From the Hill

Views and News from Red Hill

by Ray Hall

Sometimes you don’t understand all the events when they seem to pile up on people. The day after Martha Stuckey buried her husband, Ralph, she fell and broke her hip. She is now in the Chapman Rehab Center in Alexander City. I was able to stop by and see her Sunday while I was visiting my mother in the same facility. In fact she is right across the hall from my mom. She seems to be hanging in there like a rusty fishhook, but that is what you expect from resilient Christian women like Martha. She was telling me that God knew she would be unable to see to Ralph’s care for an extended period and so he brought Ralph on home. And that she really needed an extended period of rest from the care giving during Ralph’s illness, and left on her own, she probably would not take it, so God arranged for that rest to begin the very next day. May God grant you rapid recovery Martha, but not so rushed that you don’t get that recuperative time that has been arranged for you. I extend an attaboy to Bob Jones, administrator, on the beautiful grounds of the Chapman facility as well as its friendly and caring staff.

FTH
It was great to see the state road crew using brush trimmers to trim the highway right of ways rather than the defoliants being used by the county. My county commissioner, Mark Hragyil, promised me that he would use brush trimmers in this area on the roadsides but the unsightly brown trails of the stuff are numerous along the roads in this area. My apprehension about its use may be unnecessary but to me, the stuff is at best, a mild form of Agent Orange, which came back to haunt many Vietnam survivors, including my brother-in-law.

FTH
The controversy over the mosque at ground zero just keeps on keeping on! And the taxpayers of this country sending the imam pushing this mosque on a “goodwill” expense paid tour for raising the funds to build it is wildly unreal. And to have him bad mouth those who paid for his trip is just so tacky! It seems to me that we are much more concerned about the lack of tolerance on the part of those who feel threatened by those who have no tolerance. I have heard of no one who has questioned why no church is allowed in Mecca! We seem to be expected to grovel while they prepare to gloat! We seem not to understand how to deal with those, who given an opportunity, one mosque at a time, expect sensitivity to their desires, while dispensing absolutely no sensitivity toward the feelings of others. It is not a constitutional thing! That is not the concern. It is concern for the feelings of others, of which they seem to be devoid. This factor is called love in the Christian faith.

FTH
A lot of people are becoming concerned about the number of surveillance cameras being installed. This proliferation of privacy invasion should not come as a surprise! One of the best incentives for behavior that will benefit a society is fear of punishment for not maintaining that behavior pattern. When fear of punishment by the Creator of the Universe for behavior adverse to a society diminishes, the fear of something else must take its place to prevent utter chaos. So folks, that fear is being replaced by a fear of Big Brother! We simply can’t afford a cop on every corner. But we can install a lot of cameras! And I suspect that camera evidence will probably be as good or better than word of mouth. And yes, people are doing stupid things in front of Big Brother’s camera just as they were doing in front of the Creator of the Universe.

FTH
An interesting letter in the Australian Shooter Magazine, which I quote: "If you consider that there has been an average of 160,000 troops in the Iraq theater of operations during the past 22 months, and a total of 2112 deaths, that gives a firearm death rate of 60 per 100,000 soldiers. The firearm death rate in Washington, DC is 806 per 100,000 for the same period. That means you are about 25 per cent more likely to be shot and killed in the US capital, which has some of the strictest gun control laws in the US, than you are in Iraq. Conclusion: "The US should pull out of Washington."

FTH
The birthdays, of which I am aware, that are coming up this week are: Debbie Fells on the 3rd, June Zeigler and Jade Burkett on the 4th, Dale Peoples and T. J. Smith on the 5th, and Billy Pattillo, Glenn Sanders, Jonathan Scarborough, and Seth Taylor on the 6th. Happy Birthday to each of you! Birthdays and anniversaries are significant checkpoints in life. And as you acquire the years, an acknowledgement of your mortality and preparation for eternity becomes evermore appropriate. Let me know a week in advance of people you wish to mention.

FTH
Thanks for your readership, response, and email. Email me with any item at redhill1@elmore.rr.com by Monday evening. Don’t forget: “Eternity is a long time, about which, to be wrong!”

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