It’s been a delightful experience with people coming and going from my office these past two days with them smiling and walking out with a colorful pumpkin of their choice. Several of them even offered to pay me for them and of course I refused. It gives me joy to see people receiving something that’s been naturally grown here in North Iowa and actually being excited about it. One person said while walking out, “This one is so ugly is absolutely beautiful.” I’m sure many of them will not be carved, but rather used as a seasonal centerpieces on their dining tables. When driving past one of the grocery stores and looking at their plain and uninspiring orange ones, I can certainly say each one that was carried out of my office was unique in size and coloring. When I viewed the pile of them yesterday morning before snapping the photo, I considered them a mirror of our society. Each one is built differently, colored differently, and sized differently yet belonging to the same group. Perhaps we view our society in the wrong fashion when looking down at others simply because of the way they look, speak, and live just because they’re not like us. Closed minds create closed environments which more sooner than later become stagnant in mind, body and spirit.
After showing a home today to a gentleman and standing out in the front yard, we happened to find ourselves talking about how some teenagers consider themselves empowered to do just about anything they want without fear of being reproached by their parents. He went on to tell several stories about some unfortunate things that happened with families he knows where their teenage children nearly had the parents gripped by fear of being turned in for trumped up reasons their naughty children had contrived as causes for their parents to be turned in to one of the government agencies.
I was quick to mention several cases that I’d heard about over the years to where the parents were dismissed as being unworthy by their children who turned to their like-minded friends for advice and direction. Unfortunately much of that peer advice and direction given was absolutely not in the best interest of those children who were slowly being pulled down dark paths. Too often a teenage friend’s bad advice is given for self-serving reasons. Mis-guided direction by the wrong younger crowds lead to teenage pregnancies, addictions, and truancy. We both agreed that the mindsets of entitlement is creating a society that’s seems to show no respect for others—especially what most of us consider the “establishment”. When we find groups of those entitled becoming empowered, we see societal chaos. Upon leaving I said, “That’s all I truly hope is that our communities continue to work at teaching our children civic duties as well as listening more closely to the advice given by people who really do care about their growth and human development.”
I was touched today by a statement made by a customer at my office. He said, “I’ve stopped and visited a dear old friend who’s in her 90’s every day for the past six years and the funniest thing is that many of her neighbors think I’m a relative.” Now that’s what I refer to as a calling. Stepping completely out of one’s own family setting to freely show a lasting care for another with no hidden agendas is both noble and admirable.
