Writing wrongs or rewriting rights

By Johnny D. Symon

Some time back I alluded to a close encounter that occurred in my very own back patio, and in a funny kind of way I now see said patio as a now famous location. Okay, I'm exaggerating. My back patio is simply an interesting place to rest in. But something else of interest occurred in this very spot some months ago.

I discovered to my great pleasure that ground bees had begun to dig underground hives between the stone cobbles. I heard on the news that this species of bee throughout Portugal, Spain, and even Switzerland for heaven sake, are on the sharp increase. I discovered on a web search that an Englishman who lives in Spain declared that "I live peaceably with my ground bees," a sentiment that we also share. They spend most of their day out and about in search of that great "pollenesian" treasure trove in and around bud heaven. Then as dusk arrives they set about dragging out more dirt from their little underground hives, before finally closing up shop for the night and hitting the sack.

But you know something? these little critters seal up the entrance to their hive each and every night with a plug of white wax, then come sun-up I've witnessed it's removal. I guess there's a two-fold wisdom to their actions, and I ain't shy to wax lyrical on them. Firstly the hive entrances are by way of a vertical shaft, which means that in times of rain they'd get flooded out. Secondly, there's wisdom in sealing up that shaft each night to prevent a hive attack from numerous late night assailants.

During daylight hours I've noted that each hive entrance has a little head in it, and each time I drew close, the little head would shrink a little into the tunnel. I suppose those guys are standing guard and vetting each and every pollen shipment, but one thing is clear, there's an order in everything they do and everything they do is performed peaceably and with harmony in respect of all the other life forms living around them.

In the Book of Proverbs bone-idlers are exhorted to ...

"Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter,
and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,
Provideth her meat in the summer,
and gathereth her food in the harvest."

Proverbs 6:5-8

And I believe that a similar lesson is being taught through the life and work of my very own little colonies of underground bees. There's a simple, though powerful, lesson to be learned in the art of living through watching ground bees and ants, for neither care to avail themselves of the dubious benefits afforded us humans within a welfare-minded system, and I reckon that if bees and ants discovered that they need no longer work for a living, they'd still opt to do so.

In last week's ed I outlined a friend's plight due to an unstable and illegal computer system, and explained how, bit by bit, her system was resurrected from near death. I saw my lady friend yesterday morning, and as I arrived at her home she had a big smile on her face, and she said delightedly, "I'm just downloading another 40 packages from Microsoft. 17 are already in!" She further went on to proudly state that she'd run her XP Repair tool just before I arrived and it had discovered and fixed four faults, "My computer has never been like this before!" she said, yet three weeks ago the lady literally could not see the wood for the trees.

Now some of you may already know that I ain't no fan of Microsoft, but during my periodic restoration sojourns at my friend's computer, I too began to appreciate the backup presented by Microsoft for my friend's antiquated, though legal and recognized, XP OS. In fact to all appearances her desktop is beginning to resemble Vista, and the whole thing works like a dream.

As I bade her farewell I remarked, "You know? your computer is becoming a pleasure to use. Whereas beforehand it was hell and high water" ... and that's no lie! Which brings me round, yet again, to the subject of last week's ed, for also yesterday I paid a visit to a German friend who operates a Christian charity store in the great city of Algeciras, overlooking the hills of North Africa.

My friend Andreas explained that he'd just returned from being on vacation in a little island of the Canaries named Gomera. Andreas has always been interested in my column and wanted to know what I had written about during his absence. I explained everything about last week's ed and he became excited and said that it reminded him of how he had been before he turned to God ... booze and narcotics were his reason for living. Then he turned to something much higher and longer lasting.

You see, I myself find it impossible to understand the kind of hell people like Andreas have experienced. I jokingly describe myself as a highly regimented minimalist. I also call myself by English historian Paul Johnson's term, a "principled realist." I'm therefore a "highly regimented minimalist and principled realist." The term's longwinded but when adopted it's found to be eternal in nature. I regard my ground bees and the ant as practicing proponents of this longwinded term; they're balanced and stable, and they "work with their scratchy little feet that which is good." Prime examples of personal responsibility and the work ethic. If I had an ego I'd stop short of calling myself a fellow-bug, but since I have no ego remaining I have to admit that this is the case. I do what has to be done, and I never shirk from responsibility for my own actions.

Sometimes we have to shake down our own life and rid ourselves of the dross that we become laden with. My friend's computer received this treatment, now it's better than new. But you know? America is in a similar predicament that my friend's computer was in three weeks back. Her system frantically declared "4% disk space remaining" and "critical."

The United States originally had installed a genuine operating system that it's Creator recognized as His own handiwork, and therefore was only too pleased to send upgrades and security patches. But as time moved on, this bona-fide OS was quietly replaced by a pirate version, written by programmers intent on "writing a wrong," and therefore no longer recognized by the previous OS Programmer as His own intellectual property and handiwork. And although most of the US population failed to detect a change in system, the Originator of the true version was not fooled. He therefore decided to end His help and support. And the message is clear and true, that the US Constitution ... the old, original, authentic, and Biblically-based Constitution ... is no longer in place operating the entire US system. And if there's a road of return, it has to be by way of a clean raking out of America's hard disk and a clean reinstallation of God's operating system; it's Creator will then recognize it's condition and begin to supply the system with all that it requires to operate in a safe and effective manner. The safe and effective manner befitting a nation that will re-describe itself as a people consisting of "highly regimented minimalist and principled realists." The rest of the world, no doubt, shall regard the people and the term as longwinded, but they'll also find as the years roll by that it's also an eternal condition, a happy one, and something to be greatly envied.

Well, looks to me that my scribblings for this week have taken on the condition of Part 2 of last week's ed. But there happens to be a third Part which is the most decisive and vitally important section of America's great trilogy, for this section shall be co-authored by everyone eligible to vote in 2008. I reckon that next year's decision-making will prove to be the final installment of America's history, a final and fitting end or a final and fitting beginning; a re-birth even. May God bless 2008.

© Johnny D. Symon