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Page 4A - Pike County Journal Reporter - Wednesday, December 15, 2021 Opinions Saban’s not Satan but the devil’s henchmen are around BY WALTER GEIGER news@barnesville.com 1 WAS WRONG! Getting the foot ball part of this mis sive out of the way first requires me to admit that Nick Saban is the best coach of all time. 1 sat through to the miserable end of the SEC title game in Atlanta and concluded I will never go again. Kirby Smart will never beat his mentor. When he manages to get in the ring with Saban, he chokes. Georgia’s stable of five star defensive backs looked like middle schoolers when they went up against Bryce Young, Jameson Williams and John Metchie. 1 expect Michigan to rout UGA and put us out of our misery. So, to be clear. 1 WAS WRONG! Now, on to the impor tant stuff... Glenn and Vickie For syth have spent the last decade or more running the Empty Stocking Fund (ESF) in Lamar County. They have space be hind the old Dollar Gen eral building in Barnes- ville for storage. During the year, they hit sales at the big box stores, raking in toys for the next batch of needy kids. There is no shortage of them. Glenn and Vickie hope to provide gifts for nearly 300 kids this year. In years past the number has been double that and more. They had the storage area filled with toys and other gifts. They have a couple of other rooms in the building where they store per sonal stuff. One October day, Glenn and Vickie opened the building and heard a back door slam. They watched a couple with a small child flee on foot. It turned out the couple had been squat ting in the building, dodg ing Glenn and Vickie when they stopped by. But, these people weren’t just squatters, they were pure evil. They were grinches with capital Gs! “They had gone through and twisted the heads off of every Barbie doll. They broke the screens on every tablet. They had set up a chang ing table for the baby. They took our meat from our freezer and used my grill to cook it,” Glenn told those at the ESF Af ter Hours at United Bank last week. “You know, if they had asked me, 1 probably would have let them live there until they got a place to stay,” he added with tears in his eyes. That’s the sort of people Glenn and Vickie are. They put the needs of others ahead of their own. Sadly, that is a trait that is becoming more and more rare in this era of hateful social media vitriol and society is worse off for it. 1 don’t see that situation im proving anytime in the near future. So, Dog fans, Saban is not Satan he just owns us. The real Satan was at work in the hearts of these grinches. 1 feel sorry for their child but there is not a hot enough place in hell for them! If you feel inclined to help Glenn and Vickie make up for this loss, you can drop off unwrapped toys or monetary dona tions at the fire station in downtown Barnesville. If you just want to commis erate, give them a call at 770.468.1253. Merry Christmas and God bless us one and all. We desperately need it! Walter Geiger is the editor and publisher of the Pike County Journal Reporter and The Herald Gazette in Barnesville. GEIGER’S COUNTER Walter Geiger Editor & Publisher LETTERS T THE EDITOR Thanks to Pike citizens for 31 years of support To the citizens of Pike County, I wish I could thank each one of you personally for the con fidence you showed in me over my 31-year ten ure in the Pike County Tag and Tax office. 1 was honored to serve you in many ways; as a friend, a confidant and at times a prayer partner. 1 grew up in Pike County, and I feel like you are my fam ily, and I will miss you. No matter what, I will always be connected to the people of Pike County and will remem ber your expressions of love and kindness. 1 know the transition will be a challenge, but 1 will continue to see many of you around the county. During my time working in the Tag and Tax office, 1 have had many who were my co-workers and became lifelong friends. Most of the time, 1 enjoyed go ing to work and helping where 1 could and who 1 could; my job became a calling and my passion. 1 will miss everyone in the office. 1 have been blessed because 1 had the opportunity to serve Pike County and had countless times when 1 was able to share my faith with people who just needed a hug or a prayer; these are the mo ments 1 cherish the most. 1 decided to retire and be “Nanny” to my nine grandchildren (number 10 on the way) and spend time enjoying family. 1 pray God will use me in the lives of my family and for you if the need arises. Thank you for all the blessed years. PATTI MAXED0N CHIEF DEPUTY TAX COMMISSIONER, RETIRED Letter printing guidelines 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. Shorter letters are ap preciated. All letters are subject to editing. Personal attacks on pri vate citizens, political endorsements or letters that are racially divisive will not be considered. Drop letters by the office on the court house square, mail LETTER.S TO THE EDITOR them to P.O. Box 789, Zebulon, 30295, fax them to 770.567.8814 or email them to news@ pikecountygeorgia.com. For additional information call 770.567.3446. A MESSAGE OF NEW HOPE Friends, mountains and altars DEBRA KIBLINGER litehorse54@gmail.com Two friends and 1 were go ing through a season of struggle for various reasons. Psalm 121:1 kept com ing to mind: “1 lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. Indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.” (N1V) We felt that this as a call to take our concerns to the mountains. So, one Saturday morning we loaded three horses and took off to the hills of North Georgia. Our goal was to go up the mountain and spend time in prayer and com munion with each other and most importantly God. Our time on the moun tain was encouraging and strengthening for each of us. We prayed together and individually about our struggles and con cerns. God showed up in the way only He can! After several hours we started making our way down the mountain. As we descended from the mountain top, the twists and turns of the mountain trail began to get my attention. 1 reflect ed on our individual situ ations and all the chang es they had brought into our lives, and 1 began to see our journeys playing out right there on that trail. The trail would go up, then down, and then a switchback where the trail would disappear around the curve. How like life this is! We have our ups and downs along the way, then that switchback comes and we are left to wonder what we will face. 1 began to think of how God’s people in the Old Testament built altars to mark significant times and places during their journeys. After sharing these thoughts with my friends we decided to follow that example. When we came to the next turn we stopped and each of us gathered rocks to build an altar on which to offer our commitment to always trust God no matter what we encoun ter as we go around the bend. Once again we prayed over our present situations, and this time added prayers for our future situations. Those altars stayed on the trail in the mountains that day. 1 have ridden that trail many times since, and while the altar was there it served as a reminder of that experi ence. As time has gone on the altar has been misplaced, but the expe rience remains in mind and heart. Although a trip to the mountain is not possible every time there is a crisis in our lives, we can certainly approach our Father with our concerns wherever we are, and He will show up! Debra Kiblinger is a grateful believer in Jesus Christ. Her passions are God, all things horses and dogs, her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and her husband, Carl, with whom she travels with their horses and rides through God’s amaz ing creation throughout the Southeast and beyond. After 23 years in the classroom and 8 years in the mission field, Debra is enjoying her retirement immensely! Like Bartimaeus, don’t give up, God can do it all BY CHARLES WHATLEY cbwhatley@hotmail.com As 1 get older I’m los ing parts of myself; my wife tells me I’m losing my hearing ... but 1 can’t hear her! I’m wearing glasses to make up for a slight loss of vision ... have you noticed how small the print is these days? I’m losing speed although I’ve never been considered fast... like Satchel Paige, I’m much faster when something is after me! I’m losing mus cle tone ... I’ve bought one of those electric gad gets to open jar lids. But am still able to vacuum the house ... with a Eufy robotic vacuum! My dad was fond of saying as he got older, “Some of my body parts have quit working and the ones that do work, hurt!” Of all the things I’m losing as I get older, the thing I’m most afraid of losing is my sight. I think I’d be able to adapt to most physical losses, but I don’t know how I’d adapt to losing my sight ... and then I remember Bartimaeus in Mark 10: “[46] They came to Jericho, and as Jesus was leaving with his disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus son of Timaeus was sitting by the road. [47] When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus! Son of David! Have mercy on me!” [48] Many of the people scolded him and told him to be quiet. But he shouted even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” [49] Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called the blind man. “Cheer up!” they said. “Get up, he is calling you.”” There are five separa tion stories in Mark 10 and they all tell us that separation is the essence of sin. There is a story about divorce, children kept from Jesus, a rich man who chooses his “stuff” over Jesus, death and two disciples who think they’re better than the others ... until we come to the last story of blind Bartimaeus, and the crowd tried to sepa rate him from Jesus. Bartimaeus doesn’t have any ‘stuff and none of the other things separating us from God, but Jesus is the only chance he has to live a normal life. So he yells even more loudly, “I want to see!” Jesus calls him over, heals his eyes, he’s able to see ... and he fol lows Jesus on the road! 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.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. AT PIKE BY DWAIN W. PENN 100 YEARS AGO December 16, 1921: The Woman’s Club of Ze bulon held a bazaar Dec. 15 and 16 at the Journal office building, selling items for Christmas pres ents, homemade food items and housekeeping articles. The event closed with an evening meal served to the public Dec. 16. 75 YEARS AGO December 19, 1946: Santa letter from Betty Ann Strickland, age 9: “Please bring me a wardrobe sew ing set and a play nurse set. I hope you will bring me what I want. I will thank you very much for it.” 50 YEARS AGO December 17, 1971: Three new teachers were added to the Pike Junior High School. Mrs. Marion McGee replaced Delores Wright in Phys. Ed., Paul M. Carr was added to the math department and Sarah Beth Turner started teaching music. 25 YEARS AGO December 18, 1996: The city of Zebulon placed a moratorium on new apartments following oppo sition to a rezoning request. Alton Turner asked to have zoning for a parcel on Barnesville Road near Bank Street be upgraded from medium density to high density multifamily residential.