The Good Stuff III

They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream.

 - From Jeremiah 17

The paradigm of my life is so predominantly positive when it comes to the characteristics of Conservatives, rural dwellers, farmers, mechanics, blue collar workers, people in "flyover country," and yes . . . Christians.

Where is this hate and hypocrisy that scoffers talk about? I haven't seen it.

My parents both came from modest means, but you would never know it.

I had two great-aunts, (a former age would have called them "Old Maids") that lived their lives tending the family farm. Never married, no children. They certainly lived their entire lives at or below the poverty line. And yet, summers spent in Texas, at their farm, was as good as DisneyWorld for us kids. My memories are golden.

They sent Christmas gifts to all of their great-nieces and nephews, every single year.

They contributed to charities and volunteered for good causes that supported services to the poor. They entertained and housed traveling ministers and missionaries. They opened their home to visitors.

Even in the desert, trees may thrive if they're planted near a stream.

In West Texas, where my mother is from, there are vast swaths of land that is mostly dry. The land is flat, and has rare bodies of water. And yet when you see a row of trees in the distance, you can be sure there is a creek running nearby. The creek may be dry three months out of the year. But that's enough to keep a line of trees healthy forever.

Our family's farmhouse was surrounded by trees. There was no creek up close to the house . . . but the care from my great-grandparents made it into a place where trees could live. My ancestors kept them watered.

I have not seen the anger, the hate, the hypocrisy that anti-Christian people rant about all the time. Perhaps they should get themselves closer to a broader variety of people calling themselves "Christian"?

People that can be poor, and yet act as thought they're rich. There must be something to that.

And there is.