt. Robert E. “Gene” Oxford of the U.S. Air Corps dead two years after he was re ported missing. Oxford departed January 25, 1944 as a crew member on a B-24 aircraft from Running, China to Chahua, India. 50 YEARS AGO February 4, 1971: Student reporter Ruth Scoggins wrote about president Rosemary Dunn convening the Future Teachers of America Janu ary meeting with secretary Bonnie Adams reading the December minutes. 25 YEARS AGO February 7, 1996: Another arctic blast swept through Pike County dropping temperatures into the single digits. Residents escaped the brunt of the icy precipitation that caused severe problems in Atlanta and up the east coast.