Not Letting “Things” but Moments Define Us

Dear Reader:

Sometimes at night in our deepest thoughts don’t we  wonder how we would conduct ourselves in a moment of crisis (which we understood in a split-second of time …at the moment it was transpiring)…that this event would define us one way or the other for the rest of our lives and beyond…how would we respond?

Second Lieutenant Clebe McClary and Private Ralph Johnson both met that challenge head on, never blinked, re-thought it, simply acted on the moment. One survived, one did not…but both are admired from near and afar for the choices that made in a crater in a far-off country called Viet Nam. They both “defined the moment.”

Private Ralph Johnson is on the left in the mural and Clebe McClary is on the far left. Johnson’s action saved the life of McClary!

The act of “becoming detached” is an important reaction in times of crisis…suddenly things slow down and the action needed springs forward with immediate response. In today’s secular society …the “must have more” attitude of materialism is in direct contrast to God’s definition of us which declares we need less and what we already have should not define us.

Materialism is non-essential to our ability to function, love, or feel joy. By practicing detachment we can actually liberate ourselves from petty disappointments over placing too much emphasis on one thing working out…like a promotion, job opportunity, relationship, or any other particular outcome where we declare our entire world of happiness depends on it. Reality check…it doesn’t.

So until tomorrow…circumstances should never determine anyone’s level of happiness.

*Grandmother Wilson always told me to be kind to everyone because, no matter the circumstance, most good people are just trying to do the best they can with what they have…and what they have is God’s blessing. Once we realize this…we know we really do have the “whole world in our hands…in God’s Hands.”

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Yesterday I returned to Mt. Pleasant…to keep little Jake…his CD four-year-old class doesn’t start until next Tuesday and John had a meeting, along with other parents, to attend concerning the requirements and regulations around this state program.

So it was Jake’s and my time to “hang”…with his new Spiderman car and play yesterday while mother, big sister, and even dad were all at school. Jake and I had a wonderful time. Eva Cate loved her first day Wednesday and was equally excited getting dressed yesterday to return…always a good sign! 🙂

After John returned I left the Turners and checked in on the Dingles. Mollie is in Nashville at a Beauty Counter Leadership conference and her parents, Bruce and Marcia, were flying in to keep the grandchildren when Walsh returned to work this evening. It truly does take ‘a village’…at least grandparents to hold down the fort when the parents are gone.

 

I watched Eloise while Walsh finished getting things ready for the Temples. We got Eloise fed and dressed, to pick up Rutledge from school, then on to the airport to pick up Nana and Papa…they are going to have so much fun…and then return home and sleep for three solid days!  🙂 *(Nana and Papa that is!)

 

***What a delightful aroma awaited me…when I unlocked the door yesterday…I had cut and placed “Mr. Lincoln” in a rose vase and the scent was divine…my whole happy room smelled happier. The perfume was good but nothing can take the place of God’s Handiwork!

 

 

About Becky Dingle

I was born a Tarheel but ended up a Sandlapper. My grandparents were cotton farmers in Laurens, South Carolina and it was in my grandmother’s house that my love of storytelling began beside an old Franklin stove. When I graduated from Laurens High School, I attended Erskine College (Due West of what?) and would later get my Masters Degree in Education/Social Studies from Charleston Southern. I am presently an adjunct professor/clinical supervisor at CSU and have also taught at the College of Charleston. For 28 years I taught Social Studies through storytelling. My philosophy matched Rudyard Kipling’s quote: “If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” Today I still spread this message through workshops and presentations throughout the state. The secret of success in teaching social studies is always in the story. I want to keep learning and being surprised by life…it is the greatest teacher. Like Kermit said, “When you’re green you grow, when you’re ripe you rot.”
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