HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1971-01-28, Page 4PAGE FOUR
Not Really Necessary
Though we live in a permissive age, when only
the very stuffy are offended by a little harmless swear-
ing, there are times and places when most of us get
fed up with the pointless use of cuss words.
Listening to a public affairs forum -type TV broad-
cast on a CTV station the other evening we found
ourselves pretty thoroughly browned off with the sup-
posedly intelligent man who was conducting the dis-
cussion. He seemed to think it was smart and modern
to throw in a generous sprinkling of rough stuff as he
went along. His display of poor taste indicated an ego
which was substantiated by the fact that he also insisted
on doing a major share of the talking, despite the
presence of guests brought in specifically for that purp-
ose.
It is conceivable that when a guest personality ap-
pears on. a television interview program the language
may get rough. We have heard, for example, men who
were participating in the Montreal mail drivers' strike,
use some pretty outspoken language. That was to be
expected and the vulgarities portrayed the state of
mind which the program was airing. It is another
matter, however, when the interviewer gets down to
the same level, He should be there to ask the questions
not to join the club.
The man to whom we refer did not use any really
filthy language. He limited himself to the everyday
ejaculations which salt all too much of our general
conversation. He did not pervert any young minds. He
simply demonstrated bad taste in a place where it was
totally unnecessary, (Wingham Advance Times)
Alarming Accusation
At the opening session of the Huron County Board
of Education last week, Mrs. J. W. Wallace, one of
the members, made a statement which- should merit
the attention of every parent and ratepayer in the
county - in fact in any county where the new and
enlarged school boards have been formed.
Mrs. Wallace said, "We are not offering an ade-
quate preparation for our young people... We need
more time to consider what's going on in the schools
so we can spend the taxpayers' money intelligently.
We can't work too hard or too quickly. It's crucial to
make a start before budget time. "
In case any taxpayers are only mildly interested
in Mrs. Wallace's remarks, the situation was forcibly
underlined by the board's approval, on the same even-
ing, of a borrowing by- law to cover estimated needs
of no less than seven and a half million dollars --and
that's a lot of money for any taxpayer to think about.
Few of us who are not members of the board of
education are in a position to comment on the validity
of Mrs. Wallace's accusation, that out multi-million
dollar county school system is failing the students in
its duty to provide the best possible preparation for
adult responsibility, In fact it would be very interest-
ing to read Mrs. Wallace's reasons for her statement
and her thoughts about the sort of improvements which
should be brought about.
One immediate result of her comments at this
particular meeting and apparently at previous ones as
well, was the board's decision to set aside 30 minutes
of each regular meeting for a forum -type discussion
on the future of education and the county school
system.
We are not among those who decry the county
board plan as such. Larger units of school administrat-
ion certainly do have merit in many ways-- and be it
said that the $74 million figure quoted above is prob-
ably less than the aggregate of such requirements
would have been from all schools in the county under
the old system. (Wingham Advance Times)
ZURICH Citizens NEWS
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ZURICH CITIZENS NEWS
TENDER, LOVING CARE
FOR SNOWMOBILERS
By Bill Smiley
Even a winter sour -puss like
me cannot but be affected
when we hit one of those rare
and perfect winter days.
Today is one of them.
Snapping twelve degrees. Sun
grinning down like an old,
yellow lecher as fresh snow
lifts virginal, blue -white,
pleading hands. Sky as cold
and blue as Mr. Benson's
heart.
Ugly, fallen -down fence in
back yard has vanished until
spring. Picnic table is a loaf of
white bread rising. Big spruce
by the garage holds with dig-
nity, in sagging, blue-green
arms, the big lumps of heavy.
white cotton.
In the country, evergreens
are startling black clumps of
contrast. Ancient rail fences
with jaunty, snow-capped
posts run their erratic charm
through the bluish drifts. So
do the snow-shoers.
Skiers whizz down like
gulls swooping for scraps.
And the damned snowmo-
biles grunt and bellow about
like bulls in a chaste china
shop.
There. I knew something
would spoil it. Don't worry. I
won't go into a diatribe about
the stinking things. I consider
them beneath my dignity. I
wouldn't ban them if I had
the power.
There's only one thing
more boring and annoying
than the abuses of the things.
And that is the constant con-
versation about them, at prac-
tically any gathering of
people, anywhere, in midwin-
ter.
Boring? It's enough to
make the mind boggle. One
used to go to a party and
have a party. One used to curl
and sit around afterwards dis-
cussing the game. One used to
sit in the teachers' staff room
with a group of fairly intelli-
gent people and talk about
cabbages and kings and seal-
ing wax and things.
Now, all you hear is a
melange of carburetors and
tracks and horse -powers and
feats of derring-do, most of
the latter gaining in each in-
terminable repetition.
I know they wonder why I
don't eat lunch in the staff -
room any more. But I'd
rather sit in the cafeteria with
400 noisy students than sit in
the staff -room with twelve or
fourteen snowmobilers bel-
lowing at each other, each
trying to top the other's
story.
I told you I wasn't going
to write a diatribe. And I
won't. The car started this
morning. Classes went well.
My wife's in a decent mood.
And my daughter got 88 and
90 on two essays.
And it was a beautiful day,
before that silver lining
turned into a black cloud.
They're a wonderful ma-
chine for farmers, trappers
and others who need to get
places they couldn't before.
Some of the kids at our
school, who live on islands,
'way out in the bay, cross the
ice on the things, catch the
school bus, drive forty minu-
tes to school, then make the
return journey in the after-
noon. You can't knock that.
And they're fine for recre-
ation, too, if they're used
with some sense. But there's
the rub. As a cabinet minister
remarked recently, on the
subject, "You can't legislate
against stupidity." And some
of the most stupid people I
know own snowmobiles. (Not
you, gentle reader, not you.)
You don't go flying solo
after an hour's instruction.
And you have to pass a fairly
stiff test nowadays to get a
car driver's license.
But it seems that any
nyurp of a kid (or adult) who
can get one of the THINGS
started, and not necessarily
stopped, is free to go out and
commit mayhem or suicide.
When I see some kid belt-
ing along at full throttle, on
THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 1971
an icy road, or trying to pass
a car on the right, I shudder.
And when I see mature, mid-
dle-aged people attempting
climbs and jumps and cross-
ing thin ice that even an intel-
ligent ape would shy at, I
shake my head sadly. It seems
that every third person you
meet has a twisted ankle or a
sprained shoulder or a bent
burn.
Then there are the gangs.
The only difference between
a motorcycle gang and a
snowmobile gang is the speed
and the time of year. Both
are likely to be half -stoned,
and both are prone to vandal-
ism and indifferent to the
feelings of others.
TWO M1MUTES
l✓IflI na BIBLE
BY CORNELIUS R. STAM PRES.
BEREAN BIBLE SOCIETY
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60635
4
TRUE BLESSEDNESS
It has been said that the word
"blessed," in our English King
James Bible, simply means happy.
Thus the "blessed man" of Psalm 1
is a happy man and the "blessed
God" of I Tim. 1:11 is a happy God.
To say the least this is a super-
ficial understanding—or misunder-
standing—of one of the most won-
derful words of Scripture. A fool
can be happy, a drunkard can be
happy, a wicked man can be happy,
but none of these are truly blessed,
for one who is blessed has a deep
and true reason to rejoice.
Thus Psa. 1:1,2 says that the
man who shuns "the counsel of the
ungodly," "the way of sinners"
and "the seat of the scornful" and
meditates and delights in the law
of God, is well off and has good
reason to rejoice. Few, of course,
would dare to claim that they have
fully lived up to this passage in
the Psalms, but God's Word has
good news even for such. In Ro-
mans 4:6-8 St. Paul declares:
"David also describeth the
blessedness of the man unto whom
God imputeth righteousness with-
out works, saying, Blessed are
they whose iniquities are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered. Blessed
is the man to whom the Lord will
not impute sin."
This blessedness is not a mere
feeling of happiness, It is rather
the state of being well off, with a
deep and abiding reason to rejoice.
Thus Psalm 40:4 says: "Blessed
is the man that maketh the Lord his
trust," and when the Galatians
stopped trusting completely in the
Lord and began leaning on their
own works, the apostle asked them:
"Where is then the blessedness
ye spake of?" (Gal, 4:15).
To be truly blessed, then, is to
be well off, with the greatest
possible reason to rejoice. This is
why the believer in Christ, saved
and eternally safe in Him, is, like
God Himself, "blessed for ever-
more" (II Cor. 11:31).
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