Another Day in the Country
Untangling a mess
© Another Day in the Country
We use clothesline rope to hang up pictures at the annual art show at Centre Elementary.
Three lines strung between three support poles and we are in business to display a couple of hundred matted pictures with old-fashioned clothespins.
It’s something I invented out of desperation when we first tried to have an art show in the foyer at Centre, where lobby walls are lined with glass trophy cases.
I’ve used those ropes for 10 to 15 years, and no matter how or who puts them away at the end of the show, they’re always a tangled-up mess come May, when another display is being hung.
Jess said those tangled ropes reminded her of the Internet. Someone says something. Someone else picks up an end of it and yanks. Somebody thinks they’re helping, puts in their opinion, and grabs hold in the middle, which only tangles things more. Pretty soon you have this snarly mess of miscommunication.
“Can’t we just cut the rope?” I say in exasperation. “Who needs this?”
We could throw it out and start over. Then again, this is a good rope; let’s try to be a little more patient, salvage it, and try something different.
Jess put the art ropes away this year — each one in its own zip-lock bag, labeled “long ropes” and “short ropes.” Everything was contained with no wiggle room, no chance to get tangled or snarled until we take them out again.
I really dislike untangling Christmas lights, too. I’d almost rather go without Christmas than sort out strings of lights.
No matter how carefully I put them away, when Dec. 1 hits and I open the lid to the storage container, those strands have been having a party, mixed themselves up, and worn themselves out!
Some of them no longer work though they were working fine when I closed the lid.
Politics is quite a tangle, too.
“It’s hard enough to assimilate into a small town in the country without asking for trouble by declaring your political affiliation,” was the first advice I received when moving back to the Midwest.
“There are just some things you don’t talk about — especially when you’re coming from California,” my friend Don Jolley said with a chuckle.
I pretty much took that advice. It wasn’t new. Grandma Schubert agreed.
“Two topics aren’t welcome at the table: religion and politics,” she said.
As a child, I always was admonished when visiting my Lutheran grandparents to “keep quiet” and “do nothing to offend.”
I’ve been debating whether to put up any kind of political sign in the yard. Others do it. I never have.
This week, I decided that it was about time to declare myself and stand up for what I believe in, as Martin Luther did with his famous, “Here I Stand” proclamation.
I’ve committed my stance, in a slightly non-confrontive way, with a sign that says, “I’m with her.”
Last week, I saw on the news, that in Finland they begin teaching children reasoning skills the minute they start school.
These kids are learning how to figure out whether information is accurate or fake. They want their youngsters to be skeptical about what they hear on the Internet or see on television.
Finland is rated as the top country in the world for education, and the Finns have decided that the top three things kids (future adults) need to know is how to use discernment, be cooperative, and value equality.
They believe it’s vital to protect their democracy.
I, too, live in a democracy that I want to protect.
Instead of trying to cooperate, we sometimes rope off our differences and pretend it’s our protection.
Even when we listen to the news, ideas get tangled up and knotted inextricably.
We hunker down in conspiracy theories. We’re tempted to try to keep our sanity by putting people in categories like zip-lock bags — Kansans in one bag, Californians in another.
We might bag up the southern states altogether. What a mess. I don’t understand them at all.
We completely forget that, at the end of the day, we are more alike as Americans than we are different from each other.
When the rubber hits the road, we all pretty much want the same basic things.
We want to live free and be responsible for ourselves and our own bodies. I know I do!
I want to be healthy. I like being able to pay my bills.
We want to learn and grow, make good decisions, raise kids to be productive. We want peace.
We don’t want hatred, cheating, lies, and fear. And, we want someone to lead who takes leadership seriously.
Sometimes, I need a refresher course in Discernment 101, learning to be more cooperative and a champion of equality.
Where do I start? How do I untangle what I hear about the world?
If it’s evidence we need, let’s listen carefully to what people say firsthand. If it’s trustworthiness that we seek, let’s pay attention to someone’s actions.
That old admonition, “Actions speak louder than words,” still works on another day in the country.