About The Madison County journal. (Hull, Ga.) 1989-current | View Entire Issue (April 16, 2025)
PAGE 4A - THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16, 2025 Opinions ‘Private opinion is weak, but public opinion is almost onmipotent." Henry Ward Beecher Easter 2025 The Constitution By Ronda Rich When Jesus was riding into Jerusa lem, crowds met him as, solemnly, he smiled not. He was not to be crowned King, as they thought, for he knew he was riding toward his death. One that would be tortuous in length and cru elty. It fulfilled a prophecy from the Old Testament where the prophet had de clared “0 daughter of Jerusalem! Be hold, your king comes to you, righ teous and having salvation, humble and mounted on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” This prophecy of the Old Testament came to pass, documented in the New Testament which took man from suf fering under the law into the day of grace. The small donkey was key in Jesus’ life. Mary rode one to the sta ble where Jesus was born. Then he, to Jerusalem, the city where he would be crucified. The donkey is important in this tale, particularly to Jerusalem, because it represented humility and peace. He did not arrive on a mighty warhorse which would have symbol ized conquering with force. The don key helped to illustrate the offering of salvation and peace. On the Rondarosa, we have two miniature donkeys, a particular breed known as the Jerusalem donkey. The first donkey was a Christmas present, a few years ago, from my sister and brother-in-law, Rodney, who took us to pick the donkey up in his truck trail er. The breeder said, “Here she is.” I don’t remember what she looked like but there was another donkey several yards away. “That’s the donkey I want,” I said. “Well,” he replied gruffily. “That one cost twice as much as this one.” “I’ll write you a check.” So, home we brought this precious animal with huge eyes and enormous ears. Down the spine of her back runs a dark line with a similar line across her shoulder blades. A cross. These small donkeys are said to be descended from the one which carried Jesus into the city of His death. The explains their name and the cross on their back. When Rodney let her out into the pasture with our two large horses, they jumped, kicked and carried on some thing awful. The tiny one stood in the midst of the chaos and did not flinch. “Oh, Rodney!” I exclaimed. “They’re gonna kill her.” Calmly, he shook his head. “They just letting her know that they’re in charge. Last year, we added a new, six- month-old baby Jerusalem donkey to the barn. Her name is Belle Watley, named after the woman who loved Rhett Butler but knew he would nev er love her, and she is so adorable that she looks like a Walt Disney character. Her eyes are huge with long, lashes that curl up and a mane so short that it stands straight up like a ruffle of fab ¬ ric. Everything about her says that she should be starring at Disneyland. She is so tiny, about three feet tall (Sweet Tea is about three and a half feet) that I held my breath when we put her in the pasture. After how the big horses had acted with Sweet Tea, I was certain they would kill the littlest one. They looked up from the grass they were munching and went right on with eating. A few days after Belle Watley joined us, Tink came in from feeding and plopped down in a chair. “I tell you, man, that Belle Watley is something. She knocks the big hors es out of the way to get their feed and they let her!” No humility there. A couple of months ago, overnight, Tink’s big horse, Charlie, went blind overnight. It’s unbelievable but it hap pens. We took him to University of Georgia to see if they could help but they confirmed Dr. Pam’s diagnosis: He was completely blind and would never regain his sight. Since Charlie returned, the other big horse helps him but it is the Jerusalem donkeys who stand by each side of Charlie and help to guide him to the barn or to water. There is plenty of humility there. Ronda Rich is the best-selling au thor of the Stella Bankwell series. Vis it www.rondarich.com to sign up for her free newsletter. Kid art Hello, neighbors. I had thoughts to share about Mars being on the move lately. Jupiter and Venus, too. They kept the night sky lively over the last several months, heading through various constellations, sitting for a night here or there in conjunction with the Moon. Venus’ speedy trek brought back its status as the Morning Star in the last week or so. Recent early-morning outings even featured glimpses of the coming Summer Triangle, Vega, Altair, and Deneb, along with excitement for warm summer sky- gazing. Lots and lots happening in the night sky. I thought of carrying on about roses, too. I spotted the first buds at my house’s front corner a couple of weeks ago, though as of me writing this week’s column there are no blooms. A Spring Break jogging session at the high school took me—very intentionally—by all the rose bush locations I could think of there. Frequent stops. Mother Nature sure is doing her level best to catch our eyes right now. Instead, a chance sit-down on a quick visit to Ila Ele mentary over Spring Break took a lengthy turn as I spent time sifting through recently-acquired kid art. I made men tion of the topic in a column from fall 2024, though I spent little time exploring the subject. My kid art situation is not unique—walk into any teacher’s classroom and you are bound to find who-knows-what-all on who-knows-how- many papers hung near Teacher’s desk. I received several over the last month, and I gave only the briefest pauses to admire them because other duties clamored loudly for my attention at the time. Sitting at my desk, the school completely empty, time was on my side for a change. I gazed slowly and studied each piece. Randomness: bananas playing tennis; Ray- quaza, Ash, Pikachu; at least 20 Post-It squares—Rhett’s space series; Bigfoot chasing kids; a horse wearing sun glasses; and on and on and on. All are keepers, some are (or will be) laminated and posted on a wall, a door, a bul ¬ letin board. As I perused, I wondered, “Did these come out as intended?” There were hardly any erasure marks, the sign of a sparked, determined mind at work, set to wards a goal. I admire the confidence. Then, I thought about perspectives. In one sense, the literal perspec tive: portrait, landscape, three-quarter profile, ei ther chosen or copied. In another sense, the individ ual perspective: subjects of importance, real or imag ined, set to reality now, captured. A tub of Legos sitting beside the desk re minded me of a play-day I let the children enjoy on the last day before Spring Break. I thought back to their wild creations and By Travis Moak furious, frenzied building efforts. “Look, I added a third motor to my car—it’s on top of the second one.” “This one is a rocket helicopter, see?” Actual quotes. I left the art work on my desk and ended up in Target later that morn ing. My inner child always demands that I visit the Lego aisle, and I spied Lego’s version of Robert Indiana’s clas sic “LOVE” sculpture on a shelf. Kid art turned grown, reigned-in in some ways, yet still foll of the same creative spark. To close, a short thought: if you see it, encourage it. Their efforts, as fantastical as they may be, are honest and hopefol and genuine and definitely worth a huge smile. My hope is that you are a patron of their arts. Thank you for making my life better, creators. Mindfolly yours, Travis. What’s happening in the garden By Joe Costyn I had a short discussion with myself and decided that I am going to go by the calendar, instead of the weather re port, as far as planting times. It looks like we are having an early spring, so even if they say you can plant corn when the leaves on an oak tree are the size of a squirrel’s ear, I am going to wait until at least April 10, which is pretty close to our last frost date. One thing I just finished doing is fertilizing all my perennials and se lected shrubs. It is not scientific, but I put some 5 -10-15 [or 6-12-12] in a bucket and walk around the yard. Day- lilies, lilies, hydrangeas, roses, azaleas and others get a scant to large hand ful depending on the size of the plant. When in doubt, use less. As my wife Diane says, “You can always go back and put on more.” Even though daffo dils are almost finished, they are busy right now making next years flowers, so feeding now will pay off richly next spring. Ever since I have been doing this, I have noticed the yard looks so much better and more colorful, spring and all summer. I learned an annoying fact lately, that made me happy after all, because it saved me money. Do not buy fertil izer such as 10-10-10 at the big box stores. They think, I suppose, that we aren’t going to notice that last year’s 50 pound bag is this year’s 40 pound bag along with a price increase! You can buy the same type of fertilizer right here in our local area for a lower price and 10 pounds more. While I am blathering on about prices and over charging, why is everybody selling only Bonnies vegetable plants? Why is the price $4.98 everywhere? Any way, I am just not going to pay $4.98 for one small tomato plant. If you start your own tomatoes from seed, you can choose the kinds of tomatoes you want, have them fresh from your own garden, and they will cost you less than 5 cents a piece. Today at a big box, I saw a small pot with only one cucumber seedling, just coming up, for a whopping $4.98. Madison Coun ty Hardware (Stricklands) has vegeta ble plants that are not from Bonnies at better prices. I have learned that I need to pay close attention to the names of the va rieties of seeds I buy for my garden. The seed racks, especially in the big box stores, are from companies not from the south, and often have variet ies that are inferior or just not suited for our gardening climate. I usually buy lots of my seeds from seed cat alogs where I find superior varieties and types I know grow well here. One example is Zephyr summer squash. It is a very attractive yellow and green and is very productive. It has a superi or taste and texture. It eventually gets fungus diseases like all the others, but holds on longer. You should try it. Joe Costyn is a lifelong gardener with a horticulture degree from the University of Georgia and 25 years of experience in the horticulture indus try. L3 y (.1 the Submitted photo Costyn’s squash and other produce are pictured. We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Wel fare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. I spent the early years of my life paying close atten tion to what the older men in my family said to each other and formed my values around what I determined their beliefs to be. Many times, they would talk about “what the Constitu tion said!” It was not as prev alent as what you hear today but it was there. Does anybody know who wrote the Constitution? Ac tually, no one person did but James Madison was the prima ry author of the draft that was eventually ratified. It is a big document and very few people know what it says. Also, it is the most important document that governs everything in our lives; yet almost nobody today can say they have read it. It is important to know that it was not just written one day and then accepted. It had to be edited and was significant ly modified many times before it was finalized. This process took place eleven years after we declared independence from England in the years from 1787 until 1790, when Rhode Island finally agreed to the final document. Ask a hundred people on the street and see who knows this. Since it is the world’s longest standing written charter of government, we should perhaps know a little more about it than we do. Now we get to how this was decided upon. Have you ever heard about the Federalist Papers? They were eighty-five es says that were written and published throughout the thirteen fledgling states that were the original colonies of the Ameri cas. This is how “the people” were informed about the draft ing of the Constitution and had input to that process through Constitutional Committee Delegates from each state. These essays argue for “a more perfect union,” which would assure the protection of life, liberty and property out lined in the fifth amendment. However, there is no other more important theme of the Federalist Papers that the authors’ the ories on the nature of man and the dangers lying therein. Our founding fathers were explicit about “human nature.” The concerns regarding corruption are specifically addressed as a fact. This view is an essential part of virtually every ma jor doctrine in all of these writings. They directly address the potential dangers from foreign nations as well as rivalries and even possible war among states or groups of states. All gov ernments inevitability form factions that can become strong. A Constitution is a means of curbing the effects of these fac tions. The papers address the avoidance of the causes of wars, the structure and shortcomings of previous confederatons, the separation of powers and the role of legislative bodies. Many of the papers advocate the importance of a “Bill of Rights.” There is much said about the character of man and this is emphasized in the papers to sell the idea of the Constitution. Without the examination of human motives and historical patterns of behavior, a constitution has little validity. The concept of human nature, as defended in the Federalist Papers, seems pessimistic. The founders knew that men are not to be trusted with power because they are selfish, passion ate, full of whims, capricious, and full of prejudices. Men are often not fully rational, calm, or dispassionate. The nature of man is a constant and has had these characteristics throughout recorded history. It has not changed and history has proven that it is not going to change any time soon. So, what to do? Our founders knew that, without protections, momentary passions and immediate interest would have more control over human conduct than considerations of policy, unity, or justice. This was the general theme that the authors used to convince the people to accept this new and novel governmen tal concept. In the papers, the populous was warned that anyone who would expect leaders with too much power to behave other wise did not understand human nature. It would be unwise to assume that men would behave with promise or with exemp tion from the imperfections, weaknesses, and evils that are common in all societies. These statements are advocating the benefits to the people of those times, which was sometimes called an unmixed re public. That is, one that depends completely on choices made by the people and contains no element of monarchy, hered itary aristocracy (kings), military dictatorship or theocracy. Our government, with its Legislative, Executive and Judi ciary separation of powers, is the best there is. Don’t let any body ever tell you any different. Based on election results, we may not particularly like our leaders. Election results prove that approximately half of the population is always unhappy with whoever is in office. Not to worry. That is always tem porary and really not all that important. Our current Constitu tional Republic, as it is designed, will survive and continue to thrive. I just hope that everybody understands how important it is to keep it that way. By Charlie Snelling The Madison County Journal Danielsville, Madison County Georgia 30633 Merged with The Danielsville Monitor and The Comer News, January 2006 A publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. MIKE BUFFINGTON, Go-publisher SCOTT BUFFINGTON Go-publisher CALEB ROLLINS Editor Subscriptions: $45/year —$40/seniors POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: THE MADISON COUNTY JOURNAL PO Box 908 Jefferson, Ga. 30549 The Official Legal Organ of Madison County, Georgia-Periodicals postage paid at Danielsville, Georgia 30633 (USPS 011-097: ISSN 1074987X)
