Sunday Wrapup--August 2, 2015

Since Cecil the lion is on the mind of everyone in the media world the past week, let's talk about him and get that out of the way.  As many of you know, Cecil was shot (first being wounded with an arrow 40 hours earlier) in Zimbabwe by a Minnesota dentist after ranging slightly outside the boundary of the national park where he lived.  The dentist paid at least $35,000 for the privilege of making the kill.  Cecil turns out to have been quite famous and well-loved, and a host of people are vilifying the dentist for having committed such a dastardly act.  Many Christians are rightly noting the moral inconsistency of finding this lion killing so deeply disturbing while the same people often morally justify the killing of unborn babies.  No argument here against that logic.  

As do some who are raising an outcry, I find fault, however, with the idea that killing lions for sport is a "nothing."  It's a $35,000.00+ expenditure, in this case.  That's not nothing.  It's an inexcusable waste of money, in my opinion, an outrageously expensive "cheap thrill."  Arriving at the kill site no doubt took a lot of travel time and money.  That's not nothing either.  

Hunting, per se, is not the biggest problem with the Cecil incident.  If Cecil had been threatening the livelihood of native herdsmen, or if people's safety around their own homes was at risk, the king of the beasts would have needed to be dethroned.  Killing Cecil for money in a guide's pocket, and for one individual's adrenaline rush and subsequent bragging rights is quite another  matter. 

As I see it, all hunters who do so purely for sport are guilty of the same vices that drove the Minnesota dentist.  I don't know anyone who has enough money to indulge the vice to the same extent as Cecil's killer, but when hunters take the life of an animal just because it's there and because the hunter has a weapon in hand, it's safe to say that worship of the Creator is not uppermost in the mind of the hunter.  Something far more selfish than that is operative.  

I can identify with the restorative power of spending time outdoors while hunting is happening.  I can identify also with the need to protect one's domesticated animals, and to put food on the table.  I can even identify with the desire to preserve the memory of a good experience (as trophy hunters may wish to do). What I feel revulsion for is the hedonism that sometimes finds expression in trophy hunting. 

The dentist would have done better to preserve his memories by shooting with a camera, given the fact that Cecil posed no threat to his family and pets in Minnesota and he certainly wasn't planning on serving him for dinner.  If he had stuck with using a camera, his money might still have been wasted, but Zimbabwe would not be seeking his extradition, and his dental practice would still be open.  

Killing is always a messy business. Only those who have been hardened almost beyond hope will deny this.  If we're meat eaters (as people in Bible times were), or if our gardens are being wasted we usually grit our teeth when killing is necessary and do what we have to do.  Neither trophy hunting or killing unborn babies is a necessary bit of messy business, gritted teeth or no.  It's an outrage.  

******************

In our local newspaper, I read an excellent piece by Michael Gerson about the prospect of Donald Trump leading the GOP.  In the title, he predicted that if this happened, the party would fail and deserve to do so.  The entire column can be read here.  

One Trump supporter is quoted as saying "I don't care what his actual positions are.  I don't care if he says the wrong thing.  He says what's on his mind.  He gives honest answers rather than prepared answers."  

Gerson wisely comments on such a viewpoint by saying "This is the cult of spontaneity taken to its logical conclusion."   He counters Trump's communication style by asserting that ". . . incivility is immoral and dangerous to democracy.  People of faith in particular are called to speak and act on the assumption of shared human dignity.  This does not rule out vigorous disagreement, but it forbids the cultivation of contempt and the issuing of threats."

The "cult of spontaneity" is a phenomenon not limited to Trump and his followers.  It's an affliction  that can be disproportionately visited on (or joined by) far less bombastic individuals than Trump, who nevertheless seem quite in love with themselves.   To such people, utterances and actions need not be logical or defensible or right--just present in a flit across the mind, paired with an open mouth or a handy keyboard and an audience.  Well-developed sentences and coherent communication are optional, and disconnected thoughts are expected and even celebrated.

Spontaneity isn't all bad, of course.  When paired with truth, genuineness, maturity, humility, and concern for others, spontaneity is delightful.  Giving the idea cult-like adulation and affecting it in one's manner, however, are not pretty or worthy of cultivation or admiration. 

******************

In the natural world, I'm seeing evidences of abundance of many kinds, and I'm faithfully noting each occurrence in my nature journal.

The other evening after we had a 1.5 inch rain, the air overhead in the evening was full of dozens of dragonflies.  Above them several Common Nighthawks circled and wheeled and glided and vocalized in pursuit of insects.  I heard them again the next morning, and the next evening counted four doing a repeat act.  

Cucumbers and tomatoes are coming on strong in the garden.  

Row crops look good in the fields, and the nearby alfalfa field that really struggled after one abundant cutting of hay has recovered within a few days from its paltry cutting a week or so ago.  It's green all over.  

 Today's news reported that the highest yielding wheat field entered in a statewide contest produced 108.5 bushels per acre.  It was a very small 8-acre plot of no-till dry land wheat (non-inrrigated).  I thought the 90-bushel/acre wheat I heard about locally was phenomenal, and it was, but this farmer averaged 60- 90 bushels per acre overall this year.  

The prize-winning field was located in McPherson County, but the farmer who entered the contest lives in Hutchinson.  He farms with his father in the next county.  The farmer had sprayed twice for fungus, but had fertilized conservatively, based on the advice of a crop consultant who had tested the soil.  This year everything was right for that farmer and that field.  The same field had produced only 16-18 bushels per acre in 2014 when it was affected by drought.

 *****************

Someone who attends church in Pennsylvania with my brother Caleb told me today that I talk "so much" like him.  I don't think I've ever heard that before.  

Another guest in church was Susie, whose first husband was Mahlon N. from here.  She is unfailingly sweet and capable of making everyone she meets feel special.  

The Ed Nisly family is having a reunion here this weekend.  

*****************

Grandbaby number 6 is scheduled to make an appearance within the next few weeks.  When the baby arrives, their (Shane's) family "shape" will look like ours did when our boys were young.  

******************

I'm doing a flurry of fall planting and am thoroughly enjoying it.  The spring planting was largely derailed by school and surgery, and I'm loving this second chance.  

*****************

Arlyn N. preached a wonderful sermon today on the "loser" at the pool of Siloam, and made appropriate but sometimes unsettling applications.  It will be available at some point at centeramishmennonite.org, although I haven't checked to see if it's there yet.