Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
While it’s been exceptionally hot, I was asked recently about the wind by someone who thought spring had been relatively calm and June seemed very windy. The historical weather data showed they were right.
In fact, January through May had well-below-average wind speeds (4.4 vs. 5.0 mph average wind speed for January through May and the 115-year average, respectively), while June was in the top 10 windiest Junes on record at 6.1 mph vs. the 115-year average of 4.8 mph.
July and August typically are our calmest months averaging 3.4 mph, but July also was windier at 4.1 mph.
My grandson has a 4-H archery project, and we use a can dangling from a stick pushed into a haystack for a target. One practice day was particularly windy, making the can a moving target AND blowing the arrows off-course, but not uniformly. So he had to compensate for the wind in regard to the moving target as well as for the sideways “push” on the arrows (we couldn’t move to another side of the haystack to avoid the wind because of downfield safety issues). He compensated and timed his shots fairly well.
All of these thoughts brought to mind the Bible and the U.S. Constitution. That is, both documents were written with specific good intentions, but both have been interpreted to change or add to the original intent, causing problems. We should preserve the appropriate intent by studying the original documents and the lives of the Constitution’s writers without being swayed by the winds and whims of change agents. And, yes, you can understand both documents, if you want, because they’re written with that in mind (Luke 8:11-15; Acts 17:11; Ephesians 3:4; 4:11-16).
Children are like arrows exposed to every wind of doctrine including, in some cases, a national public educational system with an anti-religious agenda that’s bent on changing the facts of history and the Constitution (Psalm 127:4). This will likely become more prevalent with online education using coursework developed by “educators” from elsewhere, possibly with no classroom experience, coupled with little or no in-person time between children and local teachers we know and trust. Parental and grandparental involvement in their children’s education is more critical now than ever to assure they develop appropriate values based on the truth (Proverbs 22:1-6; Ephesians 6:4; Psalm 1:1-6). Ask your children and grandchildren about their day and what they learned. Then you can either redirect to instill proper values or reinforce their teachers.
I don’t understand how wind comes about or its origin or destination, but I know it can have tremendous devastating or positive effects (John 3:8; Job 1:18-19; Hebrews 1:7, 14). I also know God uses the winds for his purposes, which are only for our good, while Satan also uses them in his counterfeit wonders to bring harm (Jeremiah 29:11; 1 John 5:18-20; 1 Peter 5:8; 2 Corinthians 11:14-15; 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10).
Who’s raising your children and grandchildren, you or the national educational system?
Leonard Lauriault is a member of the Church of Christ in Logan who writes about faith for the Quay County Sun. Contact him at [email protected]